John 12 part 2: Jesus Enters Jerusalem Triumphantly

John 12: 12-19 (Palm Sunday)

New International Version (NIV)

¹² The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. ¹³ 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!”

 ¹⁴ Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written:

 ¹⁵ “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion;
   see, your king is coming,
   seated on a donkey’s colt.”

 ¹⁶ At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.

 ¹⁷ Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. ¹⁸ Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out to meet him. ¹⁹So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”

Daniel’s Thoughts:

At my church we call the Sunday before Easter Palm Sunday. We remember the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem! God’s people praise the Lord and wave palm branches blessing Jesus! They believe that Jesus is the king of Israel the one who comes in the name of the Lord!

But pay attention, Jesus enters riding on the colt of a donkey. Jesus the King of the Earth rides into Jerusalem, the city of God in the land of God’s people Israel not on a chariot with an army, but on the back of a colt. For all of this happens is just as it is written in Zechariah 9:9 quoted here in verse 15. God’s plans are not like ours. I believe Jesus fulfilled all that was promised of the Messiah of the Old Testament and promise to Abraham.

Yet not even Jesus’ disciples understood what was happening. Only looking back after what is to come on this journey to the cross and resurrection will we be able to understand as the disciples came to understand. Then they believed as we believe.

For now God’s plan seems to be going well as we walk through the Gospel of John. But the journey has only begun as Jesus enters Jerusalem.

Daniel’s Prayer:

Lord

Prepare our hearts

For this journey to the cross

And beyond!

As you entered Jerusalem let us rejoice!

But there is more to come

For your wisdom is not of the world.

Your glory is not like our glory

For your Son came riding on the colt of a donkey.  

Amen