Page 113 - Advanced Life of Christ - Student Textbook

Thirdly, Jesus used the donkey to connect with the common people. Life was also not easy for a Jew
living under Roman rule in the 1st century—more so for the poor. But Jesus embraced the poor and sick
people during his time here on earth. His choice of a donkey instead of a horse was God’s way of saying
that he came as a king who will serve and save the oppressed.

The crowd had heard Jesus was
coming from Bethany. They gathered
at the Mount of Olives to receive Him.
He was to travel down the Mount to
the Kidron Valley, then up to the
Temple Mount through the Eastern gate. The people
shouted a refrain from the Psalms, “Hosanna! Blessed
is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Psalm
118:25-26).

This was the Passover, the most significant feast of the
year. The population of Jerusalem swelled to between
100,000 and 125,000 people for this event. In fact, the
Temple mount was so large that more than 100,000
pilgrims could occupy the court of the Gentiles on the mount all at one time.

The Gospel writers capture the full significance of Jesus’ climatic arrival in Jerusalem. Both Matthew and
John interpret the Triumphal Entry according to the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9. He was greeted by the
hailing of countless thousands, and the response, John reports, like the raising of Lazarus before,
aroused fears of a popular uprising in the minds of the religious leaders who opposed Him.

In the coming days, Jesus wept over the city (Luke 19:41-44)

41 And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “Would that you, even you, had
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known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the
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days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and
hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they
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will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

Matthew 23:37-39 gives a little different slant to what Jesus wept about…

7 “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
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not willing! See, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you
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say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”
Notice that the people were not willing to accept Jesus as their Messiah. They chose to reject Him.
They could have, but they would not, despite all the miracles and absolute proof of who Jesus was.

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