Can you imagine what was happening here? In defiance of the Roman and Jewish Law, Jesus of Nazareth rode into the city of Jerusalem in a style that was blasphemous. In which that the style of his entrance into the city proclaimed him as The King of Israel. Roman law prohibited any King (Ruler) but Caesar. Jewish Law saw this as blasphemy. Yet Jesus did it anyway. Knowing that this was the end of his material existence.
In Luke 19:41 as Jesus approaches Jerusalem, he looks at the city and weeps over it (an event known as Flevit super illam in Latin), foretelling the suffering that awaits the city in the events of the destruction of the Second Temple.
A king would have ridden a horse when he was bent on war and ridden a donkey to symbolize his arrival in peace. Jesus’ entry to Jerusalem would have thus symbolized his entry as the Prince of Peace, not as a war-waging king.
As Jesus of Nazareth enters the city, the people of the city break out and sing part of Psalm 118:25-26… “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. We bless you from the house of the Lord.”
Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled the prophecies of the Old Testament. Zechariah 9:9…”The Coming of Zion’s King-See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
Sunday starts Holy Week. The next five days were beyond imagination and Jesus knew it was all coming.
