“Jesus found a
young donkey and sat upon it, as it is written, “Do not be afraid, O
Daughter of Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt” (John 12:14, 15).
The
event described here by John (and by the other Gospel writers) is labelled as “The
triumphal entry in Jerusalem”.
The
cheering crowd, the palm branches, Jesus riding on a donkey created an
impression of celebration and royal procession.
Let
us consider John’s take on that event.
Jesus
and His disciples set out from Bethany that morning after resting overnight.
They were absorbed by the crowd of other pilgrims making their way to
Jerusalem. The word travelled faster than the crowd and a number of people from
Jerusalem made their way to meet the incoming crowd.
They
sung Psalms that are related to the yearly pilgrimage. “They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”“Blessed is the King of
Israel!” (vv. 12:13).
The
crowd making their way to Jerusalem was taken by the moment. The word spread
quickly, “Jesus of Nazareth is here! He is riding on a donkey…it is happening!
Finally…it is happening!”
The
disciples too, wondered what was going on. Some of them too, may have thought
that “This is the day…the D day…finally the Master is on about something
big.”
The
Pharisees saw in all this unwelcomed disturbance a threat to their religious
system – a tight knit system…where even God (as they viewed Him) wasn’t
permitted to enter.
The
“big” thing they failed to understand was: Jesus coming as the King promised by
God. That day He was coming as the King of peace – peace as the result of God’s
presence and redemption NOT peace as the result of military might. May you be
ready for God’s visitation day! Today…