Luke 19:36-38,40-41 NASB95
As He was going, they were spreading their coats on the road. [37] As soon as He was approaching, near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen, [38] shouting: “Blessed IS THE King WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” [40] But Jesus answered, “I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!” [41] When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it,
The account of Palm Sunday recorded in the Gospel of John adds a quote from Zechariah 9:9; “Fear not, DAUGHTER of Zion; Behold, your King comes sitting on a donkey’s coat.” Jesus had just recently raised Lazarus from the dead, and the multitudes of people were there shouting praise to God because of all the miracles they had seen. They were crying out “Hosanna,” which means “God Saves,” and they were shouting, “Blessed is THE King.” They were declaring that Jesus was the coming King the Jewish people had been waiting for. He was a king who was so powerful He could perform miracles and even raise the dead, and they were expecting Him who walked in such supernatural power to overthrow the Roman rule and the corrupt Jewish hierarchy and establish Himself as King and Redeemer. What a strange thing that this conquering King would ride into Jerusalem on the foal of a donkey, instead of on a great steed surrounded by a regal troop.
Let’s take a better look at what the prophecy in Zechariah 9 actually said so that we can better understand what the people’s expectations were
“Zechariah 9:9 NASB95
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is righteous and endowed with victory, humble, and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, a donkey’s foal.”
Maybe the people believed that the conquering King was entering into the city on a donkey’s foal to humiliate those He was about to defeat.
The righteous King was entering Jerusalem to accomplish the greatest victory in human history. It was actually going to be a victory that would forever change human history. This righteous King, though, by riding on a donkey’s foal, was giving us insight into how the King of Kings was going to overcome the fall of Adam. Jesus did not come into Jerusalem to humiliate, but in love to be humiliated for the redemption of mankind. Jesus came to conquer, not with a sword in His hand, but with the weapon of humble, selfless, sacrificial love. He didn’t come to cut off people’s heads but to conquer people’s hearts with the love of God. We see its manifestation as Jesus approached Jerusalem. “When He saw the city, He wept over it.” Even though He knew that the leaders of Jerusalem and the majority of the people were going to reject him and cruelly abuse Him, He was hurting for them. He wasn’t weeping over them because they were going to hurt Him. Instead, He was weeping over their fallenness and brokenness. He was weeping over their spiritual suffering, and therefore mental, and emotional suffering at the hands of the enemy of their souls.
This is what Christ likeness looks like. In Christ, we have been grafted into His heart, and from that place of humble, selfless love, in union with Him, we take the blows, hurting for those who wound us instead of living hurt by those who deliver the blows. On Palm Sunday, a righteous King who was a little lamb rode into Jerusalem on the back of a young foal to be slaughtered. This is how God Slew the Dragon and saved the world. Love never fails!!