Calvary Road Baptist Church
“THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SAVIOR’S RIDE INTO JERUSALEM”
Palm Sunday is so named in recognition of the Lord Jesus Christ’s triumphal entry into the ancient Jewish capital city of Jerusalem, taking its name from the day of the week it occurred and also the branches of palm trees the multitudes took in hand as they went to meet His arrival and lay them down before Him as He passed by.
Of course, we see the significance of Palm Sunday because of its proximity to our Lord’s crucifixion on Friday and His resurrection from the dead three days after that. However, Palm Sunday had a significance to those who experienced it that was unrelated in their minds to events that would follow later in the week, stupendous events they had not anticipated. The reaction of the multitudes to the Lord Jesus Christ’s arrival and entry into Jerusalem was closely related to the events that immediately preceded what we now refer to as Palm Sunday.
Try to imagine yourself in Jerusalem on that day, but with the memories of recent events fresh in your mind. Traveling from the East, where the bulk of the Jewish population has continued to reside since the Babylonian captivity, suppose it is your first pilgrimage to Jerusalem for Passover, and you and your group of travelers have only crossed the Jordan River three days before. It was last Thursday that you passed between old Jericho and new Jericho, you and your party of travelers, meeting up with another large group just come down from Galilee. Of course, for the past three years you have heard stories about a miracle-working Galilean, but little did you imagine that you would encounter Him and His disciples in Jericho. Luke 18.35-43 describes the scene:
35 And it came to pass, that as he was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the way side begging:
36 And hearing the multitude pass by, he asked what it meant.
37 And they told him, that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by.
38 And he cried, saying, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me.
39 And they which went before rebuked him, that he should hold his peace: but he cried so much the more, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me.
40 And Jesus stood, and commanded him to be brought unto him: and when he was come near, he asked him,
41 Saying, What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee? And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight.
42 And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee.
43 And immediately he received his sight, and followed him, glorifying God: and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto God.
Had you not been standing there you would not have believed it. There before your eyes, and within proximity for you to hear their words, you witness Jesus the Galilean restore the sight of not only Bartimaeus but also his companion. Your mind is spinning as the writings of the Psalms, and the Prophets that you have known since your childhood are pouring over your consciousness, and as you move along with the flow of the crowd of pilgrims through the city. Then, before you know it, something else transpires. Luke 19.1-10:
1 And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho.
2 And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich.
3 And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature.
4 And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree to see him: for he was to pass that way.
5 And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house.
6 And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully.
7 And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner.
8 And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.
9 And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham.
10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
Though many of your fellow travelers were annoyed by the Galilean’s willingness to go and dine with a publican, you were slow to make up your mind about His actions. You were still mulling over in your mind the miracle only minutes earlier that restored sight to two blind beggars, the fact that the one yelled out that He was the Son of David, and later His words to Zacchaeus: “This day is salvation come to this house.” You wondered to yourself at the time, “Who talks like that? And what kind of man can give sight to the blind?” Then you settled in for a good night’s sleep and a full day’s walk to Jerusalem the next day. You still remember that as you nodded off to sleep, His words echoed in your thinking:
“For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
Was it the next morning, early Friday morning, only two days ago, when you and the other pilgrims reassembled for the day-long trek out of the Jordan River Valley up to Mount Zion and Jerusalem? Was that when this Jesus of Nazareth taught those accompanying Him the troubling parable? You still remember waking up with His comment from the evening before on your mind: “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Then, as you all walked, there was only one speaking, and He was loud enough for all to hear in the ravine known in modern times as the Wadi Qilt. Luke 19.11-28:
11 And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear.
12 He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return.
13 And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.
14 But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us.
15 And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading.
16 Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds.
17 And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities.
18 And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds.
19 And he said likewise to him, Be thou also over five cities.
20 And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin:
21 For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up that thou layedst not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow.
22 And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow:
23 Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury?
24 And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds.
25 (And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds.)
26 For I say unto you, That unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him.
27 But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.
28 And when he had thus spoken, he went before, ascending up to Jerusalem.
Even two days past you do not yet fully understand the Galilean’s parable. What stands out in your mind is He is not playing games. His business is serious. He spoke about life and death, heaven and Hell, faithfulness which is shown by conduct versus disloyalty which is also demonstrated by behavior, with the judgment of both certain when the king returns. But you ponder in your mind, “Was He not then speaking about Himself?” As well, you recollect that somewhere along the way you and your other companions following Him and making your way to Jerusalem for the Passover lost sight of Him. He was nowhere to be seen. How could someone who was the center of attention do that? It’s still a mystery to you. Upon your arrival in Jerusalem, you asked for directions, you located your relative who lives there, then you embraced your previously unknown cousin, introduced him to your friends, and settled in for the Sabbath approaching with the setting of the sun. Though tired, you found it very difficult to sleep. Racing through your mind were the sights and conversations of the miracle you had seen worked the day before, the words to the publican you had heard the afternoon before, and the stirring parable the Galilean taught you all as you trekked to Jerusalem.
