Without Cloaks

In advance, this is not going to be a normal blog, but it is what is on my heart right now. Fair warning :).

So today is Palm Sunday. When we read the Scripture in Luke 19 about Jesus entering Jerusalem on a donkey, it struck me how messed up things are. Here the people had been watching, praying, weeping for God to send a Savior. When the disciples told the colt’s owners that “the Lord needs it,” the owners simply watched as a piece of their finances walked away. The Word does not say they questioned that one line explanation from the disciples. I always thought it strange that they agreed without question. However, in those days the people recognized their desperation for God’s hand to move and help them and they were confident that He would deliver on His promise to send a Savior. They poured over the Scriptures looking for signs of redemption. They knew the prophecies. One states that the Savior will enter Jerusalem riding on a donkey. There were people then who had farms around Jerusalem where they raised colts so that when the day arrived that the Lord needed one, it would be ready. They waited season after season for the Savior to claim his colt. When the owners allowed their colt to be led away, it was an act of recognition that proclaimed “we have faith that this man is the Savior, the Redeemer of Israel.”

The owners are not the only characters in the story though. There were also the people lining the streets spreading their cloaks in submission on the path in front of Jesus of Nazareth. They literally took off a man-made form of protection and covering and allowed Jesus to stomp on it as they stood before Him, unprotected and exposed, proclaiming, ‘Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord.’ During those times, there were no chapter or verse designations in Scripture. In order to direct someone to a verse in Scripture, one would say the first line of it. So when the people called, ‘Blessed is the king,’ they were calling attention to the prophecy about the Christ in Psalm 118:26. But if we follow the citing on, the prophecy goes further:

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. From the house of the Lord we bless you. The Lord is God, and he has made his light shine upon us. With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession up to the horns of the altar” (Psalm 118:26-27).

It is saying, come, let us follow our priest on the way to the Temple with palm branches in hand giving thanks to God that He has provided a way to take our sins away. “To the horns of the altar” where they would sacrifice the lamb. Only this time, it was the ultimate procession. The last. The final Lamb.

Did they realize what they were proclaiming? Did they know that they both claimed Him as King and a sacrifice with their words? That they condemned Him even before a week would pass and they would shout “Crucify Him.”

Now I understand a little more about why Jesus wept in the midst of this seemingly splendid, “triumphant entry.” It was triumphant; He was about to crush Satan’s head and redeem all mankind; but the people around Him had no idea. They did not get what they were saying. Yet it was ordained since creation that this would come to pass in order that we might have a chance to be set free. If the people had not said anything, Jesus tells us that then “the stones will cry out.” It was time for a Savior. ALL of creation could feel it.

And so here we are. Just like the people then. We know we need a Savior. We know the Word tells us we have one. We have seen the signs and watched them be fulfilled. We proclaim Him as God. Oh, but how often do we then turn around and nail Him on that cross again! We don’t really know what we are proclaiming with our lips. We don’t get it either.

But one day we will, and this time, the Scripture tells us, Christ again will come riding into Jerusalem. Only this time it will be to sit on a throne, not hang from a cross. Praise God! May the day come quickly.