The Humble Coronantion

One of the main reasons why Judas betrayed Jesus and why others rejected him was not because they were blind to the miracles or to the scripture that told us He has coming.

But it was the way He came.

Everyone was looking for a strong and mighty warrior, someone who would crush the Romans restore Israel to her glory days like she was under Solomon and then rule on the throne for ever.

This will happen at the second coming but the reason Jesus came the way He did the first time was because His mission was the salvation of our soles.

Had this not happened first then when He comes back a second time then we would all fall on the wrong side of Judgement.

The people, with no thought of Messiah as a sacrifice for sin, were still focused on the earthly kingdom they fervently hoped He would establish.

But there could not be exalted glory until there was shame; there could not be a kingdom until there was a cross; there would be no royal crown without a thorny crown.

The Preparation (vv 28-35)

The details of what the two would find there provide an undeniable illustration of the Lord’s omniscience.

First, He told them that they would find a donkey colt tied. Zech 9:9

Zechariah 9:9 ESV

9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

Jesus had not been to Bethphage, nor had He sent anyone to arrange for the colt to be available.

The detail that the colt was one which no one had ever ridden gives further evidence of His omniscience, as does His knowledge that the disciples would be asked, “Why are you untying it?”

No further explanation was necessary, since it was widely known that He who had raised Lazarus from the dead and given sight to two blind men in Jericho was staying in Bethany.

Five hundred years before the crowd hailed Him as king, Zechariah predicted that Jesus would ride a donkey’s colt.

He would not come the first time as the conquering hero riding on a white horse; that will happen when He comes again in glory to judge and to reign as King of kings.

The first time He came in humility to give His life a ransom for sinners.

He did not come in grandeur, but in meekness; not to slay but to save.

His coming in incarnation is the time of His humiliation; His second coming in exaltation is the time of His glorification.

The Adoration (vv 36-38)

When He was still approaching the city, adoration of Jesus began as the people were spreading their coats on the road ahead of Him.

By doing so they were expressing their eager submission to Him, symbolically placing themselves under His feet as their king. 2 Kings 9:13

2 Kings 9:13 ESV

13 Then in haste every man of them took his garment and put it under him on the bare steps, and they blew the trumpet and proclaimed, “Jehu is king.”

His acceptance of the delirious crowd’s adoration and worship was appropriate, for as the Son of God, He was worthy of all praise.

Yet once again we must remember that this praise was in a lot of ways hollow because they were praising the wrong kind of Savior.

The Condemnation (vv 39-40)

Not everyone shared in the joyous excitement, however.

Outraged at the crowd’s enthusiastic adulation and adoration of Jesus and His acceptance of it, some of the Pharisees in the crowd, who considered it all blasphemy, said to Him, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.”

Even collectively they knew they were powerless to stop the outpouring of enthusiasm from the huge crowd, so they appealed to Jesus to stop it.

It is fitting that in this final mention in Luke of the Pharisees, they manifested the same hostility toward the Lord that had marked them throughout His ministry.

His reply to the exasperated Pharisees’ request for Jesus to quiet and disperse the crowd marks the dramatic turning point of the event.

The last verse here is simply stating that everything points to the creator as the Lord and Master of this earth.