“And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!’” (Mark 11:7-10)
As Mark recorded the final days of Jesus’ earthly ministry, he included incidents that fulfilled Old Testament prophecies. These he recorded as proofs that Jesus is the promised Messiah. Genesis 49:10-11 and Zechariah 9:9 both tell of the entry of the Messiah riding on a donkey’s colt. Jesus entered the city on a donkey’s colt in apparent triumph to the loud acclamations of “Hosanna”.
Yet many many acclaiming Jesus as Messiah that day had no clue as to what was actually going to happen only a preconceived notion that Jesus was going to overthrow the established authorities. Indeed Jesus was going to do that, but not in the way they thought. He was bringing judgment on sin and Satan as well as the Jewish authorities by means of His death by crucifixion. This marked the beginning of the end for Israel. The actions of faithless Israel brought down God’s wrath and judgment on them but opened the way of salvation to all mankind.
Many today acclaim Jesus as Messiah but have no clue what that means. Jesus asks us to follow Him to the cross, to deny ourself and repent of sin. He wants us to be as humble as He for He took on the sin and of all people, people who did not deserve or earn His love, people who, in fact hated Him or rejected His grace. YetHe has transformed the lives of millions of such folks by granting them faith, mercy, and His Holy Spirit. And in our world of hatred and violence He remains the only one who can make things right through the ministry of His Church.