Thursday
After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he 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. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ tell him ‘The Lord needs it.’”
Those who were sent went and found it just as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” They replied, “The Lord needs it.”
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! 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 your peace – but 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.”
(Luke 19:28-44, NIV)
The final week of the life of Christ begins with his triumphal entry into Jerusalem on the back of a colt of a donkey. This exciting event, which fulfilled the prophecy of Zechariah (9:9), follows shortly after Jesus’ raising Lazarus from the dead (John 11:38-44). Jesus approaches Jerusalem from the east, on the road up the steep incline from Jericho. Bethphage, a small village along this road, and Bethany, the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus, were only several miles east of Jerusalem on the side of the Mount of Olives.
One can imagine what it was like to witness this event. John tells us that news of Lazarus’ resurrection spread and people were expectantly looking for Jesus in the capital city (11:56). When he mounts the colt and starts toward Jerusalem, people spread their cloaks on the road – an act of submission to a king – and yell “Hosanna” which means “Save us now!” They wave palm branches, a symbol of Jewish nationalism, and cheer on the man they hope will be their conquering king (John 12:12-13).
But Luke tells us that when Jesus crosses the crest of the Mount of Olives and sees Jerusalem, he weeps: hardly an act of a conquering military hero! Jesus’ heart is full of grief because Jerusalem does not know the peace he will bring. Because its people will reject the Messiah and clamor for his crucifixion, Jesus predicts Jerusalem’s destruction, a prediction fulfilled in less than 40 years, when the Romans destroy the city in 70 A.D.
In Jesus’ own words, the Gospel is described as that which “would bring. . . . peace.” As the angels prophesied at his birth, the Messiah offers peace to a broken world. Jesus weeps when he sees the city he loved and when he thinks about the judgment that will come for rejecting his gospel of salvation. The Son of God weeps over sin. No other religion believes in a God like this!
Prayer
Almighty God, infinite and all-powerful, a God who weeps over the sins of men and women, we praise you for the gift of your Son. Help us to know that your gospel is the only way to true peace (shalom). Amen.