The Original Veiled Prophet Parade
Introduction: One of my very earliest memories is of the Veiled Prophet Parade, which has been a fixture here in St. Louis for over 100 years. From the time I was two years old until I was seven, my family lived in a six-flat tenement on Washington between Vandeventer and Sarah, just two doors west of the convent for the Sisters of the Helpers of the Holy Souls. The first building on the other side of the convent was the St. Louis Gospel Center, and next door to that was the Midwest Bible and Missionary Institute, at which my father taught.
A few of the real old timers around here—like Charles Brazeal and John Keller—remember the Gospel Center. It was a strong fundamental church, which later moved and became the Lindell Boulevard Bible Church, and still later moved again and became South County Bible Church, which it is today. The Gospel Center had a stone stairway that led to its flat roof, which extended all the way back to the alley between Washington and Olive. At one time years earlier that roof had provided a place for hanging out the wash and for children to play, but due to leaks in the roof, an iron gate was erected that limited access to it. But once a year in October an exception was made, and we were allowed to gather at the back of the roof and watch the Veiled Prophet Parade as it headed down Olive Street.
Every child loves a parade, of course, and I remember the excitement well, though just getting on the roof of the Gospel Center was almost as much fun as the parade itself. From there we could even peer down into the grounds of the convent, whose high walls made it a most mysterious place.
The Veiled Prophet Ball originated in St. Louis in 1878 as sort of a cross between Mardi Gras and a civic pride function. Some of the wealthy movers and shakers in St. Louis society formed an organization whose primary task was to put on a magnificent ball where their daughters could be introduced to society—a debutante ball. The focal point of the ball, and later of the parade, was the Veiled Prophet, a mystic, cultic, oriental figure who supposedly came from the far East. In reality he was one of the businessmen, but his identity was always hidden by a mask; thus he was called the Veiled Prophet. No particular religious significance is claimed for the whole thing; rather it was viewed by the people involved as a society function with civic benefits.
I have used as the title of my message today, “The Original Veiled Prophet Parade,” but I want to make clear that the contrasts between St. Louis’ Veiled Prophet Parade and our Scripture text today are far greater than the similarities. Far from a gathering of the movers and shakers of society, the parade we are going to look at consisted mostly of ordinary people, even the dregs of society. Far from bands and floats and horses and beautiful women, there was just a single participant in our parade—a man on a donkey’s colt. And far from ending in a magnificent ball where the prophet crowns the queen of his court, this parade ended with the prophet weeping over a city.
Yet despite all these contrasts, the name Veiled Prophet Parade came to my mind as I read Luke 19, for the greatest prophet who ever lived (though far more than a prophet) did indeed come to the city of Jerusalem in a parade of sorts. And He was veiled—not physically, but spiritually. That is, even His own followers could not see Him for who He was. Nor did they understand what He was up to.
The passage we are talking about is, of course, better known as the “Triumphal Entry.” That may be one of the classic misnomers of all time. It tends to conjure up in our imaginations the picture of a Roman Emperor riding a great stallion, clothed in full battle armor, leading his troops and thousands of prisoners into the city of Rome. But this “Triumphal Entry” consisted of one unarmed Jew on a donkey, having no soldiers and no captives—just an enthusiastic band of pilgrims and little children shouting, “Hossanna!”
In a deeper sense, of course, there is something very triumphant about this parade, for it signals the beginning of the end for this One who came to give His life a ransom for many. Jesus is ready to triumph over the greatest of all enemies—death. Let’s read Luke 19:28-44:
After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ tell him, ‘The Lord needs it.'”
Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?”
They replied, “The Lord needs it.”
They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road.
When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:
“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”
“I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace–but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”
It is more typical to preach on this passage on Palm Sunday, but our chapter-by-chapter study of the book of Luke brings us today to the beginning of the last week of Christ’s life. For the next two months we will be examining the major events of Passion Week, concluding, Lord willing, with the resurrection on Easter Sunday.
Jesus’ long road to Jerusalem concludes with unusual preparations for a parade.
The background. For months now Jesus has been on His way to Jerusalem. That seems like an odd thing to say, considering the fact that one could walk from one end of Israel to the other in a week. But Jesus has been in no hurry. Back in Luke 9:51 we were told that “As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.” In the very next chapter we find Him at the home of Martha and Mary, which was in Bethany, a virtual suburb of Jerusalem, less than three miles away! Yet six months have elapsed from that event to the one about which we just read.
