Talk Together
Family conversations with God’s Word.
A few days after Jesus spoke with Zacchaeus, Jesus came to the town of Jerusalem. Many went to see Jesus because they heard about His miracles and wanted to see Him. (Big kids can read this in John 12:9.) The Gospel of Luke tells us what happened. Let’s read about it in Luke 19, verses 28-40. Luke is in the New Testament and is one of the four Gospels.
ESV
And when He had said these things, He went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. When He drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, He sent two of the disciples, saying, “Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’” So those who were sent went away and found it just as He had told them. And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” And they said, “The Lord has need of it.” And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. And as He rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. As He was drawing near — already on the way down the Mount of Olives — the whole multitude of His disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”
The people waved palm branches and praised Jesus, saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” (Big kids can read this in Matthew 21:9.) Some took palm branches and cloaks and spread them on the road as people had done in the past when new kings were appointed. (Big kids can read this in 2 Kings 9:1-6, 11-13.) Hundreds of years before, God promised a King would come like this. Let’s read Zechariah chapter 9, verse 9. The book of Zechariah is in the Old Testament in a section of the Bible called the minor prophets.
ESV
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is He, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
The prophet Zechariah told the people to be looking for a King. The righteous King would come riding on a donkey* and offer salvation to His people. God’s people desperately wanted a King to come that would help them defeat their enemies and help them set up a powerful kingdom on Earth.
But Jesus didn’t look like the King they were expecting. He ate with tax collectors and outcasts, not powerful leaders. He was more concerned with serving sinners than being treated like royalty. The religious leaders didn’t believe Jesus was the King they were looking for. They even told the crowd to stop praising Him!
Even though the people didn’t fully realize it yet, Jesus really was the righteous and humble King who brought salvation to all who trusted in Him. The salvation He offered wouldn’t last for just a lifetime; it would last forever. His Kingdom wouldn’t last just a few years on Earth; it would last for eternity in heaven*. Jesus is our King and He is worthy of all our praise!*