Luke 19:31-34
Well, we’re back in Luke 19 today, so you can turn there in your Bible. Last week, we introduced the triumphal entry, this section of the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem, the Lord’s coronation procession into Jerusalem, and started to see his preparations that he’s making to enter the city as its king. So as you can see, this is the perfect Mother’s Day message. Chose this specifically for you moms.
I talked to quite a few of you after last week’s message, and we were rejoicing together in God’s good providence to give us kind of such a timely illustration for our text in the coronation ceremony of King Charles III; hadn’t happened, a coronation celebration like that, for seventy years. The last time was his mother, Queen Elizabeth, and now King Charles; and I just find that the Lord is so kind to do that kind of thing for us as he plans world events to fit our preaching calendar, I’m very grateful, and if you’ve not yet thanked him for that, be sure you do that because he, he does spin the world around everything that happens here in Greeley, Colorado. He orders all things, all things according to the counsel of his will. I can legitimately say that.
But today we are going to pick up where we left off last time and finish that opening section we were going through, on the preparations that Jesus is making to enter into Jerusalem, planning his own coronation ceremony and procession. So let’s start just by reading the text that we’re going to cover today, starting in Luke 19:28. We’ll read through verse 34.
“And when he had said these things,” and that points back to the previous section, the parable that he just told, the parable of the minas. “When he had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. When he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples saying, ‘Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you why are you untying it, you shall say this: “The Lord has need of it.”’ So those who were sent went away and found it just as he had told them, and as they were untying the colt, its owner said to them, ‘Why are you untying the colt?’ And they said, ‘The Lord has need of it.’”
Seems like a very simple, straightforward narrative, and seems like the elements that are in that narrative are rather mundane, common, plain; and there is a commonness to that section of Scripture. There is something that seems rather mundane about him making arrangements to get a donkey, a colt of a donkey. And yet I have had to cut a lot out to make sure that I’m clear because there are so many details in that short section. But there is so much here, as I’ve seen in all of Scripture how much is packed into a short and simple narrative. It’s astounding, and it’s very clearly not the word of a man, but the Word of God.
We see here that Jesus and his disciples, along with a band of Jewish pilgrims, they were in Jericho at the beginning of this text. And they leave Jericho on Friday, and we could be specific about the date, Friday, March 27, AD 33. They arrived that same day in the little village of Bethany, in what we suppose is a district called Bethphage, a district, kind of a suburb, even, of Jerusalem. And it was either that evening or maybe even the following day, which was the Sabbath day, Jesus was the guest at a dinner or a banquet, you could say, hosted by Simon the Leper. He hosted a dinner for Jesus and his disciples. He’s no longer a leper. He’s called Simon the Leper because he was someone known by the disciples, someone who had been healed of his leprosy. But that’s the moniker that attached to him because of Jesus’ miraculous power displayed in his life.
He hosted a dinner for Jesus and his disciples on that day, and along with other disciples who lived in Bethany who came there, and that would have included Jesus, his good friends, his disciples, but his good friends Lazarus, his sisters Martha and Mary. In fact, we know from parallel accounts in Matthew 26 and Mark 14 and John 12 that the dinner was the scene of a most meaningful gift given by Mary, sister of Lazarus and sister of Martha.
Mary was in that banquet scene, that dinner scene, and she had broken open an alabaster flask. It contained a very expensive ointment of pure nard, and she anointed Jesus’ head with it, there in, in the crowded room. And Jesus told everyone there, even against his own disciples’ complaints about the waste, he said, “No, no, no. This act has prepared my body for burial.” It’s very unlikely that Mary herself understood the true significance of her act of worship. She did better than she knew. We can see many times in Scripture of people speaking better than they knew. But she did and acted in a way way beyond her understanding and her foresight. For all she knew, she was anointing Jesus’ head at that time, so that in her own small way, she acted out the anointing of the Messiah, Israel’s next great king.
But like all the other disciples, Mary, she is on this occasion filled with joy of messianic expectation. She’s eager, like everyone else is around her, to enter into the city and proceed on the coronation route into Jerusalem. She’s really acting out what probably everybody else in the room could have wished they would have thought of to anoint him as king. And here he is being anointed just as King Charles was anointed in his coronation ceremony.
Little did she know, though, that before the next Sabbath would arrive, the body that she anointed would die on a cross and be buried in a tomb. She could not have foreseen that. She didn’t understand that. That did not make sense to her or any of the other disciples. All those who loved Jesus dearly could not foresee or understand how it could be that this great one, this king, this Messiah, that he should be killed, that he would be rejected by his people. But so it was to be.
And Jesus knew here, he knew then, and seeing what no one else could see, he knew, in fact, that the widespread revelation of his messianic right and claim to the throne, the announcement of his arrival into Jerusalem to take the throne, even this coronation procession that he’s here planning in our text, this act of his would be the catalyst that leads to and pushes his final rejection and death and burial. And so he’s intent on making it happen.
Jesus presses forward, and he makes preparations for his coronation procession, which he knows will result in his own demise, in his death on the cross. He’s counting on it, so he knows that, he seeks that so that Scripture may be fulfilled, so that redemption may be accomplished in order that his death would do what God designed it to do, which is to save his people from their sins.
So as Jesus prepares for his coronation procession, all this is in his mind, a grand narrative, and all the little details along the way matter. And as we observe him in action here in this text, where we have already made several observations last week, we’re going to make several more observations this morning about the kind of person that he is, the kind of king that he is, the kind of Savior that he is.
First, we observed number one, and I’m just going to give you a little short review of your notes from last time, but number one, the Lord is regal. The Lord is regal. He is royal. That is to say, Jesus is sovereign, and he is the highest sovereign. He has the noblest character. He comes from the noblest lineage on earth in all of human history. You can read the genealogies in Matthew 1 and Luke 3. There’s no disputing those genealogies. They are a matter of historical, established historical fact.
But he is the promised king. He was born into the only chosen nation on the earth, the nation of Israel. He’s born into the only tribe that was chosen from that chosen nation to reign over that nation, which is the tribe of Judah. And he was born into the only family of that nation from that tribe to be the royal family, and that’s the royal family of David.
