Read: Luke 19:35-40

Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. (Zech. 9:9)

The disciples threw their coats and robes on top of a young donkey, and for two miles they continued, travelling from Bethany toward Jerusalem, throwing down their coats, making a show out of the procession. This was the triumphal entry’s “pre-party.” Joining in the jubilation were many of those who had travelled with Jesus the whole way. They were the ones who “began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen” (v. 37). They thought they were headed into their victory lap.

The Pharisees worked to rein them in. But Jesus cherished and craved his disciples’ praise because he knew, as he had always known, that before the victory would come a crushing defeat. As they crested the Mount of Olives, Jerusalem and its temple stood before them. Instead of rebuking his disciples as the religious leaders insisted, Jesus rallied the crowd: “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out” (v. 40). As the very human Jesus entered the most difficult week of his life and, ultimately, faced his own death, I wonder what solace he found from friends and followers who praised, even when they couldn’t possibly know what it all meant.

Prayer:

We praise you, Lord Jesus Christ. We may not grasp what it all means, but “blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!” Amen.

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