“And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying:
“Hosanna to the Son of David!
‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’
Hosanna in the highest!”
10 And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, “Who is this?”
11 So the multitudes said, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.” (Matthew 21:8-11)
“And many spread their clothes on the road, and others cut down leafy branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 Then those who went before and those who followed cried out, saying:
“Hosanna!
‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’
10 Blessed is the kingdom of our father David
That comes [a]in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest!” (Mark 11:8-10)
“And as He went, many spread their clothes on the road.
37 Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works 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!” (Luke 19:36-38)
“The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13 took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out:
“Hosanna!
‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’
The King of Israel!” (John 12:12-13)
I begin with the four Gospel accounts of this greatly acclaimed Christian remembrance, Palm Sunday, to indicate that this is one major event in the life of Jesus where all four of the Gospel writers are compelled by the Holy Spirit to bring in. That indicates the sovereignty of the event.
Why the great crowd of people marking this event of Jesus’ arrival into Jerusalem, after all, He had been in Jerusalem at least three times? Well, the people were in the beginnings of the Passover celebration, and Jesus was extremely well known by His words and deeds, but also, He has just recently raised the man, Lazarus from the dead. The word of this most recent miracle had spread like a wildfire in California during the summer heat.
Imagine the street lined with excited people on both sides leaving a rather narrow passageway for Jesus to enter as a proud king, but instead He humbly comes in riding a colt, young donkey.
Many of the people were paving His pathway with their very own garments, while multitudes of others were both waving and spreading palm branches before Him.
The palm branches were symbolic of great victory, as a mighty warrior king returning from battle with a foreign enemy. For the Christian, it marks the victory we now know was won on the Cross on the coming Friday after this entry.
Jesus rode into Jerusalem upon a young colt of a donkey which had never been ridden before. This fact has often been overlooked. It is obvious to this writer that it marks the Sovereignty of our LORD recognized and honored by the submission of the colt. A side note, we find in the Scriptures that both the animal world and nature, not to mention the demonic realm, recognized the impact of His Sovereignty on them, while man struggles to accept this.
That Jesus rode in on a donkey was foretold in the Old Testament writings of both Isaiah and Zechariah. Let it also be known that He fulfilled that prophecy then and He will later fulfill Revelation’s prophecy of riding in on a white horse indicating His victorious power, and Kingship over all for all times Eternal.
On that Sunday of entry, most of the people on the streets expected that He was to be the king who would overthrow Roman dominance over the Hebrew people. However, Jesus refused to take on the role of the lesser king and the underwhelmingly small kingdom they envisioned.
Here is the dramatic change of mindset amongst the people in Jerusalem during that Passover week. On Sunday they were excitedly praising Jesus! “Here He comes!” “There He is!” “Hosannah!” By Friday it became, “Crucify Him!” “Crucify Him!”
Two thousand years later, how different are we? In far too many of our modern worship services, there are folks who are emotionally drawn to make decisions for heaven when they die but reject allowing the Victor Jesus to have the rest of their lives as their LORD. These unsuspecting folk me one day hear the dreaded words of Jesus, “Depart from Me, I never knew you.”
O beloved, make certain when you welcome Him in your moment of decision, that you are expecting the King of Glory and His Kingdom in your life in submission to His rule and not as a king of your making to enhance your lesser kingdom. Get it right, and then . . . Pray On!