In Luke 1, we mentioned this last time, but prior to being conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary, the angel Gabriel came, announcing and introducing him, and Gabriel said, “His name is to be Jesus,” and “Jesus” means “salvation.” “He will be great,” Gabriel said, “and he will be called Son of the Most High.” And then this in, in Luke 1:32, “The Lord will give to him the throne of his father David. He will reign over the House of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
There’s no one on earth, not one person on earth at any time in history, past, present or future, not one person on earth except him, possesses the real right to reign as king over the earth. Only Jesus Christ fits this description, though the undeniable fact of his regality, which was a knowable fact, a verifiable fact since before his birth, could be known, the royalty and the regality of Jesus is confirmed here in our text and has been confirmed ever since, and for most of his ministry. We know this as we’ve been tracking him ever since the Galilee; he’s been keeping his Messianic identity a secret.
When his disciples, by the revelation of God, by the gift of the Father, when his disciples tell him, “You are the Christ. You’re not just some prophet. You’re not John the Baptist resurrected. You are the Christ, the Christ of God,” he told them, “Don’t say anything about that. Keep that quiet for now.”
But now it’s time. Now it’s time for his true identity to become known. Now it’s time for his regality to be revealed, his royalty to be made manifest. And the big reveal, here, to Israel comes in and through this procession. And they, as we see in the text, just a few verses after what we read, they recognize that as such, they recognize him to be the true king. He is going to ride from Bethany to Jerusalem on a colt, on the foal of a donkey.
And his procession, unlike any coronation procession we’ve seen by any other king, and particularly King Charles’ most recently, he makes himself accessible to his people. He’s not riding in a multimillion-dollar coach, shielded by bulletproof glass. He makes himself accessible to his people. He wants his people to come, get close access to him so that they can see him and observe their king up close and personal. There’s no hindrance in their way, there’s no barrier, no obstruction. Basically says, “Let everyone come, let everyone see.” We’re to see who he is; we’re to see what he’s like. And that’s what we’re doing in this study.
So the Lord is regal, number one. Secondly, we said the Lord is humble. Though he’s regal and though he’s Lord, he is a humble king. He’s a humble, humble and meek in his person. In the way that Jesus is identified, we’ve mentioned this last time, the verbs that portray the actions that he takes, he’s very clearly lordly, kingly in his actions. He is the Lord. He’s called the kyrios, here. In fact, that’s the way he’s identified, not by his name, “Jesus,” but by his title, by his person. He is Lord, ho kyrios. He acts like the Lord. He makes decisions like a lord would make and does. He takes charge as a lord should take charge.
And it is so clear here in this text, and we’re going to see this, we’ve been seeing this already, but particularly here, it’s very poignant. And, but we’re going to continue seeing this, how he is directing everything. He’s directing everything. He’s, he’s like moving all the pieces as if they’re on a chess board before him. He’s directing everything into their final, predetermined and inevitable outcome. This is the will of his Father. He is sovereign in every way.
Now it’s time for his regality to be revealed, his royalty to be made manifest.”
Travis Allen
In this, though, recognizing who he is and in his person, that he is Lord, we also find a remarkable humility about him, that this king, as Lord, here he takes up the role of a servant. Though he is a sovereign, he takes up the role of a slave. And we say, “How so?” Many ways we can see that, many ways we have been seeing that.
But in this text we see that he’s arranging his own transportation. We thought about how ridiculous it would have been for King Charles to make a bunch of phone calls and say,
“Okay, get the chariot ready, some horses and want,” you know. It’d be ludicrous to think of King Charles at his level, arranging his own transportation. Other people do that for him. Servants many tiers down away from him make those kind of arrangements.
It may seem to some to be a small and insignificant detail, and what is clearly overlooked by everyone else in this text, but our Lord, here, is attentive in his service. He’s faithful even in the seemingly little things. He’s humbled to do a servant’s job, to take up the role of a servant. Here we see that he’s the only one, really, who could make these arrangements because he’s the only one that really knows what’s going on, and so he has to do it all himself.
And here we see that as the king, he is the chief administrator of God’s kingdom. He’s the one who makes sure everything gets done. He exercises oversight and makes arrangements for things both big and small, grand and seemingly mundane. Which is why we read in Philippians 2:8 that his humility is such that it takes him not just to the point of being a servant, but takes him to the point of even to death, even the death on a cross. He has died to secure the citizenship of his people, that his Father’s kingdom would be filled with citizens. And so a task so great as that, he also takes care of all the little things as well. No task seems to be beneath him while he prepares us to share in his work with him.
And so in the meantime, while we’re still growing and understanding, while we’re, we’re maturing to set aside the stupid things that we can be so distracted by and all the, all the little things and in our lives and we make so prominent, unnecessarily distracted, while we’re growing, while we’re maturing, while we’re shedding all the things of this life, while we’re putting our emphasis where it should be, on the kingdom and his righteousness, he is happy to humbly make his own arrangements to get his own donkey for himself.
So the Lord is regal, he’s humble. And thirdly, just one more by way of reminder, the Lord is intentional. Number three, the Lord is intentional. And we said that he’s intentional, verse 28, by taking the lead and going up to Jerusalem. It, he’s, verse 28, he is way out front, in front of his disciples, he’s charging up that hill. He is eager to finish his task. Verse 29, we can see he’s intentional by setting the priority. That is to say, we’ve mentioned this last time, but he rest, he was, before he would rest in Bethany, eager to see his friends and be in their company, but first he secured the colt. First he wanted to make sure that he had the foal of the donkey in his possession before, so that he could make that royal procession the following day, which would take place on the first day of the week.
He’s also intentional, verse 30, by selecting the appropriate symbol, by selecting the symbol, the sign that would best identify him to the people as the rightful heir of David’s throne. He selects the appropriate symbol, this colt, the foal of a donkey, as the fulfillment, to show the fulfillment of all his prophecy that he is going to reign as Israel’s true king.
Mentioned this last time, but Jesus has come to fulfill the prophecy that Jacob made about the royal tribe of Judah, Genesis 49:10, where the donkey’s colt is going to symbolize to the people this: “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet until tribute comes to him, and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples of the nations. Binding his foal to the vine, his donkey’s colt to the choice vine, he has washed his garments in wine, and his vesture in the blood of grapes.”
