Sunday, Palms

Jesus and His disciples left Bethany and continued toward Jerusalem. And they came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of His disciples into Bethphage and He told them, “Go into the village ahead of you. As soon as you enter it, you will find a donkey tied there, along with her colt, on which no one has ever sat. Untie the donkey and the colt and bring them to Me. If anyone asks, ‘Why are you doing this?’ tell him, ‘The Lord needs them and will return them shortly.’ ”

This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Zechariah:

“Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your King comes to you, righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem, and the bow of war will be broken. Then He will proclaim peace to the nations. His dominion will extend from sea to sea, and from the Euphrates to the ends of the earth. As for you, because of the blood of My covenant, I will release your prisoners from the waterless pit. Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; even today I declare that I will restore to you double. For I will bend Judah as My bow and fit it with Ephraim. I will rouse your sons, O Zion, against the sons of Greece. I will make you like the sword of a mighty man.”

So, the disciples went and found the colt and donkey outside in the street, tied at a doorway. They untied them, and some people who were standing there asked, “Why are you untying the colt and donkey?”

The disciples answered as Jesus had instructed them, and the people gave the disciples permission. Then they led the donkey and colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over them, and Jesus sat on the colt.

A great crowd had come to the Passover feast. Many spoke of the miracles that Jesus had done. Some testified that they had been with Jesus when He called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead. When the people heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. Many spread their cloaks on the road. Others cut branches from the trees in the field and spread the branches on the road.

As Jesus rode along, some people went ahead of Him and others followed Him. And as He approached the descent from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude began to praise God joyfully in loud voices, shouting:

“Hosanna!”

“Hosanna to the Son of David!”

“Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Blessed is the King of Israel!”

“Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!”

“Hosanna in the highest!”

“Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

As Jesus and the crowd approached Jerusalem, Jesus saw the city and He wept over it, saying, “If only you had known on this day what would bring you peace! But now it is hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you when your enemies will barricade you and surround you and hem you in on every side. They will level you to the ground—you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.”

When Jesus had entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”

The crowds replied, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

But some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples!”

Jesus answered, “I tell you, if they remain silent, the very stones will cry out.”

The Pharisees said to one another, “We can see that this is doing us no good. Look how the whole world has gone after Him!”

At first, His disciples did not understand these things, but after Jesus was glorified they remembered what had been done to Him, and they realized that these very things had also been written about Him.

Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, Jesus went out to Bethany with the Twelve.

See Zechariah 9:9-13; Matthew 21:1-11; Mark 11:1-11; Luke 19:28-44; John 12:12-19

Notes: 

1. Bethany and Bethphage: The Gospels of Mark and Luke record that Jesus and His disciples approached Bethany and Bethphage. But on the previous day, the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and John record they had been in Bethany for the meal and the anointing. So, unless they had left Bethany after the meal and spent the night outside of town, Bethany would have been the starting point of their journey the next day.

2. Donkey and Colt: The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke record that the disciples brought the colt, laid their cloaks on it, and that Jesus sat on him. But the Gospel of Matthew also includes the donkey, the mother of the colt. This suggests that, since the colt had never been ridden, Jesus may have spent part of the journey riding the mother donkey and part of the journey riding the colt.

3. Hosanna: A transliteration of the Hebrew "Hosia-na" , meaning "Save, we pray" or "Save now," which became a shout of praise (Psalm 118:25).

4. “Jesus went out to Bethany with the Twelve”: The Gospel of Mark records that Jesus cleared the temple on the following morning, but the Gospel of Matthew records that Jesus cleared the temple the same day. The story presented here follows the flow of the Gospel of Mark.