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This is a photo of an ancient gate into the City of Jerusalem that I took from the Garden of Gethsemane. This was a similar view Jesus would have had on Palm Sunday as he rode from Bethany toward the city. This gate is called the Golden Gate—which is also known as the Gate of Mercy in Hebrew. Church tradition says Jesus went through this gate into Jerusalem during the Triumphal Entry on Palm Sunday, but I wonder if there was a different option. 

You see, Jesus rode into Jerusalem four days before the Passover on a day known as Lamb Selection Day. On this day, Jewish families went to the temple to select and purchase the lamb they would sacrifice for Passover. A law in Exodus required that the lambs on sale at the temple come only from the fields of nearby Bethlehem, and to make access easier for the thousands of lambs coming into the city for Passover, a sheep gate was built according to Nehemiah 3, that was right near the temple. 

Why is this interesting? Well, the Gospels don’t mention which gate Jesus entered, and while the Golden Gate is the convenient gate when riding from the east, I think it’s possible Jesus went past the gate fit for a king ... to instead enter by the nearby Sheep Gate.

Wouldn’t it have been fitting for the Lamb of God, who was born in Bethlehem, to go through the Sheep Gate on the day lambs were selected for the forgiveness of sin?! 

For reflection:

"Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! — John 1:29