Ever since Genesis, ever since the very beginning of the Bible, he’s the one. He’s come to fulfill the prophecy of Zechariah, Zechariah 9:9, that identifies to Israel their true king. “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your king is coming to you.” How do I know who he is? “He’s righteous, he has salvation, and he’s humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
Okay, so why a donkey? Why the colt, the foal of a donkey? Why the offspring of a donkey? Is that an arbitrary choice without any significance at all? I mean, if a sturdy camel or a strong horse were available, would one of those animals be okay to bear the king into the city? Perhaps donkeys are simply more readily available than other animals, and so it’s a good choice.
But we can see something more is going on here because in all three synoptic Gospels, this focus, same focus, same real estate given in to the pages of Scripture on securing a donkey’s colt, it’s in all three synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke. So the attention on this fact shows us that this is no arbitrary decision to choose this animal to bear the king into Jerusalem. This is intentional.
And this brings us to the reason for the symbol. What is the significance of riding on a donkey’s colt? Well, the Lord is regal, he’s humble, he’s intentional. And then fourthly, here’s number, a new one for your notes for today, the Lord is peaceful. The Lord is peaceful. That is what the symbol of a donkey’s colt is meant to communicate to everyone: that the Lord is peaceful. It basically sends the message, “I come in peace.”
Again, in verse 30, “The Lord told two of his disciples, ‘Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here.’” Donkeys were not like, not thought of like they are today, like the butt of jokes and foolish and stupid and things like that. In the ancient Near East they were very well regarded. Merrill Unger, we, we quoted him at length last time, but he said that “donkeys are beautiful animals, very easy in gait and perfectly sure-footed.”
And those things are true, a comfortable ride, and especially in, when you’re riding not on improved roads like we drive on all the time, even barring the occasional pothole and that kind of thing that we drive on. The donkeys were sure-footed on rocky and uneven ground, where it’s very easy if you’re walking to turn an ankle. And these donkeys were so sure-footed that their riders could be assured and think nothing of their donkey being able to bear the weight and have sure footing. A very comfortable ride.
So while that’s true, it’s not really the point, because camels also have a sure-footedness about them. Horses, same quality, which is why horses are taken into battle. Think about camels, the transportation choice of international traders. They were used to carry goods and wares, merchandise that they would sell and trade. But camels were for traveling over vast distances. Nothing wrong with merchants per se, and a camel representing a merchant.
But knowing what happens at the end of this chapter, where Jesus enters into the temple and casts out the buyers and the sellers, maybe an animal symbolizing merchants and traders isn’t the right optic here, right? Besides, a camel is a long-distance animal. Jesus is not coming from far away. He’s no stranger. He’s no foreigner. He’s a local. He’s one of their own. These people are his people. So no animal that represents great distance, foreigners, strangers. An animal that’s more familiar, so no camels.
What about a horse? Horses, too, they are magnificent creatures. But a horse would send the wrong message. A king who arrives in procession on a horse is signaling power, military might, projecting force and strength. The message doesn’t say, “I come in peace”; it says, “Don’t mess with me.” Alexander the Great entered into the cities that he conquered riding his war horse Bucephalus or Bukephalus. Kephalos is the word for “head,” and literally Bucephalus means “oxhead.” That was the name of his horse. Some say it referred to the horse’s stubborn nature, and certainly if Alexander wasn’t getting what he wanted out of the horse, that’s what it reminded him of. But more likely the, the name “Oxhead” referred to the brand that was located on the horse’s haunch.
But Bucephalus was one of the famous Thessalonian horses, which was a famous breed. It was bred for war, and the Thessalonian horses supplied the Greek and Roman cavalries. Bucephalus was jet black, had a prominent white star on his brow. It was the symbol of Alexander’s power, the victor in battle, conqueror of nations. Other emperors, too, Julius Caesar, Caligula, Hadrian, they all rode famous horses. They all portrayed images of mighty empire, conquerors of nations, all symbolized by riding powerful war horses.
It’s not unlike the transportation choices that we see among the rich and the famous and the powerful today. They don’t drive a Hyundai or a Honda. They drive expensive vehicles, projecting wealth, projecting power, projecting whatever they feel insignificant in, right? And they’re, like, overcompensating for something, and finally got that, they got all the money. Now they can show their wealth. The kind of vehicle someone drives or flies from and to, from country to country, it’s meant to communicate something to the rest of us, right? We understand that.
For the incoming king, Jesus, the image of the conqueror riding astride his war stallion, that is not the appropriate image for this particular procession into Jerusalem. When he comes again, he will ride a white horse, according to Revelation 19:14, because he comes to make war then. He comes to conquer then. So that is the appropriate image at that time for that coming, the second coming of Christ. But for now, in his first advent, the Lord comes offering peace. He comes as the Prince of Peace, we call him. So the most fitting symbol is the donkey, the colt or the foal of a donkey.
For the Jews who are here on this occasion and witness the procession of Jesus into Jerusalem, there is going to be a scene, historical scene that comes to mind for them from Israel’s monarchy that’s going to be reminiscent to them. Turn back, if you will, to 1 Kings chapter 1, 1 Kings chapter 1. This is a scene that records the closing days of David’s life, handing over the power to the incoming king. It’s a particularly vulnerable time for the nation of Israel, as David’s power, his authority, is waning, and the nation is wondering who will ascend the throne.
It’s always one of the most vulnerable of times for any nation during a transfer of power. It’s a tenuous situation for any incoming government. Everything from internal strife and tension to political ambitions, external pressures from regional adversaries, international adversaries. Things like these lead to attempts on the throne, coup attempts to gain power. Assassinations abound. These things are the stuff of history. We’re pretty familiar with it. You could see it also in Israel’s history, more common than it should be.
But this is one of those times in 1 Kings 1:5, when David is older, he’s weaker, he’s, he’s no longer able to pay close attention to matters of state because he’s just trying to, we can see it in the first four verses, just trying to keep his body warm. He’s diminished in his strength. It’s not that he’s inattentive in his heart to the needs of the nation, for a need for a peaceful transfer of power. In fact, he had a good reason to believe that matter had already been settled. God had chosen his son Solomon to be his successor.
