Jesus sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. . . If anyone asks you ‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it.’ (Luke 19:29)

The disciples did what Jesus instructed them, and brought the colt to him. This is the beginning of the celebration we know and celebrate more two thousand years later in Christian churches everywhere: Palm Sunday. It echoes and fulfills a prophesy from the Old Testament book of Zechariah: “Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

The detail of the colt attracted my attention,especially in Luke, who wrote that the animal had never been ridden before. The thought that Jesus could ride such an animal through a noisy, celebrating crowd which was waving palm branches and dropping their robes on the ground while Jesus rode on it’s back, appeared to me to be another of Jesus’ extraordinary miracles. In the simplest way, Jesus displayed his lordship over God’s creatures, and fulfilled scripture. From the very beginning of this incident there appear signs of the breath of the Father God in its apparent spontaneity, in its humility, in its proximity to Jesus and his disciples, and its fulfillment of prophesy. For the reader in our time, there is a sense of its having been planned since before the beginning of time.

The day unfolded further, when Jesus mounted on the colt, was acclaimed by both his disciples and many children who cried out, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!” Some of the Pharisees said to Jesus “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” “I tell you,” he replied, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

The stones didn’t need to cry out, for in this short moment in Jesus’ life and ministry, his real identity is embraced and shouted and repeated to and in a believing crowd. Palm Sunday was a day of affirmation that God had planned for his son even before Jesus’ birth. It was a moment when the people of Jerusalem heard the truth of Jesus’ presence among them, and responded with all the genuine joy that such news would bring to believers: “The King who comes in the name of the Lord” is the Messiah of their longing and hoping. The children and some believers recognized him on Palm Sunday in the city of Jerusalem. Next Sunday we will wave a palm, too.

Love in Him,

Prue