Obviously the road Jesus chose from Bethany to the Holy City took Him on a very circuitous route. He worked the hill country of Judea and Perea, visiting many little towns, healing the sick, casting out demons, and teaching His disciples by means of some of His greatest parables.
If anything, during these last six months Jesus seems to have avoided Jerusalem and any direct confrontation with the religious leaders there. He often forbade those He healed to tell anyone of the miracles. He retreated frequently from the crowds, at times disappearing miraculously.
But now everything has changed. His hour has come. The best way to see this is to notice in John’s gospel the repetition of the phrase, “His time had not yet come.” Five times those words are found in the early chapters of John. “His time had not yet come, his time had not yet come …” But then in chapter 12, immediately following John’s account of the Triumphal Entry, we read these words from the mouth of Jesus: “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified . . . Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself” (John 12:23, 31-32). History is about to reach its climax.
In the first verse of our text today we are told that Jesus is going up to Jerusalem. The last place he had visited was Jericho, and it is nearly a 3,000-foot climb in elevation from Jericho to Jerusalem, though a distance of only about 17 miles. Luke’s story is compressed, making one think that the parade occurred spontaneously just as he reached Jerusalem from Jericho. But John gives us some important background information just before his account of the Triumphal Entry. Let’s begin reading in John chapter 11, verse 55:
When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, many went up from the country to Jerusalem for their ceremonial cleansing before the Passover. They kept looking for Jesus (these are Passover pilgrims from all over the country), and as they stood in the temple area they asked one another, “What do you think? Isn’t he coming to the Feast at all?” But the chief priests and Pharisees had given orders that if anyone found out where Jesus was, he should report it so that they might arrest him. Six days before the Passover (i.e., on Saturday, the day before what we call Palm Sunday), Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead (six weeks earlier)….
“Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him. The next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem (John 11:55-12:1, 9-12).
The home of Lazarus, and his sisters, Mary and Martha, was in Bethany on the opposite slopes of the Mount of Olives from the city of Jerusalem. Since Bethany was right on the road from Jericho to Jerusalem, it is not surprising that Jesus had stopped there on His way to the city.
The preparation. Jesus sends two of His disciples into a village between Bethany and Jerusalem, probably Bethphage, telling them that they will find a colt tied there. Matthew adds that there was a donkey and her colt and that both were to be requested. I suppose the other three gospel writers mention only the colt because the colt is the animal upon which Jesus actually rode. They are instructed to untie the colt and bring it to Him, and if anyone challenges them, they are simply to say, “The Lord needs it.”
The explanation. The explanation for this strange incident may be that Jesus Himself made arrangements with one of His followers ahead of time to use their donkey. If anyone questioned them, they were to use the password he gave them, namely, “The Lord needs it.” Or perhaps Jesus knew simply by His omniscience that the donkey was there and requested it on the basis of his inherent authority. The owners may have heard enough about Jesus to know He was someone very important and thus were willing to let loan their donkey to Him.
The significance. The significance of these preparatory events is not immediately obvious. But a little digging reveals that almost every detail is important. First, there is significance in the fact that the donkey’s colt had never been ridden. Because it was unspoiled by previous use, it is therefore suitable for sacred purposes. A number of times in Scripture reference is made to animals that have never been ridden or yoked, if they are to be used for sacred purposes. The red heifer in Numbers 19:2 was required to be without defect or blemish and never under a yoke. When the ark of the Covenant was seized by the Philistines during the time of the Judges, the Philistines experienced so much trouble they decided to send it back, and their own priests ordered that it be put on a new cart, with two cows that had never been yoked (1 Samuel 6:7).
There is also significance in the fact that the colt would be found tied up, not just running loose in a pasture. Back in the book of Genesis, chapter 4 the aged Jacob blessed each of his twelve sons just before his death. When he came to Judah he said, “The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his. He will tether his donkey to a vine, his colt to the choicest branch; he will wash his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes” (Genesis 49:10-11). This has always been taken as a poetic prophecy that Messiah would come from the line of Judah, which Jesus did. Just before His robes are washed in blood, a donkey’s colt tethered to the choicest branch is mentioned.
