PALM SUNDAY

We know that Jesus entered Jerusalem on the Sunday before his crucifixion - we call it Palm Sunday.  We think of it as a joyous time, with children singing and waving festive branches.  Is that the real story?  Let's try to put ourselves into the situation of the people in that time and culture, and see the events of that day from a historical perspective.

This is a model of what Jerusalem would have looked like in the time of Jesus.  The light colored ridge of hills in the foreground (bottom of the picture, east) is the Mount of Olives.  The large rectangular structure in the center of the picture (lower, eastern part of the city) is the temple courtyard, which we will see up close later. 

In New Testament times, the walled city was about one mile long from north to south (right to left) and half a mile wide.  The modern city of Jerusalem is much larger, extending well beyond the area pictured here in all directions.  The original city of David occupied only about one fourth of the area to the left (south) of the temple courtyard.  David designated the then vacant hill of Zion to be the site of the temple, first constructed by Solomon.  The courtyard pictured here is in the same location, but much larger than Solomon's temple, having been enlarged by Herod in the years just before Jesus.

At the bottom edge of the picture above, just to the left of center, is the village of Bethany.  Here is a picture of modern Bethany which gives an idea of the hilly terrain typical of this area.  The modern village pictured here is under Palestinian control, part of the "West Bank" territory.  In Jesus time, Bethany was the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.  It seems that Jesus and the disciples may have stayed with this family on the Sabbath, then made their entry into Jerusalem on Sunday (John 12:1).  They may also have returned here in the evenings to sleep.  The commute is only about a mile and it would have been much more convenient to stay with friends in Bethany than to find lodging in the crowded city.

It was only a short time earlier that Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead (John 11).  Pictured here is a typical rock tomb, dating from this period, in the hills near Bethany.  It gives an opportunity to think about Jewish burial customs and what Lazarus' tomb might have looked like.  It is cut into the soft limestone hillside.  The dark entrance you see is small - you would have to stoop over to enter.  It opens onto a small room, about 8 feet square.  Along 3 walls are stone benches, leaving a small area in the center where 2-3 people could stand up.  You can just make out a light colored stone lying down in the entranceway.  It is the door stone, which could be stood up to block the entrance.  Some door stones were round and could be rolled away.  Most were rectangular like this one and might be tapered to fit over the entrance like a cork in a bottle.

A tomb like this would serve a large extended family.  When a family member died, the body would be wrapped in cloth and laid on one of the stone benches.  Friends and mourners would come to pay their respects for about 3 days.  Then the door would be closed and sealed.  Over the course of a year or so, the body would decompose.  After that time, a family member would reenter the tomb, gather the bones, and place them in a small box.  The box, usually made of stone, could be carved with the person's name, and would be placed in a niche within the tomb, along with the bones of previously deceased family members.  After this "secondary burial", the bench could be reused next time there was a need.  Note that when Jesus arrived, Lazarus had been dead for some time and the tomb was already sealed.  The raising of Lazarus brought much attention to Jesus, who had spent most of his previous ministry in the northern Galilee region.  (continued on next page)

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