The coming King would do two main things, according to a variety of texts and as we study a variety of actual would-be royal movements within history. First, he would build or restore the Temple. Second, he would fight the decisive battle against the enemy. David’s first act upon being anointed was to fight Goliath; his last was to plan the Temple. Judas Maccabeus defeated the Syrians and cleansed the Temple. Herod defeated the Parthians and rebuilt the Temple. Bar-Kochba, the last would-be Messiah of the period, aimed to defeat the Romans and rebuild the Temple…

It is unlikely that the followers of a crucified would-be Messiah would regard such a person as the true Messiah. Jesus did not rebuild the Temple; he had not only not defeated the Romans, he had died at their hands in the manner of failed revolutionary leaders.

—The Challenge of Jesus: Rediscovering Who Jesus Was and Is (Downer’s Grove, InterVarsity Press, 1999), p.76

The Entry into Jerusalem

München, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, BSB Clm 4452; Evangeliary: Pericopes of Henry II; circa 1007 CE-1012 CE; Reichenau; f.78r @bsb_muenchen pic.twitter.com/fJb8QGVmCM

— Ennius (@red_loeb) April 1, 2023

As on this day we keep the special memory of our Redeemer’s entry into the city, so grant, O Lord, that now and ever he may triumph in our hearts. Let the King of grace and glory enter in, and let us lay ourselves and all we are in full and joyful homage before him; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.

–Handley Moule (1841-1920)

Today is Palm Sunday, the Commemoration of the Lord’s Entry into Jerusalem and the beginning of Holy Week

Image: Panel (German, C16th) depicting the ‘Triumphal Entry of Christ into Jerusalem’, in the V&A in London (not currently on display), CC BY-NC, via https://t.co/uzv83o98PB pic.twitter.com/5bWQCjtwAp

— The Anglican Church in St Petersburg (@anglicanspb) April 2, 2023

Lift up your heads, O gates! and be lifted up, O ancient doors! that the King of glory may come in.
Who is the King of glory? The LORD, strong and mighty, the LORD, mighty in battle!
Lift up your heads, O gates! and be lifted up, O ancient doors! that the King of glory may come in.
Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory!

–Psalm 24:7-10

Entry of Christ into Jerusalem is a 1617 oil painting by Flemish artist Anthony van Dyck, located in the Indianapolis Museum of Art. It depicts #Jesus entering Jerusalem as described in the Gospels, the event celebrated on Palm Sunday. pic.twitter.com/luB13CgNYl

— EUROPEAN ART (@EuropeanArtHIST) February 12, 2019

Almighty God, who hast restored our human nature to heavenly glory through the perfect obedience of our Savior Jesus Christ: Keep alive in thy Church, we beseech thee, a passion for justice and truth; that we, like thy servant Federick Denison Maurice, may work and pray for the triumph of the kingdom of thy Christ; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Today the Church of England commemorates Frederick Denison Maurice, Priest, Teacher of the Faith, 1872 https://t.co/Aa2pqzsiZx

Image: Portrait of F.D. Maurice by Samuel Laurence, exhibited 1871, in the National Portrait Gallery, CC-BY-NC-ND pic.twitter.com/hoAdXWtyfx

— The Anglican Church in St Petersburg (@anglicanspb) April 1, 2023

Most merciful God,
who by the death and resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ
delivered and saved the world:
grant that by faith in him who suffered on the cross
we may triumph in the power of his victory;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.

Good Morning pic.twitter.com/Kz62cxrbSB

— philip jackson (@pajacksonartist) April 1, 2023

“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant which they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each man teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

–Jeremiah 31:31-34

The still, deep water of Ladybower Reservoir, with calm reflections in the early light. This man-made landscape has its critics but when you hear curlews over the water and spot roe deer among the trees, you realise that nature does make the best of whatever we allow her to have. pic.twitter.com/OAcrbIMFyT

— peaklass (@peaklass1) April 1, 2023