But here we see in 1 Kings 1:5 there’s a rival to the throne. It’s David’s oldest living son, Adonijah. It says in verse 5, “Now Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, ‘I will be king.’ He prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him. His father had never at any time displeased him by asking, ‘Why have you done thus and so?’ He was also a very handsome man, and he was born next after Absalom.”
That note, there, reminds us that Ad, Adonijah was the next in line as the suc, successor to the throne in, in terms of birth order, anyway. He was actually David’s fourth son, according to 2 Samuel 3:4. But David’s first three sons, Amnon, who is killed by Absalom’s men; and Chileab, who probably died earlier, maybe in childhood; and then Absalom, who died because of the coup attempt, all of them dead, and this meant the fourth son, Adonijah, is next in the birth order.
So he fancies himself to be the incoming king, and his father’s decline, he’s increasingly in a diminished state, and so as David’s strength is weakened, Adonijah’s ambitions are awakened and strengthened, and they come into fruition here. Look at verse 7: “He conferred, Adonijah conferred with Jo, Joab the son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest, and they followed Adonijah and helped him. But Zadok the priest and Benaiah son of Jehoiada and Nathan the prophet and Shimei and Rei, David’s mighty men, were not with Adonijah. Adonijah sacrificed sheep, oxen, fat and cattle by the Serpent’s Stone, which is beside En-rogel, and he invited his brothers, the king’s sons, and the royal officials of Judah. But he didn’t invite Nathan the prophet, or Benaiah, or the mighty men, or Solomon his brother.”
Like most kings of the earth, like most who try to take the throne, put themselves forward, Adonijah, here, is portraying himself as a powerful man. He’s flanked by chariots and horsemen. He has fifty men to run before him. He has the support of Joab, the commander of David’s army. He’s got the support of Abiathar, the priest, who’d been with David from the beginning and from before David was actually king, when he was still on the run from Saul. So Joab and Abiathar, they symbolize David’s power and David’s authority, and they are with Adonijah. Very powerful signal that, that he’s sending. Charioteers, the cavalry, the platoon strength force of fifty troops, double-timing before the horses: all these are the symbols of an incoming king who wants to project strength and security, power, authority.
The very next scene we see Nathan the prophet visiting Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother. He knows that Solomon has been appointed king, chosen to be king by God and by David. And so they come together and converse, confer, devise a plan to bring this troubling situation to David’s attention. They, they’re very wise in how they approach David. Bathsheba goes in first. Nathan follows to corroborate her facts. And they succeed. David hears them, heeds their appeal.
And look at verse 28: “King David answered, ‘Call Bathsheba to me.’ So she came into the king’s presence, and stood before the king. And the king swore, saying, ‘As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my soul out of every adversity, as I swore to you by the Lord, the God of Israel, saying, “Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my place,” even so I, will I do this day.’ Bathsheba bowed with her face to the ground, and paid homage to the king, and said, ‘May my lord King David live forever!’
“King David said, ‘Call to me Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada.’ They came before the king, and the king said to them, ‘Take with you the servants of your lord and have Solomon, my son, ride on my own mule,’” mule being a cross between a donkey and a horse. “‘Have him ride on my own mule and bring him down to Gihon. Let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet there anoint him king over Israel, and then blow the trumpet and say, “Long live King Solomon!”
“‘You shall then come up after him, and he shall come and sit on my throne, for he shall be king in my place, and I’ve appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah.’ And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king, ‘Amen! May the Lord, the God of my lord the king, say so. As the Lord has been with my lord the king, even so may he be with Solomon, and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David.’
“So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites went down and had Solomon ride on King David’s mule and brought him to Gihon. There Zadok the priest took the horn of oil from the tent and anointed Solomon, and then they blew the trumpet, and all the people said, ‘Long live King Solomon!’ And all the people went up after him, playing on pipes, and rejoicing with great joy, so that the earth was split by their noise.”
Coronation, coronation, procession, all of it wrapped up into this text. David’s last great act of public service is doing what he could to ensure a peaceful transfer of power in Israel, keeping Judah and Israel united together. He orders Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the chief of David’s bodyguard. David ordered Solomon to be placed on his own mule for this coronation procession that historically followed, really, the same route that Jesus is about to take himself.
Solomon’s procession went down from Zion, the city of David in Jerusalem, to Gihon, which is a spring in the Kidron Valley down below the city, to the east of the city. It’s a valley that divides Jerusalem to the west from Mount Olivet to the east. And after this procession, Solomon returned back up the way he came, back up the road from the Gihon spring, up to Jerusalem into Zion, the city of David. And there he was to take his seat in the enthronement ceremony to be enthroned on the, on the throne of David.
We get the sense, as David responds to Adonijah the usurper, that there’s no real hurry or worry on his part. He does say, “I’m going to take care of this, this day,” like, “Let’s not let another day of this rival, this pretender, to assume he’s going to take the throne or let anybody else.” But there’s no sense of anxiety here, no sense of worry. In fact, as Solomon comes, there’s no indication, we know that he didn’t put himself forward. He was God’s choice.
As he comes, he doesn’t have any anxiety. He’s the passive participant in this. He’s being ushered along. He’s placed on the donkey, or the mule. He’s brought down in the procession. He’s anointed, he’s brought back up, he’s placed on the throne. No indication he’s put himself forward, no indication he’s worried, anxious. He is the picture, the very picture of a man of peace. He’s a man, here, at rest. He has a settled confidence that the Lord’s will and his father’s choice will prevail.
And the symbols are very fitting. Adonijah symbolized power and strength. Solomon symbolizes peace, settled confidence, royal dignity. He rode on David’s mule, not his war horse. He was surrounded by some important allies: Nathan the Prophet, Zadok the priest, Benaiah, who’s leader of David’s personal bodyguard.
Unlike Adonijah, Solomon didn’t put himself forward. He’s chosen by God. He’s appointed by David. Solomon knew, which you can read in 1 Chronicles 22:6; in fact, if you’d like to go there, I’m going to go there now. But in 1 Chronicles 22:6-10, Solomon knew his father David had chosen him because God had already chosen him. This is the word of the living God. Who’s going to controvert his word? Who’s going to contradict him? Who’s going to push back against the will of the Lord?
