Daily Dose of Hope
September 16, 2025
Scripture – Luke 19:28-48
Prayer: Lord, We need you. Our world is unstable and unjust. It is a place where innocent people die and power and control take precedent over mercy and compassion. While we know that sin and brokenness are everywhere, it is still hard to take it in. We don't know which way to turn. So, we need you. We need your peace, your justice, and your wisdom. Help us be the people you have called us to be, even when it's hard. Fill us with your courage to speak truth and grace. More of you and less of me. In Your Name, Amen.
Welcome back to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional and podcast that complements the New Hope Bible reading plan at New Hope Church in Brandon, Florida. We are currently doing a deep dive into the Gospels and Acts. Today, we finish up Luke 19.
We start with Jesus entering Jerusalem as King; this is what we call the Palm Sunday passage. We are so used to this narrative that sometimes we don't see the strangeness of it. This is an odd scene. Jesus sends two of his disciples to go on ahead to the village and find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. If someone asks why you are taking it, then just say the Lord needs it. What this says to us is that Jesus has taken care of every single detail. We don't know how he has done it, but Jesus is God and he has made sure everything is right.
So, they get the colt. They put their cloaks on the colt and Jesus rides on it. Others spread their cloaks on the road. As he makes his way down the Mount of Olives, a crowd of his disciples gather and begin praising God. Now, this isn't just the twelve disciples. This is probably a fairly large group of believers that have seen his power, the people who have heard his teaching, watched his miracles. And they shout out, "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"
A couple things to note here:
· All of this is very intentional. This is not a coincidence. This is a very intentional show of power. Jesus is being given a royal welcoming. First, he is riding on a colt. In the Old Testament, new kings would come riding in on the mule or donkey of the the previous king. We see in 1 Kings 1 that David puts his son Solomon on his own mule, a trumpet is sounded, and the people rejoice and shout, then the priest and the prophet Nathan anoint him as king of Israel. The mule is like the presidential limo, a sign of power and prestige that says that this is the new leader.
· What's interesting here is that Jesus is not riding on the previous king's mule or donkey. He is riding on a colt that has never been ridden. Scripture makes a point of telling us this. Why? Because God is doing a new thing, Jesus is a different kind of king.
· Then, there is this whole issue of the cloaks being thrown down on the path for Jesus to pass. The people are running ahead and shouting his praises. This is the kind of welcome that a royal official of the Roman government would receive. Think of it like the red carpet being rolled out. This is the sign that a very important leader, the new king, has arrived. All of this has meaning.
And for the Jews in the crowd, and most of them would have been Jewish, they would have known that this was a fulfillment of prophecy. Zechariah 9:9, Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. All of this is pointing to the fact that Jesus is the king.
This large group of disciples were praising God joyfully and shouting, "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord…" What might not be apparent to us is that when they shout this – Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord, Peace in heaven and glory on highest" they are expressing that this is the Messiah, this is the anointed one, the one they had been waiting for that God had sent to save them. These words echo Psalm 118:22-26, The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; 23 the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes. 24 The Lord has done it this very day; let us rejoice today and be glad. 25 Lord, save us! Lord, grant us success!26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Surely, this is the long-expected Messiah, this is the one that God sent to sit on the throne of David, just as he promised some 600 years before. You see, its all coming together for them. And thus, there is much joy and celebration for God has sent King Jesus to save us.
But what happens next is worth noting. The Pharisees tell Jesus to make his disciples stop. Stop the praising. Stop the quoting of Scripture. In fact, what they say is, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples." Seriously, make them stop. Why was it that the Pharisees wanted the people to stop praising Jesus? What was behind this rebuke?
Could it be that they know exactly what's going on? They know that Jesus is declaring himself to be the long-awaited Messiah. Maybe they are scared, maybe they are angry, we really don't know. What we know is that they want it to stop quickly. And Jesus refuses this request. He says, "...if they keep quiet, then the rocks themselves will cry out." Creation itself will cry out and proclaim that Jesus is Lord. Think about that.
And this narrative ends with Jesus crying over Jerusalem, this city that he loves but he knows will reject him.
I want to focus briefly on the crowd. What kinds of people were part of this group of disciples, praising Jesus and hailing him as King?
I would imagine that some of them were those who saw his miracles. They were those people who had life-changing encounters with him. People like Zacchaeus, Mary, Martha, and their brother Lazarus (who Jesus raised from the dead), the Roman centurion whose slave was healed, Mary Magdalene, the bleeding woman who Jesus healed…people who experienced the expansive love and miraculous healing power of Jesus. They received grace in ways they never knew possible. I'm guessing they were in the crowd, cheering loudly and throwing their cloaks on the ground. They know Jesus as Lord and King.
But who else? What about those who so badly wanted a king to overthrow the Romans? Everything about Jesus screamed revolutionary. Wasn't the long-expected King going to return the Jews to their rightful place? Wasn't he going to put an end to this oppression and take care of these stupid Romans for good? Yes, there were probably some of those in the crowd.
So, let's get this clear: There were those who wanted something from Jesus, there were those who liked the idea of Jesus, and there were those who truly worshiped Jesus. What group would you fall into? Before you quickly make a decision, really think about this. What kind of king is Jesus to you? What are your expectations of Jesus?
So often in the Christian life, we give lip service to Jesus being King of Kings and Lord of Lords but we don't really live like it. What kind of king is Jesus to you? What are your expectations for King Jesus and what happens when they aren't met? How often have we expected Jesus to ensure us that nothing bad will happen? If only we believe and are faithful, maybe my loved ones won't get sick, my job will be protected, my marriage will be secure, you get the idea. How often have we wanted to lean on Jesus as counselor, as self-help guru, as protector, as doctor, but we aren't really that keen on making him Lord of our Lives.
You see, Jesus as Lord means turning everything over to him. It means giving him our desires, our relationships, our resources, our thoughts, our time, everything, and saying --- Jesus, your will be done, not mine. Lately, I've been really wrestling with this whole concept of seeking God's will, not my own. I've found that my prayers too often are a list of what I want to see happen and I'm not really, truly asking Jesus for his will to be done. I'm working on this. Because if Jesus is my King, then it's his will I desire. It's his solution to the problem. It's his desire for this church, for my children, for my marriage, for my future. How often do we want Jesus to be provider, sustainer, protector, and friend BUT not Lord? What kind of king is Jesus to you?
I don't want to end this devotional without talking, at least a bit, about Jesus in the Temple. According to Luke's Gospel, he enters Jerusalem as King and goes directly to the Temple. Things are a mess there. To put it mildly, there was much unholy commerce in the Court of the Gentiles. There were many merchants selling animals for sacrifice and there were money changers present for foreign Jews to exchange their money to the local currency for the temple tax.
So why was Jesus so upset? Wasn't this all part of the sacrificial system? This was the one area of the temple designated for Gentiles (the nations) to pray. They weren't allowed in any other area of the temple. And the Jewish people had taken over the entire area for trade and profit. Lots of money was being made here. Jesus is beyond angry. The religious leaders have an interesting reaction to this. They are scared. I'm thinking that they know they are in the wrong but they don't want to submit to this Jesus character. Thus, they begin to plot how to kill him.
Blessings,
Pastor Vicki
