Most Biblical scholars will tell us that Jesus’ Triumphant Entry into Jerusalem occurred on the day Jesus arrived from Jericho (Mark 11:1; cp. 10:32, 46, 52), but this simply isn’t so, and it can be proved from the text that it was Jesus’ second entry into Jerusalem that is what scholars refer to as Jesus’ Triumphant Entry. Notice that Mark 11:12 has Jesus approaching Jerusalem from Bethany, and this is some time after his entry from Jericho (Mark 11:1-11).
Mark records that Jesus left Bethany for Jerusalem “on the marrow,” which simply means the next day, but did this occur the next day after his first entry or the next day after something else. Remember, we already know Mark has left out a lot in this part of the text. Why this was done has to do with two things: his purpose and space available on the manuscript. The autographs were written on a scroll, and the scroll was only so long and has space for only so much information. Therefore, one must decide beforehand what he wishes to record, but what he leaves out must not be noticeable to the reader. According to ancient rules of writing, the story of two records must flow in a smooth unbroken manner. In other words, as Mark was compiling Peter’s Gospel narrative for his Roman audience, he had to choose which records to use and which to leave out, but the end product had to appear like one continuous story.[1]
According to John 12:12, the phrase: on the marrow or the next day or the day that Jesus reentered Jerusalem (cp. Mark 11:12-15) was the day after the feast or dinner that Martha had made for him and his disciples at Bethany (cp. John 12:1-2). Days in ancient Jerusalem began and ended at sundown, not midnight as is reckoned today. Jesus left Jerusalem for Bethany near the end of the day (Mark 11:11). He ate dinner at Martha’s home in Bethany probably just after sundown, so does on the marrow mean the next daylight portion of the same day Jesus ate with Martha’s family, or does it mean the calendar day following that event? If we take into consideration the fact that Jesus or one of his disciples had to search for the colt for his second entry into Jerusalem (John 12:14), we must conclude that Jesus’ first and second entry into Jerusalem was separated by a full calendar day.
Why is this so? It is because the day Jesus ate at Martha’s home was a Sabbath, and this is made clear in the fact that the colt wasn’t tied, but left free to roam around, so a search had to be made to fine it, when it was legal for it to carry a burden again (cp. Exodus 20:10; Deuteronomy 5:14).
Therefore, both Matthew and Mark record Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem from Jericho (Mark 11:1-11; Matthew 21:1-17), but John records his second entry, which is most certainly the Triumphant Entry (John 12:12-15). Whereas the people inside Jerusalem didn’t know who Jesus was at his first entry (Matthew 21:10), these same folks left the city in order to greet him when they heard he was coming to the city a second time (John 12:12-13).
This second entry is also recorded by Mark (Mark 11:12-15), However, while he was yet on his way, Jesus attempted to pick some figs from a fig tree, but, finding none, he cursed the tree, and the text says the disciples heard it. Although Matthew claims the tree immediately died and began to wither (Matthew 21:19), it wasn’t obvious to the human eye until the next day (Mark 11:20). Why would Jesus do such a thing, since it wasn’t the time to harvest figs (Mark 11:13-14)? The Jewish nation was sometimes referred to as a fig tree (Jeremiah 29:17; Hosea 9:10), and Jesus had come seeking fruit for three years and found none (Luke 13:6-9). His ministry lasted for three-and-a-half years, so this would have been in the fourth year that he sought fruit, and found none on the tree. With leaves upon the tree, there should have been unripe fruit growing, but Matthew records there was only leaves on the tree (Matthew 21:19). Therefore, Jesus’ curse of the tree foretells his judgment upon the fruitless Jewish nation that refused to receive its Messiah.
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[1] According to ancient literary rules: “For, though all parts must be independently perfected, when the first is complete the second will be brought into essential connection with it, and attached like one link of a chain to another; there must be no possibility of separating them; no mere bundle of parallel threads; the first is not simply to be next to the second, but part of it, their extremities intermingling.” [The Way to Write History 55; Lucian of Samosata; cir. 120 CE to 180 AD]
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