Seeker

I love this fresco by Franz Plattner of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem. It is in the choir of the parish church of Zirl, Tyrol, Austria. Jesus straddles a donkey and its colt, neither of which you can see. Unused to being ridden, they bear the burden of Jesus' weight and his heavy heart. Unseen they cope with the press and noise of the crowd. The mixture of emotions in Jesus and the people with him is not what you might expect for 'Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem'. This is no triumphant procession. Jesus looks calm, but as if he is grieving for the city he enters, or steeling himself to face the trials he knows must come. He rides to his death. There is nothing triumphant about this picture. The people are not cheering 'hooray'. Most look confused or fearful. Some seem to be crying out to God 'save us now!' There is a powerful sense of things coming to a head, a point of no return, or as N.T. Wright puts it in an article in Religion and Ethic...

Jesus' entry to Jerusalem is one of 4 murals painted by Cesare Vagirini in the Franciscan church in the village of Bethphage . This church is near the traditional starting place for the route taken by Jesus from the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem. It shows Jesus riding a donkey, people spreading cloaks and tree branches on the ground, as for a triumphal procession, and shouting "Hosanna!   Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!" You can read the story in one or more of these: Matthew 21: 1-11 Mark 11: 1-11 Luke 19: 28 - 40 John 12: 12 - 19 Soon after I took the photo of the mural I walked in blazing sunshine with a group of pilgrims down the path of the Palm Sunday processional route.  It was an ordinary day in October but crowded. Today is Palm Sunday, the start of Holy Week, so it will be even more crowded for the Palm Sunday Procession. Last year there were 15,000 processing, singing, praying and waving palm branches. You can see a video o...