But the most significant feature is simply Jesus’ willingness to approach Jerusalem in such a public fashion. The religious leaders had already put out the word that anyone who knew where Jesus was should inform them so that He could be arrested. But far from hiding in fear, Jesus comes to Jerusalem publicly and triumphantly. Doing so constitutes a deliberate claim on His part to be the Messiah, and many recognize Him as such, though they still fail to understand that Messiah must die before He can reign. He must come in humility before He comes in power. His goal is not to save them from the Romans, but from personal sin. I think Jesus views His approach to the city as one last appeal to the people of Israel to repent and put their faith in Him.
So much for the strange preparations for a parade. Starting in verse 36 we find that
The misguided expectations of Jesus’ disciples result in a rather pathetic, and yet moving, coronation effort.
The actions of the disciples. The disciples find the colt just as Jesus said they would, and they bring it to Jesus. They spread their garments on the colt and put Jesus on it. And as He rides over the crest of the Mount of Olives, the last hill between Bethany and the Holy City, the people spread their garments on the road, giving him the true Red Carpet treatment.
Matthew and Mark tell us also that they lay branches in His path, and John identifies the branches as those of palm trees. There may have been some political significance in this, for Judas Maccabeus, the Zionist leader who fought so bravely for the Jews 150 years before and whose revolt is memorialized in the Channukah celebration, used palm branches in the path when he recaptured the temple from the hated infidels. Perhaps these pilgrims view Jesus as a new Zionist leader who will help the nation regain its freedom once again. Second, we see
The praise of the multitude. “Hosanna, hosanna to the Son of David,” they cry, according to Matthew, Mark, and John. Hosanna means “save now.” Luke tells us their joyful and loud praise included these words: “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
Clearly there is Messianic fervor exhibited in these words, and it elicits grave concern on the part of the Pharisees. Because of the popularity of Jesus, stilling the crowd is hopeless, so the Pharisees try to get Jesus Himself to rebuke them: “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” (Luke 19:39)
The rebuke of the Pharisees. The apostle John tells us why they are so concerned. In 12:19 he writes, “So the Pharisees said to one another, ‘See this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!” In the previous chapter John gives even more insight to the thinking of these religious leaders. He quotes them as saying at a meeting of the Sanhedrin, “What are we accomplishing? Here is this man performing many miraculous signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation” (John 11:47-48). Their concern about “place” precedes and exceeds their concern about “nation,” indicating that their motive is essentially selfish. They are part of the privileged class, and anyone who threatens that is their enemy.
Jesus’ response is classic:
The response of the Lord. He tells the religious leaders that the shouting is inevitable. “I tell you, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” (Luke 19:40) If His disciples are silenced, the Pharisees will have to put up with a rock concert (Get it? “the stones will cry out”—a rock concert. I apologize!). May I take an aside here? We have already been told that the animal kingdom is in submission to Jesus, for an unbroken donkey’s colt allows Him to ride on it. Now even inanimate objects of nature are said to be ready to cry out in His honor. Yet, sadly, the religious leaders whom He created to have fellowship with Him, are crying for his execution.
I have spoken of this whole incident as a rather pathetic, yet moving, coronation effort. It is pathetic because the expectations of Jesus’ disciples are seriously misguided. The only one who seems to grasp the significance of His coming to Jerusalem is Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, who anointed Him the night before in Bethany. Luke doesn’t tell the story, but John does. In John 12:1-7 we read,
“Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.”
When Judas objected at all that value going to waste, Jesus replied, “Leave her alone. It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial.” Even the disciples did not grasp the significance of her act.
But despite their pathetic failure to understand that He was born to die, that He was on the way to the cross, there is also something quite moving about the effort of these disciples and pilgrims to crown Him king. They are willing to accept the wrath of the religious leaders and the persecution of Rome because they see hope in Jesus that they could find nowhere else.
There is one more vignette in the account.
The Savior pours out His grief over the city.
Verse 41 says, “As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it.” Three weeks from today, March 15, is known as the Ides of March, famous as the day on which Julius Caesar was murdered by Brutus. Caesar, one of the greatest of the Roman Emperors, was best known for his Gallic wars, and particularly for crossing the Rubicon and sending his rival Pompey fleeing for his life across the Adriatic. The final defeat of Pompey did not bring peace to the Empire, so Caesar led his troops into battle once again, this time to Asia Minor against the son of Mithridates. His commentary on that brief but successful campaign was simply three words we learned in first-year Latin: Veni, Vidi, Vici: I came, I saw, I conquered.
