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In Christ, Mark~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives,
Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and
at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and
bring them to Me. If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them,
and he will send them right away.”
This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
“Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”
The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of Him and those that followed shouted:
“Hosanna to the Son of David!”
“Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”
The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
Matthew 21:1-11
This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Today, we’ll pause our study of the Book of Deuteronomy to enter into a series of messages on what is referred to as “Passion week”. Beginning today, Palm Sunday through Easter, we will walk with Jesus as He makes His triumphal entry into Jerusalem and start the countdown to the end of His earthly ministry by crucifixion before being resurrected in power and into authority three days later, defeating death and the grave.
We begin with this passage from Matthew:
As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to Me. If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”
This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
“Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”
The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of Him and those that followed shouted:
“Hosanna to the Son of David!”
“Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Hosanna in the highest Heaven!”
When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”
The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.” Matthew 21:1-11
I think the first thing we need to note here is that this wasn’t a random, impulsive, event.
Like so many other aspects of Jesus’ life, prophecy had predicted what was to come and in this instance, the prophecy had come from the prophet Zechariah who foretold of a future king who was coming who would be righteous and victorious, a king who was worthy of their shouting and rejoicing.
Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your King comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. Zechariah 9:9
And so as we look at the scene painted in our scripture passage from Matthew’s Gospel, we see that Jesus, the king Zechariah told of, had now come to Jerusalem but as He did, I wonder about this…
Did the people who gathered to greet Him really know who He was?
Yes, Zechariah had said that a King was coming, and not just any king (small "k") but rather the King of kings and Lord of lords, a King that deserved all the pomp and circumstance of any other king who had come to Jerusalem and more. That pomp and circumstance was evident in the way the people responded to Jesus, following the customary traditions when any royalty would come to the city.
We read where some spread their cloaks out on the road while others cut branches from trees and placed them on the path Jesus would travel on, paving the path before Him. And there weren’t just a few people there for God’s Word tells us that crowds went ahead of Jesus shouting and proclaiming the following praises to Him:
“Hosanna to the Son of David!”
“Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Hosanna in the highest Heaven!”
You see, it’s clear that the people who came to welcome Jesus to Jerusalem knew something about the man who was riding the donkey across their cloaks and palm branches. They acknowledged Him as David’s son, a man in the lineage of their beloved former king who had a reputation for being someone who was after God’s own heart. And they declared Jesus as being blessed, seeing Him as having come in the name of the Lord and calling for adoration to come on Him from the highest heavens.
But did they really know who He was?
I think we get a sense that they didn’t for within the clamor and excitement over Jesus’ arrival as He moved from the road into Jerusalem itself, we read where His coming caused quite a stir in the city, leading people to ask on simple question:
“Who is this?”
The question show us that the people truly didn’t recognize this Man who had come with great fanfare, this Man who had been predicted through prophecies of old, this Man who rode into the city as the Messiah, not on a warhorse but rather humbly on a donkey.
So what answer was given regarding the curiosity over Jesus’ identity?
We see it in our scripture passage:
“This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
It’s interesting that they knew more about where Jesus had come from than who He was. In regard to that, we see that they didn't view Him as the Messiah or the Son of God who had been sent to save them and all mankind but rather as a mere messenger, a prophet who had been sent to speak to them. With this, it’s of little wonder why the people would be shouting something completely 180 degrees out from “Hosanna!” after just a mere five days, demanding this be done to Jesus:
“Crucify Him!”
And when they got what they wanted, we go to the cross and find the crucified Christ saying this to the Father, a statement that only affirmed that the people in Jerusalem were clueless about His true identity?
“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." Luke 23:34
If the Jewish people had really known who Jesus was, they wouldn't have falsely accused and convicted Him, brutally beat Him, and then execute Him. They would have continued to treat Him as royalty long after He rode across the cloaks and palm branches on the road into Jerusalem. But they wouldn’t open their hearts and minds to God to understand and discern that He had sent His Son to save them and all other sinners of the world.
Today, we have so many people in our world who either don't know Jesus at all or think they know Him but really don’t for if they did, they would respect and revere Him in their lives. They would be proclaiming His greatness and goodness while bowing down to worship Him. They would strive with every ounce of their being to live like Him in all that they do, seeing Him as the greatest role model ever. And they would realize that without Him and the salvation found only in believing in His name, they have no hope in this life.
My brothers and sisters, as we enter this final week of Jesus’ life, let our prayer be that all would come to really know Jesus as the scriptures define Him:
That He is the Good Shepherd who was willing to lay down His life for us, His sheep (John 10:11).
That He is the Lamb of God who gave Himself up freely as a living sacrifice to take away the sins of the world (John 1:29).
And that He is the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25), the Savior of all who would come to save all who would place their trust and believe in Him as the only way to God the Father (John 3:16, John 14:6).
This is who Jesus is.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.
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