The Sovereignty Of God - Palm Sunday

At times in scripture we see that God instructed his prophets to speak his instructions to God’s people. At other times God instructed his prophet to present to his people an object lesson or living example of the idea that God was trying to communicate. We find an example of this in Luke 19:28-40.

At the time of this story Jesus had been ministering to the people for almost three years. The time of His death was drawing near and most of the Jews were still choosing not to believe that He was the promised Messiah. It was the time of year to celebrate the Jewish Passover and thousands upon thousands of Jewish pilgrims had already gathered in Jerusalem. In the midst of this religious celebration Jesus presented them with a picture, where His claims of being the Christ (Messiah), would be unmistakable.

28 And when he had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 When he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples, 30 saying, “Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’” 32 So those who were sent went away and found it just as he had told them. 33 And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 And they said, “The Lord has need of it.” 35 And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36 And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. 37 As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, 38 saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 39 And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”

Luke 19:28-40 is a story of Jesus entering Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives. He draws near to Jerusalem riding a colt donkey. His disciples respond by laying their cloaks on the ground in front of him and waving palm branches. The crowds praise him as they would a king.

From our perspective this seems to be a simple story of crowds of people cheering the arrival of Jesus. That is the basic truth of the story, but there is so much more when one looks more closely.

The Mount of Olives was just east of the city of Jerusalem. It was a place with sacred importance. In the book of Ezekiel God had given the prophet a vision of God and His glory leaving and returning to Jerusalem at the Mount of Olives, the mountain to the east of Jerusalem. The location of this story being the Mount of Olives would have been significant to the people of Jesus’ day.

As we continue to observe the culture of that day and the scriptures of the Old Testament we can begin to understand much more about this story. A unused animal was often used for sacred purposes. One example can be found in Numbers 19:2 where God gives instruction concerning an animal that was to be sacrificed. “This is a requirement of the law that The Lord has commanded: Tell the Israelites to bring you a red heifer without defect or blemish and that has never been under a yoke.” Christ riding on a unused colt was another message to the people about the sacredness and importance of who Christ was.

A third important detail was the type of animal on which Jesus was riding. A conquering king would enter a city riding a horse. A king coming in peace would ride a donkey. (Matthew 21:2; 1 Kings 1:33-34) Jesus had not come to be an earthly, military king who would free the Jews from Rome. He came as an eternal king that would free many from the condemnation and slavery of sin. He came in peace…the Prince of peace. Jesus was fulfilling the prophecy in Zechariah 9:9 that had been written 500 years before.

“Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”