It says in 1 Chronicles 22:6, “He called for,” David, “called for Solomon his son and charged him to build a house for the Lord, the God of Israel. And David said to Solomon, ‘My son, I had it in my heart to build a house to the name of the Lord my God. But the word of the Lord came to me saying, “You have shed much blood. You have waged great wars. You shall not build a house to my name, because you have shed so much blood before me on the earth.”’”
“David, you’re a man of war. That’s your role. That’s what I chose you for. But your son, Solomon,” verse 9, “‘“Behold, a son shall be born to you who shall be a man of rest. I will give him rest from all his surrounding enemies, for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days. He shall build a house for my name. He shall be my son, and I will be his father, and I will establish his royal throne in Israel forever.”’”
Know what the name of Solomon means? “Peaceable,” “peaceable.” His very name symbolizes who he is, what he’s like. God named him “peaceable” because peace would characterize his reign and his kingdom; and the peace of wisdom would characterize his person and his work.
So in Solomon’s procession, there’s no indication, there, of fear, no hint of anxiety about this coup attempt. The rivalry of his brother Adonijah is nothing but a usurper. Solomon, though, is the rightful king. He’s the one affirmed by David as the true heir to the throne.
There’s one more passage I want to read: 2 Samuel, chapter 7, 2 Samuel 7, the Davidic covenant; and it connects Solomon and Jesus as sons of David, kind of, in this text. In 2 Samuel chapter 7, starting at the middle of verse 11, God promises David, “‘I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house, and when your days are fulfilled, when you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.
“‘He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men. But my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’ In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.”
God did give David rest from his enemies. He put Solomon at ease. He gave Solomon peace and stability in his time, in his kingdom. He’s given Solomon confidence to take the throne and to do what he was chosen to do, which is to build the Lord’s temple. Solomon, though, we understand as history goes on, we understand that Solomon is not the greater son of David that is fulfilled in this text. He’s not the one who fulfilled that prophecy, ultimately.
David’s greater son, Jesus, he comes, though, in the same royal dignity, and he comes in that same settled spirit of confidence to do what he was chosen to do. Solomon was a peaceable man, chosen by God to build the temple. Jesus came as the Prince of Peace, chosen by God to fulfill the entire purpose of the temple. The temple is about reconciling man to God through sacrifice, through blood atonement, through prayers; and Jesus came to fulfill that in his own person.
Which is why, if you go back to Luke 19, now, we can see this at the end of the chapter, that Jesus’ first stop after entering into the city of Jerusalem is at the temple of the Lord. In fact, in this triumphal entry passage, we keep expecting Luke to say somewhere in this passage as we’ve been reading, “Jesus now entered into the city,” “He came to Jerusalem and he entered in.” Doesn’t say that. In fact, in verse 36, it’s, “As he rode along,” so he’s moving. In verse 37, “as he was drawing near,” so still moving. Verse 41, “and when he drew near and saw the city,” so he’s still not there. He’s under the Mount of Olives, and he’s going to weep over the city.
When’s he going to get there? I mean, Jerusalem has been the end goal of this entire section that we’ve been in for a long, long time together. Jerusalem is the final stop. It’s the reason he set out on his journey, and Luke doesn’t let us culminate in Jerusalem itself, per se, because he wants us to look deeper. He wants us to see the spiritual significance. It’s not until verse 45 of this text that Luke portrays Jesus as finally arriving at his destination, and he’s very specific about it. He doesn’t say he entered into the city of Jerusalem or anything like that. He says, “He entered into the temple,” which presupposes he’s in Jerusalem, but it’s, “He entered into the temple.”
That’s because Jesus came as the Prince of Peace, and he came to win for his people a true and lasting peace, a final peace, reconciling God and man. He came to accomplish all that the tem, the temple symbolizes, to atone for sins and to reconcile man to God, to make peace between God and man. So Jesus comes to fulfill the Davidic covenant and many other prophecies of Scripture as well, and he comes in peace, symbolized by riding on a donkey’s colt. And in verse 30, Luke 19:30, we can now discern the reason for selecting the donkey’s colt as the most fitting symbol. It’s because the Lord as the king comes as the king of peace, not a king of war at this time. He comes offering peace, symbolized in his procession, by riding on a donkey’s colt.
All right, just to recap, the Lord is regal, humble, intentional, peaceful, and then fifthly, the Lord is knowledgeable. The Lord is knowledgeable. It’s not only what the Lord knows, it’s what he does with what he knows, and it reveals his great wisdom. The meticulous detail of his knowledge, I believe, comes by means of prophetic revelation by the Holy Spirit.
Why do I say that, especially since some commentators say that the Lord has really prearranged the borrowing of this donkey’s colt by, by natural planning? You know, he prearranged it sometime that’s not mentioned in the text, and he got this done some weeks past, but it’s not by supernatural knowledge, they say. They say Jesus could have done that, made arrangements the last time he visited Bethany back in John 11, when he raised Lazarus from the dead. And so they say none of this is really supernatural; it’s just good planning that’s shown here.
So it’s possible that they’re right about that, but why do I disagree? Why do I believe that the Lord’s knowledge, here, is something that’s supernatural, something that is by prophetic revelation, by the Holy Spirit? I’m going to give you several reasons.
First, when we read John 11, we can see, that’s the passage where Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, and he was intentional about staying away from Bethany until Lazarus was dead, buried in the grave, in fact, for four days before he came. But we see when he gets to Bethany, there’s the limitations of time and occasion, there, that argue against Jesus making any arrangements then and at that time for the future use of an animal.
At that time, he isn’t, he’s not visiting Bethany to borrow a donkey’s colt. He’s there to raise Lazarus from the dead, to attend to the family, the emotion of the moment with the family and everything that they’re going through, the presence of mourners that are putting on the mourning and putting on the show of mourning over the family, the ministry to the family and the time and attention that that would occupy, as any pastor understands. His interest is going to be to do what he came to do. He’s not mixing purposes here.
After he raised Lazarus from the dead, we understand from John 11, time grew short as things changed very quickly. The Jews, the leaders of the Jews came looking for him right away, as we understand, intending to put him to death. They’re really jealous and envious of him and his power and his following, and so they want to get rid of him. This guy who just raised the dead, they want to try to kill him. Seems a strange plan, but nonetheless there it is.
