12 ¶ On the next day much people that were come to
the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13 Took branches of palm trees, and went forth
to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in
the name of the Lord. 14 And Jesus, when
he had found a young ass, sat thereon; as it is written, 15 Fear not, daughter of Sion: behold, thy King
cometh, sitting on an ass’s colt. 16
These things understood not his disciples at the first: but when Jesus
was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of him, and
that they had done these things unto him. 17
The people therefore that was with him when he called Lazarus out of his
grave, and raised him from the dead, bare record. 18 For this cause the people also met him, for
that they heard that he had done this miracle. 19 The Pharisees therefore said among
themselves, Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing? behold, the world is gone after
him.
For a time Jesus is recognized for who He is, Israel’s true
king, their Messiah, their Christ. A great many people praised Him shouting and
waved branches of palm trees. They praised and blessed His name. The palm tree
was an emblem of victory and triumph in the ancient world, as Matthew Henry
tells it. There is an air of expectation in these praises for Him to be the
agent of God’s deliverance of Israel.
Psalm 118:25 Save now, I beseech thee, O LORD: O LORD, I
beseech thee, send now prosperity. 26
Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you
out of the house of the LORD.
Read Psalm 118 for a mix of the first and second advent
prophecy, then read it together with Psalm 2 to get some perspective of the
millennial reign of Christ and the events at the end of the millennium when
Satan tempts Gog and Magog to rise up in Revelation 20:7-10. This triumphal
entry into Jerusalem may be a sign of things to come at the end of history as
Jesus does not assume the temporal kingly role at His first appearance but
early Christians did expect Him to physically return to rule for a thousand
years, called the Millennium or the Millennial Reign of Christ. This is what
some historical church organizations think they are doing now, in His stead,
with, to them, a millennium just being a long period of time until they win the
world for Christ and turn it over to Him at His eventual return. Not doing too
good a job are they. The early Christians, though, were expectantly waiting for
Christ’s return to rule. They were not expecting to set up a millennial golden
age without Christ being physically present.
Jesus came in riding a donkey in fulfillment of Old
Testament prophecy.
Zechariah 9:9 ¶ Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O
daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and
having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an
ass.
Riding upon an ass, a donkey, was an ancient and honorable
way of travel for royalty.
2Samuel 16:2 And the king said unto Ziba, What meanest
thou by these? And Ziba said, The asses be for the king’s household to ride on;
and the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat; and the wine, that
such as be faint in the wilderness may drink.
His disciples did not catch the meaning of all of this until
after His resurrection. The Pharisees express their exasperation with another
unintentional prophecy as the worship of Christ will become a worldwide
religion.
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