You woke up with a start the next morning. It was the Sabbath, so there was no work, no extended walking, eating only food already prepared, a short distance to the synagogue for worship, and most of the day spent relaxing and rehearsing the news. The despised Romans have reinforced their troops, as they typically did for high holy days. It was heard that Jesus the Nazarene is in the vicinity. And you told your astonished relatives what you saw and heard. Of course, they were polite but refused to believe what you told them. But several of your traveling companions bore witness to everything you said. One man mentioned that there is a strange air. It’s more than the excitement of the high holy days. “This year,” he said, “it’s different somehow.”
It is now Sunday. Everyone in the city seems to be wondering if Jesus the Nazarene will show Himself for the Passover. The chatter on the street is that the chief priests and Pharisees are searching for Him. John 11.57:
“Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a commandment, that, if any man knew where he were, he should shew it, that they might take him.”
All is a buzz. Everyone is talking. No one has seen Him, but it is said He is nearby with close friends. You decide to go for a walk and head out in the direction of the Mount of Olives, circling the Antonia Fortress on the North side of the Temple, and passing through the East Gate.
As you pass through the East Gate something catches your attention below. Not on the floor of the valley of the brook Kidron below you, but a bit up the other side. Everyone is looking to the South end of the Mount of Olives. Thousands of people have surrounded Someone. It’s hard to see Him from where you are, despite looking down on the scene. But the Man is moving, and the crowd is making way for Him. You notice that they’ve started chanting something. The whole mass of people are saying it over and over again, louder and louder:
“Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.”
Then, to your amazement, you recognize the man at the center of attention. It’s the same man you first saw in Jericho. It’s the man who gave sight to the two blind men, the One called the Son of David. He was the one you had walked with from Jericho to Jerusalem, listening to Him teach before you lost sight of Him. You still don’t know why everyone is shouting “Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.” And then He draws close enough for you to make it out. He is not walking but riding. But He is not riding a horse. Rather, He is riding a donkey and a donkey colt at that.
Now you know why they are chanting.
Now you know why they surround Him.
Now you know why they have palm branches in their hands that they set before Him.
Now you know why they are taking off their cloaks and laying them on the street in front of the procession.
The One you saw give sight to the blind, bring salvation to the house of the publican, teach the disturbing parable along the way to Jerusalem, who the chief priests and Pharisees are seeking, about Whom the throngs chant “Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord,” is riding a donkey. And not just a donkey, but a donkey colt. A young donkey.
What, pray tell, is the significance of the Lord Jesus Christ riding into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey colt? Of course, you and I know what will transpire following the Lord Jesus Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem. But we have the advantage of the completed revelation of God’s Word and the perspective of 2,000 years of elapsed history with which to reflect on the event. The people of that day did not. They were caught up in the unfolding of important events without comprehending precisely how things fit together.
Did the Jewish people in Jerusalem on that day so long ago recognize that Palm Sunday was a significant day with a profoundly important event taking place? Yes. However, that does not mean that they understood what they knew was an important event. And part of the reason they knew it was a very big deal, a most profound event, was the Lord Jesus Christ’s approach to Jerusalem atop a donkey colt. There is so much about the Lord’s triumphal entry that is worth addressing, examining, unearthing, and exploring. We cannot do it all, so I proposed to address this matter of the donkey colt.
Four comments will help us to understand the significance of our Lord Jesus Christ riding into Jerusalem on a never before ridden young donkey:
First, TAKE NOTE OF HIS POWER
You saw the effect of His power in Jericho when He gave sight to the two blind men. You remember His allusion to power when He spoke of coming to seek and to save that which was lost. Reflect with me as I make two comments about the Lord Jesus Christ’s power:
First, in a psalm that refers to the LORD’s mercy, strength, and salvation, the multitude respond to the Lord Jesus Christ riding on a donkey colt by chanting a portion of Psalm 118.26:
“Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD.”
This is the verse the multitude chanted, in part, when they cried
“Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.”
They would have no conception of the King of Israel, the One that comes in the name of the Lord, their anticipated Messiah, not being all powerful.
Second, Psalm 18.10 informs us,
“And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind.”
Our Lord Jesus Christ could have been born along on the back of a powerful and majestic angel, a cherub. But He chose instead to ride a little donkey.
Second, TAKE NOTE OF HIS POSSESSIONS
Be mindful that it was a borrowed colt that He rode. The borrowed colt reminds us that He not only did not have a place to lay His head during His public ministry but that He possessed no property or riches of any kind. For three and a half years He walked about the countryside, visited villages and towns, and on rare occasions a city or two. All the while living as a guest of others while He taught the multitudes, trained His disciples, healed the sick, cleansed the lepers, and raised the dead. The total of His possessions seems to have been the clothes He wore, that the Roman soldiers would cast lots for at the foot of His cross.[1]
That said, it must be understood that in reality, everything belongs to Him. John 1.3 reveals to us,
“All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.”
