Palm Sunday - He Rode In On A Donkey

Credit: Pinterest.

Good morning, brothers and sisters in Christ.

Today is Palm Sunday (Happy Palm Sunday)— the beginning of Holy Week. And before we rush ahead to the cross and the empty tomb, I want us to slow down and really look at what happened on this day.

Because the way Jesus entered Jerusalem tells us everything about who He is.

The Scene

Jerusalem was packed. Passover was days away, and pilgrims had flooded the city. There was electricity in the air — the kind you feel when something big is about to happen. The people were desperate for a deliverer. Rome had been occupying their land, taxing them heavily, and humiliating them. They wanted a champion. A warrior-king. Another Judas Maccabeus — the man who had once led a guerrilla army to retake Jerusalem and was celebrated with waving palm branches.

So when Jesus came riding in, the crowd lost it. They waved palm branches — a symbol of military victory. They threw their robes on the road — a sign reserved for kings. They shouted "Hosanna!" which literally means "Save us!" They were ready to crown Him.

And then — nothing. Jesus rode quietly through the crowd, went to the temple, looked around, and left.

Anticlimactic? Only if you missed the point.

The Donkey

Here's what the crowd missed — and what we often miss too.

Jesus didn't ride in on a warhorse. He rode in on a donkey. A young one, never ridden before. Simple. Stubborn. A working animal.

But look at everything surrounding Him.

People were pulling off their outer robes and laying them on the road ahead of Him. This wasn't random — it was an ancient sign of reverence for a king. When God chose Jehu as king of Israel, the men around him immediately took off their robes and laid them under his feet (2 Kings 9:13). The crowd in Jerusalem knew exactly what they were doing. They were crowning Jesus.

Palm branches waved in the air — a symbol of military triumph, the same image used when the Maccabees retook Jerusalem from their oppressors. Robes on the ground. Hosanna on their lips. Every sign pointed to one thing: they wanted a warrior-king.

And Jesus rode in on a donkey.

Zechariah had written it 500 years earlier: "Your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey" (Zechariah 9:9). Jesus was answering their coronation — just not the way they expected.

The Real Question

As we enter Holy Week, I want to ask you honestly — and ask myself the same thing:

Who do I want Jesus to be?

How often do we approach Him as our champion — someone to fix our problems, back our plans, bless our preferences — rather than as our King, the one we surrender to completely?

The same crowd shouting "Hosanna!" on Sunday would be shouting "Crucify Him!" by Friday. Not because they stopped believing in Him. But because He refused to be who they wanted Him to be.

Don't let that be us.

Your Task

Sit with these two passages today:

"Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" — Luke 19:38

"Here is your king... He is coming, seated on a donkey's colt." — John 12:15

Reflect: In what area of your life are you asking Jesus to be your champion rather than your King? Where do you need to stop directing Him — and start following Him?

Prayer

Lord Jesus, on this Palm Sunday, we welcome You — not as the king we want You to be, but as the King You are. Humble, servant-hearted, riding in not with force but with love. Forgive us for the times we have dressed You up to suit our own desires. This Holy Week, reshape our understanding of who You are. May we not be the crowd that cheers today and abandons You by Friday. We choose to follow You — all the way to the cross, and all the way to the resurrection. Amen.

God bless you all.