Contrast that with what this verse says about Jesus: He came, He saw, He wept. Someday He will conquer, but this day He wept. This is one of only two times the Scriptures tell us that Jesus wept, the first being at the death of Lazarus in John 11. In the original it does not say that He wiped a little tear away. It says He burst into tears and wept bitterly. It is the sob and the cry of a soul in agony. Why would Jesus have this reaction as He looks over the city? I think there are three reasons:
He laments their ignorance. This is a cry regarding lost opportunity. “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace …” There are times when we all say something like, “If only I had known . . .” But at the time we didn’t, and even as we say it, we can’t be sure of what “might have been.” But here we have the heart-rending lament of the very Son of God who didknow what might have been. He knew, in fact, with divine omniscience, the path of absolute peace for the nation he so dearly loved. The Hebrew word shalom emphasizes peace with God as fundamental to any right relationship among men.
Why didn’t they know? Jesus says in verse 42, “… now it is hidden from your eyes.” Does that mean they aren’t responsible? Not at all. There is a pervading biblical principle that rejected light brings on progressive blindness. These people are ignorant, but it is their own fault. Secondly, …
He laments their judgment. Jesus knows that judgment on His people is inevitable. And indeed it will come less than 40 years after Jesus speaks, as the Roman Emperor Titus laid siege on the city of Jerusalem. History tells us He built siege works against the city. He starved the people to the point that some of the parents ate their own children. His army raped and murdered hundreds of thousands. And then they destroyed every building. The destruction was total. Josephus writes that the city was so completely razed to the ground as to leave future visitors to the spot no reason to believe that the city had ever been inhabited.[i]
The use of the word “you” ten times in just two verses (43 and 44) makes this all very personal:
“The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”
The judgment on their city will be terrible, but they can only blame themselves. There is a message here for us, too. In the person of Jesus Christ, God proved once and for all that He is the God of love and peace. But He is also the God of holy righteousness, the God who will not be mocked. If we do not recognize the one who is the source of peace with God, we too will be visited by judgment, a judgment that will make the destruction of Jerusalem pale in comparison.
He laments their rejection of Himself. “You did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.” God had sent to them his one and only Son. That Son was willing to give his life as payment for their sin. If they would just put their faith in him, they could have spiritual life and spend all of eternity with the Father. But they fail to recognize the time of God’s visitation.
There is an ignorance that is innocent, but there is also an ignorance that is culpable. These people had the revelation of God in the Old Testament. They had the continuing evidence that God was active in the life and ministry of Jesus. They could see in Him that God had not abandoned His people. There was every reason for them to have welcomed Jesus as His disciples did. But they refused to recognize all this evidence. They rejected God’s Messiah. Now they would have to live with the consequences.[ii]
It brings to mind the words of the first chapter of John’s gospel, spoken at the beginning of Christ’s ministry: “He came unto his own but his own did not receive him” (John 1:11). The same is true at the end of his ministry. Yet that is not the end of the story. John goes on to say, “He came unto his own but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” (John 1:11-12)
And He is still offering that privilege today. I can’t speak for tomorrow or the next millennium. I do not know when the day of visitation will cease and Jesus will come, this time as the conquering warrior king. But I know that this morning He is still extending the olive branch of peace with God.
Conclusion: Friends, were you there the day Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey’s colt? Were you watching from a safe vantage point, wondering what all the fuss is about and withholding judgment until you could see which way the political and religious winds were blowing?
Or were you with the religious establishment, echoing their denunciations of this upstart from Galilee as a dangerous charismatic faith healer who had never been to seminary and couldn’t be trusted because He didn’t fit the mold of a sober man of the cloth?
Or were you one of the individuals laying down palm branches, singing His praises, excited that you had finally met a leader who was willing to stand up for the little guy, finally a ray of hope in a hopeless world?
Or were you one of the very, very few who saw in His face the face of God and were simply willing to follow Him wherever He went? The latter is what God is looking for today — people who see that in Jesus dwells all the fulness of deity in bodily form, and they are willing to cast themselves wholly on Him and follow Him wherever He takes them. Can you think of any good reason not to surrender your heart and life to Jesus today?
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Pharisee
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[i]William Hendriksen, Gospel of Luke, 879
[ii]Leon Morris, The Gospel According to Luke, 281