So highly unlikely at this time in John 11 that he ventured outside Bethany, that he took time to go into another village, as we see here; it’s not Bethany, it’s a village across, is what the language says. Highly unlikely that he ventured outside Bethany at that time and took the time to go to another village, ask about a donkey rental. He had to pack up and leave in a hurry. So John 11, at that time, there’s too little time. It’s not the right occasion to get transportation and make arrangements for his future procession into Jerusalem.
A second reason, I think, that this is supernatural and not just natural planning: In the intervening weeks between the miracle about Lazarus and, and his return here to Bethany, that really did provide enough time for Jesus’ miraculous work to be known and spread throughout Bethany, but from Bethany throughout the whole region of Bethphage. So a lot of time passed for his deeds to become known, for people to become more thoroughly acquainted with him, his kingdom is, or his kingdom message, his Gospel preaching.
This comes into consideration when we see the disciples are challenged by the owners in verse 33, and the answer in verse 34, “The Lord has need of it,” that’s enough to satisfy them. They’re like, “Oh,” and let it go. There’s no further argument, no further challenge offered, no further explanation needed beyond the part of the disciples that are there, no further concern that they have about letting their animal go. Clearly the owners knew who was meant by “the Lord.” “Oh, he’s that guy.” Hendrickson says, “The mere mention of the fact that Jesus needed the colt was enough to secure immediate and unqualified assent.” End quote.
Their trust only makes sense because of familiarity throughout Bethphage in this unnamed village of who Jesus is, what he has done, what he represents; and so third, a third reason I think that this is supernatural, not just natural planning, but supernatural knowledge in making the preparations right on the spot: If Jesus had worked out the arrangements ahead of time, what, what explains this challenge from the owners and how Jesus told his disciples to respond? What explains this at all, that it wouldn’t make sense if he’d already arranged it?
I mean, in verse 31, if Jesus had arranged to get the colt from these owners ahead of time, wouldn’t it make more sense if Jesus told them, “Hey, look, if Billy Bob and his buddies come and talk to you about this donkey’s colt that you’re untying, just tell them I sent you, show them the rental receipt and they’ll let you go.” It, wouldn’t that make more sense, for some kind of a mention: the preplanning, the prearrangement? No mention of that. This has every indication that there’s been no prior arrangement, on the one hand. We also see the immediate acquiescence, on the other hand, to let him go.
The fourth thing we see, the fact that all three synoptic Gospel writers include the same account, the fact that this story is told almost identically in all three Gospels, pretty clear that there’s something remarkable about this. The accounts read as if he’s using supernatural knowledge, as if he’s directing his disciples based on previously unknown information, but granted to him then, on this occasion, by the Spirit for the purpose of demonstrating who he is to his disciples. I think that’s very clear.
Here we see that as the king, he is the chief administrator of God’s kingdom.
Travis Allen
And finally, one more reason: What we see here is preparing us, preparing our minds, preparing our hearts for everything that’s about to come because in the coming week, and again we’ve seen this here and there through Jesus’ ministry, but in this coming week, Jesus is continuing to direct his disciples and to make predictions about the future. The accounts read like he’s using supernatural knowledge, as he is. It’s as if he’s using information revealed to him in the moment for that time to do what he needs to get done. It’s, it’s revealed to him in the moment and for the moment.
Here are just a few verses, of samples of those. John 14:29, he says to his disciples, “I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place, you may believe.” “I want you to see that this is predictive, and I want you to see the fulfillment of it so you have assurance in your believing.” John 16:32: “Behold the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will all be scattered, each to his own home, and you’re going to leave me alone.” That happened. He told him it would happen before it happened. Then it happened, and they look back and say, “That happened.” Luke 22:34, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster won’t crow today until you deny me three times, deny three times that you know me.” That happened, too. Our text reads exactly the same way as those.
There’s another parallel in Luke 22:7-13. If you look there, Jesus sends Peter and John to make arrangements and prepare for the Passover that they’ll celebrate together, his final Passover with them before he dies, is buried, and raises from the dead. He says to them, Luke 22:7, he says to them, “Behold, when you’ve entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the,” a man carrying a jar of water, by the way, that’s kind of an uncommon sight. Usually it’s the women carrying the jar of water. They’re the ones going to get the water, bring it back to the house.
He’s, “It’s going to be a man; that’s going to be, that’s going to stand out to you.” “Follow him into a house that he enters and tell the master of the house, ‘The teacher says to you, “Where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?”’ He’ll show you the large upper room furnished. Prepare it there. They went and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.”
Again, passages like that, very hard to understand and explain if Jesus has prearranged all the details off-camera, so to speak. But if he knows what he knows by supernatural revelation, which is granted to him in the very moment by the Holy Spirit, all this makes perfect sense. All of it makes perfect sense.
The supernatural knowledge that we see here, granted to him by the Spirit, that’s not the end of what we’re supposed to see. It’s the means to an end, in what he does with what he knows. He demonstrates this incredible competency with the knowledge that he has. It’s in using knowledge that he shows gentleness and meekness of wisdom. In what can only be attributed to his unique role as a Messiah, the Lord always seems to have two perspectives in mind at all times: the great and the small; the general and the particular; the grand narrative, redemptive narrative story, but also the little details, too.
For example, the Lord keeps the big picture in mind as he’s preparing for his coronation procession, as he chooses the fitting symbols to signal the king, the kind of king that he is and the kind of kingdom that he represents. As he fulfills the prophecies of Scripture, he’s got big themes in mind, but at the same time, the Lord is concerning himself in the seemingly small issues. He’s attending to the little tiny details. He is showing, here, throughout, care and concern for people, and by the way, for animals, too.
He’s thoughtful for the disciples. He’s thoughtful for the assignment that he sends them on. He’s thoughtful about the care of the animals. He’s thoughtful about the owners of the animals. Look at verses 30-31. He’s knowledgeable and he’s thoughtful. “Go into the village in front of you where I am entering. You’ll find it, a colt tied on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it, bring it here. If anyone asks you why are you untying it, you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’”
I’ll give you a couple sub-points here. Sub-point A, the location. They’ll be quick ones. So sub-point A, the location. Knowing where the colt will be, it means he’s not sending his disciples on a wild goose chase or a wild donkey chase or whatever the chase is. He’s not sending him on a chase. He’s not sending him on this, this mission where they’re going to be wandering around. He sends them on a mission, it’s a point of fact; he knows the exact location, area of operation.
