"And 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 owners said to them, 'Why are you untying the colt?' And they said, 'The Lord has need of it.' And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, 'Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!' And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, 'Teacher, rebuke your disciples. He answered, 'I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.' And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, 'Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.” Luke 19:28-44
“He knew that the time had come when he was to die for sinners on the cross. His work as the great Prophet, so far as this earthly ministry was concerned, was almost finished and completed. His work as a sacrifice for sin and Substitute for sinners remained to be accomplished. Before giving himself up as a sacrifice, he desired to draw the attention of the whole Jewish nation to himself. The Lamb of God was about to be slain. The great sin offering was about to be killed. It was proper and fitting that the eyes of all Israel should be fixed upon him. This great thing was not to be done in a corner.” J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on Luke, p. 306
The responses to the Messiah King:
1. The Pharisees: the majority disdained and hated Jesus and his message because he attacked self-righteousness and self-sufficiency. They were content to trust their own efforts and good deeds to merit the mercy of God. Therefore, their message was one of self-congratulatory competence, with no context of the need for a Savior (Philippians 3:4-6).
2. The Crowd: Many were caught up in the moment. The people observed miracles: the rising of Lazarus from the dead (John 11:31-46), the woman who had a curvature of the spine for 18 years – healed (Luke 13:10-13), the man with dropsy – healed (Luke 13:1-4), the 10 lepers – healed (Luke 17:11-17), the blind beggar – healed (Luke 18:35-43).
3. The True Disciples: those who proclaimed and followed the long-awaited for Messiah, the King of Glory.
OBSERVATIONS:
1. By his appearing, Jesus announces the upside-down kingdom. He comes to his coronation, not on a war horse, but on a donkey.
"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." Zechariah 9:9
2. The Pharisees and their self-sufficiency deadened their hearts to the need of a savior and blinded their eyes to their own deficiencies.
The grace of the gospel opens our eyes to the glory of God and to our need for a Savior, and the attendant deficiencies and the glory of sins forgiven by the cross.
"For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me." 1 Corinthians 15:9-10
3. Jesus is the weeping King in the midst of an enthused, shouting mob.
4. The messianic king who came on a donkey will come again on a white war horse.
"Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in[a] blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God… On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords." Revelation 19:11-13, 16