Palm Sunday // Matthew 21:5

Today is Palm Sunday. It is the start of Holy Week that begins with Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem. The cheers that greeted Him this day would soon turn into the jeers that led to His crucifixion. Jesus’ choice to enter Jerusalem on a donkey sent an unmistakable signal to any who paid attention. Kings in the biblical era would ride on steeds during times of war, or donkeys during times of peace. Many of the pilgrims who flocked to Jerusalem for the Passover wanted Jesus to come in a show of force to depose their Roman occupiers. Jesus’ choice of the donkey over a stallion told the people came for peace, not battle. That’s not to say there wouldn’t be conflict; after all, the events of Holy Week were quite confrontational. Jesus wanted to prove that His mission wasn’t to fight against Pilate, Herod, or Caesar, but Satan, sin, and even death itself. As Jesus rode to the sounds of cheers on the back of a beast of burden, He Himself was preparing to take on the burden of the sins of the world. There he would beat them, bury them, and rise so as never to have to deal with them again. That once-and-for-all sacrifice is for your sins past, present, and future. So, behold your King who comes in peace, riding on the back of a beast of burden. Will you allow Him to remove your own personal beast of burden? It is after all sin and the threat it presents to your eternal soul.