He’s going to guarantee it’s going to result in success as long as they obey him, follow his instructions and do exactly what he says. Directions are not hard to follow. In fact, in Mark 11:2 he says, “Go into the village in front of you and immediately as you enter, you will find a colt tied.” In, in other words, “You’re not going to have to hunt around the whole village. You just got to get to the outskirts. Immediately as you enter, there it is. It’s going to be right there, very easy to find.”
Sub-point B, the situation. So location, sub-point B, the situation. He knows what situation the colt is going to be in, and that is to say, it’s going to be tied up. It’s another way to make that animal easier to identify. Mark 11:4. We know the colt is not in a pen with other animals. It’s not wandering around, either. It’s tied at a door outside in the street. Huh.
So knowing the colt is going to be tied up, tied up on a door outside in the street, that assures them they’re not going to have to chase this thing down. A colt, it’s never been ridden, so it’s unbroken, may tend to be a bit skittish, bit nervous, shy of strangers, prone to buck and kick, but they’re going to be able to untie the colt easily, take it back to the Lord.
Which leads to sub-point C, the attention, the attention that he gives, here, knowing the colt has not yet been ridden. The Lord tells us disciples to untie the colt, and it doesn’t say it here in Luke, but we see it in the other Gospels, “untie the colt and its mother,” and bring both animals with them. See, I told you this is a Mother’s Day message. Luke doesn’t record the detail, as I said, but I wanted to throw it in there ‘cause of you moms.
In the parallel account in Matthew 21:2, Jesus says, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you’re going to find a donkey tied and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me.” The Lord only needed the colt for his purposes, right? But here he’s showing attention, care, concern lest the mother donkey and her baby colt donkey, lest they become anxious in being separated from one another. The Lord is concerned to keep these animals calm by keeping them together. Paying this kind of attention, using a gentle touch when they conduct these animals, mother and foal, back to him, is going, they’re going to come to him, sense his gentleness. They’re going to be calmed by their Master’s touch, their Creator’s touch. So gentle.
Sub-point D, the anticipation, the anticipation knowing the donkey’s owners are going to challenge the disciples. The Lord anticipates that, and he prepares them to answer. His knowledge is so thorough that he’s thought of everything, here. His instructions are clear, imbuing the disciples with confidence, and assuring them that they are going to accomplish the mission he sends them to do. They don’t have to stumble around. They don’t have to fumble around. They don’t have to come up with some big, long, eloquent explanation. He says, “Say this sentence, no more, no less.” Gives them that sent, they, they give the owners that sentence, and they’re fine with it. They move on.
James asks this question in James 3:13, “Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct, let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.” That is what our Lord is showing us in this text, that his works are accomplished in the meekness of wisdom. It’s not just what he knows; it’s, that’s, that’s a start. But it’s what he does with what he knows. It’s how he uses knowledge.
Think about this. As you grow in your understanding of the Bible, as you understand it, grow in your understanding of your theology, does that Bible knowledge, doctrine, theology wash through your life and change your heart so that you’re not an arrogant jerk with what you think you know, but the knowledge has actually changed you, and so that your works and your words and your actions and your tone and the way you handle yourself is done in the meekness of wisdom?
Because that’s what the knowledge is for. The knowledge is to change your life. The knowledge is to cause the fruit of the Spirit to bear up within you so that you are a different kind of a person. You’re a transformed person, who bears that Gospel message and all that good doctrine and all that strong theology, that you bear it well, in meekness of wisdom. It’s what we see here. It’s what our Lord shows us in this text. It’s what he shows us throughout his life, his ministry: that he’s competent in his knowledge, but he’s also gentle and meek in how he uses his knowledge.
All these little details, the location, where to find the colt, the situation, how to identify the right one, the attention, care and concern in keeping mother and foal together, the anticipation of the challenge of the owners: The Lord has supernatural knowledge, and it’s a meticulous knowledge, and it’s a knowledge that he uses with wisdom and care and gentleness and meekness. And it’s the very meekness of divine wisdom, clearly revealing Jesus as Lord, Jesus as the king, as the one before the people. He’s the one whom God has chosen to be king, the Messiah of Israel, the Savior of the world. This is the one.
So the Lord is regal, humble, intentional, peaceful, knowledgeable, five points that coalesce into this final sixth point, a summary picture of the Lord, here. The Lord is noble. The Lord is noble. Verses 32-34, here’s the nobility of the Lord: “So those who were sent away found it just as he had told them. As they were untying the cold, the owner said to them, ‘Why are you untying the colt?’ They said, ‘The Lord has need of it.’” Stop there, end of narrative.
I’m drawing a conclusion from those verses that this shows the nobility of the Lord. And you would be right to be scratching your head about this point and wondering, “How in the world are you saying that that represents nobility? Looks like he’s stealing a momma donkey and her baby colt donkey. It’s not noble; it’s theft.”
It’s actually more going on here. There’s a historical precedent for this, an ancient custom called “angaria” that allowed kings as heads of state, duly constituted authorities, to commandeer the personal property of its citizens and put it to use for official business in the service of the kingdom. It was compulsory because it’s a king, but considered very reasonable by the citizens of the kingdom because this is kingdom business. This is, these are state affairs. “So I will render up my personal property for the king.”
We understand this. Police officer, in pursuit of some criminal, has every right to commandeer the personal vehicle or, of a private citizen. We’re willing to give up, I’d be willing to give up my car for a good purpose, hoping I get it back in one piece, but hope they get the bad guy. That’s what I’m, that’s what I want to see.
There’s an explicit te, text about this back in the Old Testament. For the sake of time, I won’t have you turn there. But in 1 Samuel 8, Israel had rejected God as king, demanded a human king like all the other nations around them, and God told Samuel, “Give the people what they want, but warn them this is what a king is going to be like. He’s going to commandeer your stuff. He’s going to take your sons, your daughters. He’s going to have them do different functions in his kingdom for his purposes. He’s going to take your property and your stuff because he’s got to use it for kingdom purposes.” In fact, one of the things mentioned in that text: “He’ll take your donkeys.” “He’ll take even your donkeys.” So Samuel says in 1 Samuel 8:10, “Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who had asked for a king from him.” Warned them.
