The Church Father, St Ephraem, exclaimed: "Your word, Lord, has many shades of meaning, just as those who study it have many different points of view." Modern studies have taught us even more clearly the truth of Ephraem's observation.

The different accounts of Palm Sunday are a good example. In the Synoptic Gospels Jesus sends his disciples into Jerusalem earlier to get the donkey on which he rides into Jerusalem. In John's account however, while walking into Jerusalem Jesus himself gets the donkey and mounts it to continue his entry into Jerusalem. Matthew and Luke present temptations in the life of Jesus in the very dramatic story of the Temptations in the Desert. John is more concerned with the human reality of Jesus facing on-going temptation, opposition and misunderstanding from the people he encountered in daily life, even his relatives and disciples. The devil tempted Jesus with the kingdoms of the world, and people expected Jesus to be a king. Jesus directly sought to correct this idea outside Jerusalem by himself getting the donkey, as if he were teaching his disciples and the people, saying: "If you expect me to be a king, remember what kind of king I must be, one who is not worldly but humble and riding on a donkey."