In Colossians 1.16 the Apostle Paul writes,
“For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him.”
Go back to the Old Testament where we read Deuteronomy 8.18:
“But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.”
The One who owns the cattle on a thousand hills and the wealth in every mine left it all behind when He left heaven’s glory to come to this earth, where what rightfully is His is in the hands of the god of this world, the prince of the power of the air, the Devil, Satan, who wrenched this world from the grip of His groundskeeper Adam when he transgressed, and all mankind fell into sin.[2]
How does the One who created all, and Who owns all, take back that which is rightfully His? He does so in two phases: When the Lord Jesus Christ came to this evil world the first time He came as the lamb of God to take away the sins of the world, John 1.29. He did so by giving His life a ransom for sin, to redeem His Own by His shed blood. He has done that great feat. When He comes to this old world the second time, He will come as the lion of the tribe of Judah, and as the King going forth to conquer and take back by force what is rightfully His. Thus, as He rides into Jerusalem on the foal of an ass, He is preparing to recapture the free moral agents who are rightfully His, laying the groundwork for the Gospel of grace by dying for the sins of His Own on the cross.
Third, TAKE NOTE OF HIS PROCESSION
Do you think He doesn’t know the chief priests and Pharisees are searching for His whereabouts? Do you think He doesn’t know of the plot to seize Him and to kill Him? Do you think He isn’t aware of the insanity of those who, though they are perfectly aware of His miracle-working power, are not determined to take His life? Do you think He is not aware of Judas Iscariot’s impending betrayal for thirty pieces of silver?
He dispatches two of His men to fetch the donkey colt, then He sits atop this never before ridden animal, and rides into Jerusalem the Sunday before Passover amidst the teeming mass of excited pilgrims in full sight of the religious leaders and the Romans. He obviously has no intention of skulking into Jerusalem to hide His presence from His enemies. And He has no concern for the dread that He would arouse in the minds of the leaders who would be jealous of any figure who was popular with the multitudes.
He enters the ancient city in full sight of everyone, in a procession that testifies to His royalty. For there was not a person there (except for the Romans, of course) who was unfamiliar with Zechariah 9.9:
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.”
Written in 494 B. C., after the Babylonian captivity, the prophet is used by the LORD to promise His people that their King will come, that He will be just and will have salvation, and that He will be lowly, riding on a donkey colt.[3]
There are two ways to enter a capital city as its king. You can enter riding a war horse, as Alexander rode Bucephalus into Jerusalem as a conqueror in 329 B. C.[4] Or you can come in peace on a donkey colt, as the Lord Jesus Christ entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, thereby fulfilling Old Testament prophecy by His procession.
Finally, TAKE NOTE OF HIS PROGRAM
Reflect on the events of the day as a culmination of the events leading up to Palm Sunday. Do they not show forth the Lord Jesus Christ’s uniqueness?
He was born to a woman who had never known a man or delivered children. He would be buried in a tomb that had never held a body. And He would ride on the back of an animal that had never born a rider. What an incredible series of events! They serve primarily to set the stage for even more momentous events soon to follow.
The pilgrims and citizens of Jerusalem knew something big was taking place. And they correctly associated it with Psalm 118.26 and Zechariah 9.9. That said, they still misunderstood. They imagined the salvation Christ was bringing was deliverance from Roman occupation and the overthrow of their evil oppressors. They had no conception of their need for salvation from their sins.
Important things would unfold in Jerusalem over the next few days. The communion of the Lord’s Supper would be instituted as an ordinance for His fledgling Church to observe until His return in power and great glory. Final instructions would be given to His eleven faithful apostles. Important final predictions would be made.
Then He would go to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray and to be betrayed. There He would be arrested on trumped up charges, unjustly and illegally tried three times, and be crucified between two thieves just outside the city the next morning.
He would give His life a ransom for all, shedding His blood for the remission of sins. His dead body was taken from the cross and placed in a never before used rich man’s tomb. But the tomb was only borrowed. He wouldn’t need it for long. After three days He rose from the dead, that stupendous victory we will celebrate next Sunday.
How do you respond to someone like Him? When He could have surrounded Himself in regal splendor, He chose instead to live a humble and unpretentious life. When He could have ridden into the city carried by an angel, he chose a lowly donkey colt instead. When He could have called ten thousand angels to lay waste to all mankind for our insults and blasphemies against Him, He chose instead to let brutal men mistreat and torture Him on the way to crucifying Him.
How do you respond to someone like Him? Three recommendations for your consideration:
First, you’d best not ignore Him.
Second, you’d best not reject Him.
Third, you’d be very wise to simply trust Him.
__________
[1] John 19.23-24
[2] Ephesians 2.2; 2 Corinthians 4.4
[3] Edward Reese, The Reese Chronological Bible, (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House, 1977), page 1194.
[4] https://www.jewishhistory.org/alexander-the-great/ 3/24/18
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Pastor@CalvaryRoadBaptist.Church