Even without the explicit reference in Scripture in 1 Samuel 8 that “he will take your donkeys,” it is clear that the king’s rights and the needs of the state supersede the rights of private citizens. Personal money in the form of taxes. You and I have stuff that we are commandeered by our government for government purposes, right? They’re called taxes. We also give up our stuff, our money, resources. They’re required for a nation to protect its own citizens, required for a king to protect and provide for his people.
In the same way, but to an even greater degree, the right of the Messiah should supersede any right of a citizen over his ownership of personal and private property. Right? I, I mean, we have a right to personal property, private property. The Bible affirms that throughout. So let’s not come up with any socialistic and communistic nonsense about, you know, it’s all going to be a collective and all that stuff. That’s not biblical. The right to personal property, the rights of, property rights are very important and part of biblical law.
But again, we’re struck, even though he has the authority to commandeer whatever he wants, we’re struck by the gentle way in which Jesus makes use of his rights of nobility, and it only accentuates the nobility of his character more fully. He could have told his disciples untie the colt, bring it to him, period.
That’s how the account in Luke reads. We add another significant detail from the accounts of Matthew and Mark. There’s a more considerate nuance, here, that sort of fills in the picture. Jesus says in Matthew 21:3, “If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’” he’s referring to the donkey and the colt, “‘and he will send them back at once.’” “Not only does he need them, but don’t worry, we’re going to, you’re going to get them back.”
I would love to see that on my next tax offering that I give to my government. “Don’t worry, we’re going to give this all back to you. Thanks so much for giving us your taxes. We’re going to do, use it well, invest it, and we’re going to give you back everything you’ve given.” Mark 11:3: “If anyone says to you why you’re doing this, say, ‘The Lord has need of it,’” that is, the colt, “‘and he’ll send it back here immediately.’” “You’re going to get your stuff back.”
When we understand the accepted custom, here, of angaria, and when we see, actually, how Jesus practiced it, making use of it as a necessity, that he’s not acting in any rude manner, any harsh manner, picture clarifies once again in highlighting his nobility. He is unlike any other human king. He is meek. He is kind, he’s considerate. Though he is regal, he’s also humble, intentional, peaceful. The Lord is knowledgeable. He uses what he knows to serve others. He shows that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom, and that is true nobility of the highest quality on highest display.
So the Lord is noble, and you know who has the privilege to receive this unique special insight into the Lord’s nobility? It’s his disciples, these two disciples in particular. The crowd lining the streets for the procession in verse 37 and following, they discern all this, the portrayal of nobility in Jesus, by comparing what they see to the prophecies of Scripture. Just as we’ve done together, they could do the same thing. They’re actually closer to the action with regard to the prophecies that were given.
But these disciples, they’ve been given privileged insight into the king’s nobility, into the nature and character of his nobility. And it starts with these two disciples in verse 32. “They found everything just as he told them.” They had the privilege of being there, participating, being involved. He tells them about all the details, the location, situation, all the rest. They found the details exactly as the Lord told them. The owners challenged them exactly as the Lord predicted. Their answer satisfied the owner’s challenge, just as the Lord said it would.
The Lord’s knowledgeable, supernaturally so, and it commends him as king and as the noblest of men; and the way that the Lord uses knowledge commends him to them in particular, as kind, as meek, gentle, caring. The very wisdom of Solomon is here, stately in his leadership, kingly in his comportment, the very picture of nobility from every possible angle, by every possible measure.
His noble reputation spread. The owners of the donkey and her colt were disciples, which is likely. They came to see his nobility in a very special way. I’m guessing that once the donkey and her colt were returned, they didn’t use them for any common purpose on any day after that, right? The two disciples, they obviously spread the story of the Lord’s nobility to other disciples as well, which is how Matthew, Mark, and Luke gathered the information for their Gospels, included it. As I said, very few differences between them telling the same story, giving the same picture.
And now, beloved, this record of the Lord’s nobility, it comes to you and to me as we read the account together today. We see, we read this account with understanding and insight, and so we see this procession from a unique perspective, don’t we, from a very privileged vantage point.
I was, I was kind of thinking as we watched the coronation of King Charles III on May 6, 2023, that that coronation included many of those who attended the ceremony at Westminster Abbey, and they were there live and in person. But so many of them failed to see the significance of the five stages of his coronation: recognition, oath, anointing, investiture, enthronement. I mean, as an American, I certainly make no claim to know the full significance of all that happened there.
But as Christians we understood way more than King Charles, way more than the Archbishop of Canterbury, the head of the Church of England, because those people, and many of the other participants and guests there at Westminster Abbey, are apostates or pagans, rank unbelievers, secularists. That coronation ceremony was filled with Scripture, saturated with Scripture. But we as Christians know far more than they about the truth, the spiritual meaning of the Scriptures that were read, of the hymns that were sung, the prayers that were offered, the oaths taken in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
In a very similar way, you and I, beloved, have more privileged spiritual insight to see the spiritual significance of verses 36-38 in our Lord’s coronation procession than most of the people that were lining the streets on that day that he walked down the streets. They were there rejoicing, praising God, saying, “Blessed is he, the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” But because five days later they’re going to be calling for his blood, they had a very superficial understanding of what’s going on. You and I as believers in this Gospel, we have the privileged insight of discipleship. That’s what we’ll get to see next week. Let’s pray.
Our Father, we thank you so much that you’ve been pleased to include us into the band of disciples, that we get to see what these disciples saw. We get to see what the, what the Twelve saw around Jesus, Jesus’ closest followers. We get to see what the believers saw, what Mary, Martha, Lazarus saw. We get to see Jesus for who he really is, and we believe now, not seeing him in the flesh. But we long for that day when we will be united to him again. We know that when he comes the next time, he won’t come on a colt, the foal of a donkey, but he’ll come riding on a white horse to conquer.
And we’re so thankful that on that day we will be at his side, and from that day forward we’ll never be separated from him, him again. And we’ll get to, to gaze full on at his glory and majesty and the meekness of wisdom. We pray that you would develop those same traits of nobility in us because we are his brothers and sisters, your children, Father, and we want to represent you well on this earth. Please let it be so for your glory. In his name we pray, by the Spirit’s power. Amen.