GREAT THINGS ENTERPRISE
CLAUDE BLACK
Mark 11:9
Diplomatic Immunity
Dating back to antiquity, the concept of diplomatic immunity describes how one nation recognizes the immunity of another nation’s representatives. To mistreat a country’s representative is to invite reprisal. In discussing this, Wikipedia gives an example: “A Roman envoy was urinated on as he was leaving the city of Tarentum. The oath of the envoy, ‘This stain will be washed away with blood!’ was fulfilled during the Pyrrhic War.”
Regarding Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem riding on a donkey, Mark wrote, “And those going before and those following were crying out, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is the one coming in the name of the Lord!’” (Mark 11:9) Translators offer two main explanations for this exuberant proclamation. On the one hand, it could be read as a messianic cry; on the other, as a joyous exclamation from the crowd. The word “hosanna” is a transliteration of a pre-exilic Hebrew expression meaning “save us now,” and it later became a general cry of joy.
Whatever the view, the crowd recognized that Jesus was coming in the “name of the Lord (kurios),” his Father, God. Few in the crowd, and perhaps even the disciples, realized that Jesus’ “diplomatic immunity” would be so grievously violated—a grievous error to be avoided even now.
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