April 2

“The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!’ “ —MATTHEW 21:9

During the annual Passover celebration, Jerusalem was filled with people. Every Jewish adult within a twenty mile radius was obligated to attend, and their number greatly increased with many thousands flocking in from more distant areas. 

In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem is something of a climax for which anticipation has been building ever since the disciples had identified Jesus as ‘the Christ, the Son of the living God’. Matthew 16:21 states, “From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law…” Not only is the place significant, but the timing of Passover is extremely significant as for 1500 years it was a clear foreshadowing of Jesus as the Passover Lamb who would be sacrificed.

Before entering Jerusalem, Jesus sends two disciples to retrieve the colt of a donkey for His use. On all other occasions, Scripture records Jesus travelling on foot, but this was to fulfill prophecy in Zechariah 9:9, which says, “See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” The crowd spread their cloaks on the road and lay branches before Him, praising and shouting, “Hosanna in the highest!”

Just a few days later, Jesus may have appeared as a helpless victim of the Sanhedrin Council and the Roman Governor, but by no means did He come as a victim. He came as King and first demonstrates control of His situation by requisitioning the donkey, a right which belonged to royalty and claimed by the Rabbis. As He enters the city, it is to the mass acclamation of great crowds declaring Him as Messiah and King. He does not dispute this, but in fact, demonstrates it by overturning the tables of money changers and driving out all who were buying and selling in the temple, which He tells them is ‘the house of prayer for all nations’ (Mark 11:17).

While in Jerusalem, Jesus taught every day in the temple courts and healed the sick, adding more fuel to the conspiracy of Jewish leaders to kill Him. They question His authority and endeavour to trap Him with trick questions, but all attempts to discredit Jesus not only fail, but incriminate His accusers, excluding them from entering the kingdom of God. Members of the Sanhedrin Council become increasingly threatened, and expedite with a sense of urgency their plot to rid the world of Jesus. What they unwittingly did instead was set in motion God’s divine plan for saving the world to which Jesus was fully committed.

PRAYER: Dear precious Jesus, thank you for entering Jerusalem, knowing all that lay ahead of You. You are my King and I will forever praise and worship You.

TO REFLECT UPON: Does Jesus reign as King in my life?