Week 6, DAY 6

Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples 2 and said to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. 3 If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately.’” 4 And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it. 5 And some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” 6 And they told them what Jesus had said, and they let them go. 7 And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. 8 And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. 9 And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!10 Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!”
11 And he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. And when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.  Mark 11:1 – 11 (ESV)

The people in this passage were aware of the setting surrounding the coming Messiah so when they saw Jesus coming into Jerusalem on the colt they understood what was going on. Many of them had false hopes about the Messiah. They were expecting Jesus to take charge and lead a revolution against Rome and set the nation of Israel free from the bondage of Rome. He could have easily allowed the crowd to get into a political riot but he was a gentle King. He was showing us that he was a peaceful and gentle king by riding a colt. 

According to the Gospel of Luke, the religious leaders approached Jesus and demanded that he rebuke his disciples and the people praising him. They knew Jesus was accepting the praise of the people as the Messiah at this point. Jesus tells them that even if he were to silence them, the stones would cry out in praise to him. There was absolutely nothing that could silence the praise of the Messiah. Instead, Jesus rebukes the Pharisee’s for failing to see that this moment as the God ordained moment that it was With Palm Sunday, we are left with some challenges and questions. This weekend we celebrate and worship our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as we proclaim, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”

We all know what comes next in the Gospel account of Jesus. Most of the people who were emphatically proclaiming Jesus as Messiah will turn against him and will join the riotous mobs who will scream, “Crucify him! Kill the blasphemer! He is not our king!” 

The questions for you today is, “Are you in this for the duration? Are you committed to be a full disciple of Jesus Christ? Are you willing to praise him during the good times as well as the bad? Are you willing to put your cloak on the ground and praise the King for who He is? Are you determined to follow and commit to the Lord in all seasons of life?” This is the challenge for today and for the week. Praise the King for he has come! Praise the King for he has died, so we might live.