Having made the call to His
disciples to be faithful to share the Gospel, Jesus proceeded toward Jerusalem.
He must have also spent a night at Bethany in the home of Lazarus, Mary and
Martha (John 12:1). Here in Luke 19:29, He and His disciples were nearing Mount
Olivet. He then despatched two of His disciples to the village, likely to be
Bethphage, to complete an unusual mission. He told them that they would find an unbroken
colt, to untie it and fetch it to Him. How did He know so exactly about the
colt and what would happen? Some people think that He had pre-arranged for the
colt to be there. Others conclude that as God He was all knowing. Whichever
position you accept, we know that Jesus had precise information and His
instruction was very exact.
The two disciples went and
found it as He had said. The colt was tied and as told, the owner asked
"Why are you untying the colt?" So they answered as instructed:
"The Lord has need of it." The disciples then brought the colt to the
Lord, threw their coats over it and put the Lord on it. So He rode into
Jerusalem on the back of that unbroken colt. In referring to Himself as
"the Lord," Jesus was claiming to be the Messiah King and was exercising
His Messianic authority.
What would be on the mind of
the people? They must have thought that He was in Jerusalem to free them from
the dominion of the Roman oppression and to establish the Messianic Kingdom. Notice
what the people did. As the Lord was near the Mount of Olives, they praised the
Lord joyfully, shouting, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the
Lord; Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” These words were taken from
Psalms 113-118. On their minds were all the miracles He performed.
Notice how extravagant they
were in their praises and honour. They waved palm leaves and even sacrificed
their coats to smoothen the path for Him. They loudly hailed Him as their
Messiah King. And Jesus did not stop them for He knew that He had to be in
Jerusalem to fulfil the Scriptures. Although He knew that their concept about
His kingship and the Kingdom were skewed, He allowed them to proceed with their
praise and adoration.
But some of the Pharisees
told Him to silent the people. But the Lord refused and replied that if the
people did not praise Him, even the stones will cry out in praise of Him. In
that statement Jesus had implicitly acknowledged His Messiahship. If the people
then, only knew Who Jesus was and what they were doing. If only they truly
recognized Jesus as the King of kings and sincerely adored Him. But obviously
they didn't. For shortly, they would be shouting, "Crucify Him, Crucify
Him!"
So as they shouted their
adulation, and even as their praises were ringing in Jesus' ears, He wept over
Jerusalem. The Lord foresaw what was coming. He wept over Jerusalem, the city
He loved, and prophesied its destruction which took place in AD 70. They
failed to discern the day of the Lord's visitation.
Isn't it hard to imagine a
King with all the resources of heaven, riding on the back of a colt? He could
have easily ridden into Jerusalem in a chariot drawn by a whole troop of
brilliant horses. But He didn't. He came on the back of a donkey. His was a
demonstration of true humility. He emptied of Himself. He did not consider
equality with God a thing to be grasped. He came to our broken fractured world,
and as He wept over Jerusalem, He wept for us. So Paul called on us to have
this mind that was in Christ Jesus. He emptied of Himself. Let's emulate
Him for it's in Him that we live and move and have our being. It's in Him, our King
that we have a new kind of life to live.
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