After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it.’”
Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?”
They replied, “The Lord needs it.”
They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road.
When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:
“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!
“I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”
When Jesus entered the temple courts, he began to drive out those who were selling. “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be a house of prayer’; but you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”
Every day he was teaching at the temple. But the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill him. Yet they could not find any way to do it, because all the people hung on his words.
Luke 19:28-48
Those who were sent found things just as Jesus had told them. I’m now in my 70s. I have known the Lord since I was a preschooler. One thing that I’ve observed over and over, is that everything is exactly like God says. The more you study the Bible the more you will see that this is true. What the Bible says about human nature, what it says about the creation, what it says about everything is the truth. Everything is exactly as He told us.
Just as Jesus had told them, the young donkey’s owners asked them, “Why are you untying the donkey?” “The Lord needs it,” they replied, and they brought it to Jesus. They put their cloaks on the colt, Jesus got on this little animal and He rode into Jerusalem.
Where did Jesus get an idea like that? Over and over as things happen, Jesus says, “This had to happen in order to fulfill the scriptures.” God had said in Zechariah 9:9 that the coming of Messiah would not be the glorious king that the people were expecting to deliver them from Rome. He would come humbly, lowly, riding on the foal of a donkey. Jesus meticulously fulfills the prophecies, and not just in matters where He gave direction and the people obeyed. He fulfills the prophesies in other ways like His birth in Bethlehem, like the fact that, when He hung on the cross, Gentiles would divide His clothes and cast lots for His garment. All those details were orchestrated by God because it had to be just as God spoke it.
The disciples didn’t comprehend that at the time. The Gospel of John tells us they would understand later. But in the moment, John tells us, they didn’t understand. They knew the scriptures but this was a detail they hadn’t picked up on. The only reason I know that is because John’s Gospel tells us so. But Jesus knew all the details because He is the Word of God. And He had given the Word of God.
So now Jesus rides into town on a colt. Crowds come out to greet Him because they’d heard about His having raised Lazarus from the dead. They knew about many miracles He’d done before. It was exciting! Jesus was a celebrity and they hoped He would be their deliverer. In fact, the crowds had prevented Jesus’ enemies from killing Him because they were afraid the people would turn on them.
So what about the crowds? Did they really love Jesus? Well, not exactly. They loved the idea of Jesus doing what they wanted. They loved the idea of Jesus giving free meals and making sick people well. They loved the idea of Jesus overthrowing their Roman rulers. But the idea of personally submitting their lives to Him, taking up their cross to follow him? Not so much.
Jesus’ enemies were upset when they heard the crowds shouting praises, quoting scripture, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” The Pharisees told Jesus to make the people stop. There will always be people who are upset by the exuberant worship that others offer.
In response to the Pharisees, Jesus said, “I tell you, if they were to keep silent, the stones would cry out.” I want to reiterate what we said last time. Jesus Christ is Lord! The creation knows it. The rocks have more sense than a lot of people because Jesus Christ is Lord. When He told the wind and the waves to be quiet, they obeyed. The demons knew who Jesus is and they obeyed when He cast them out.
Jesus knew that the crowd would turn against Him. Jesus knew that in a matter of just a few days, many would be yelling, “Crucify, crucify!” Not all of them. It wasn’t all the same people, but the crowd that would prevail later that week, would be those who would call for His death. And so, Jesus wept. Not because of His own impending suffering and death. Jesus wept for the city, saying, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.” (Luke 19:42-44)
John 1 says, “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.
It was tragic. They saw miracle after miracle after miracle. Yet when it came right down to it, they didn’t recognize their own deepest need. The paralyzed man on the mat’s deepest need wasn’t to get his health back. It was that his sins might be forgiven. And when Jesus forgave his sin, the Pharisees accused Him of blasphemy because only God can forgive sins. They didn’t want to believe the truth. They were not looking for a Messiah who brings forgiveness.
Jesus came to die. He knew on Palm Sunday that He would be in the grave before the week was out. He knew that this was the reason that He had to be born, so that as a man, He could be the sacrifice for humankind. Men and women, boys and girls can only be saved through the blood of Jesus. He is the only One who brings salvation. Hosanna!
