The days leading up to the last week of Jesus’ 33 years of His life on earth and the end of His three-year ministry were fast approaching. Jesus’ ministry was with people. He did miracles, healing, teaching, and speaking with friends and foes alike. Since the beginning of His ministry with His disciples, Jesus made it clear to them, on many occasions, that He was the Son of God, the Savior.
“Jesus asked His disciples, ‘Who do you say that I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Christ [Messiah], the Son of the living God.” Agreeing, Jesus replied, “Flesh and blood have not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.” Then He commanded His disciples “that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ” (Matthew 16:15-17v. 20).
The disciples struggled to understand that Jesus’ mission was to die for the sins of all humankind and then be raised to life.
Luke 9:22: “And he said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”
As the time approached for this final entry into Jerusalem for Passover, Jesus took Peter, James, and John up a mountain to pray, build their faith in Himself, and better understand what was about to happen. While He was praying with them, Jesus’s personal appearance was changed into a glorified form, and His clothing became dazzling white. Moses and Elijah appeared and talked with Jesus about His death, which would soon take place. A cloud enveloped them, and a voice spoke from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5).
Lazarus and his sisters, Mary and Martha, were close friends of Jesus. When he grew sick, his sisters sent for Jesus to come to Bethany. Jesus delayed His arrival, and Lazarus died. Jesus did not arrive in Bethany until four days after Lazarus passed away. When Jesus went to the place of Lazarus’ tomb, He had men roll away the stone from the opening. Then He shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” (John 11:43). The crowd around the tomb was shocked when the dead man hobbled out of the cave, still bound with burial cloths. Verses 45–46 tell us that many who saw this miracle believed in Jesus, but others reported it to the religious leaders. This miracle sealed Jesus’s fate with the Pharisees and rulers. “From that day on they plotted to take his life” (verse 53).
Jesus’ purpose in riding into Jerusalem was to make public His claim to be their Messiah and King of Israel in fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. Matthew says that the King coming on the foal of a donkey was an exact fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9, “Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your King comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
“Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once” Matthew 21:1-3.
“They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road. When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Luke 19:35-40)
“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash 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 God’s coming to you. He was grieving for the people who continued to turn away from Him. He knew that in rejecting Him, they missed having a relationship with God and gaining the eternal life He offered. He also mourned because Jerusalem was not living up to its name, “city of peace.”
People who cheered Christ’s entrance into Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday wanted a temporary, earthly victory against their Roman enemy. They did not understand that Christ would one day bring peace to the broken world—a world filled with hatred, deceit, hostility, violence, treachery, and carnage. After hundreds of prophecies about Christ’s birth, death, and resurrection from the Old Testament, which the priests taught in the temples to the Jews, they discarded the truth from God’s word. They wanted to satisfy their hope that Jesus would be an earthly king who would give them what they wanted instead of what they needed.
“At that very hour, some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” And he said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course. Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.’ O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!'” (Luke 13:31-35)