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When our president speaks to congressional delegates, the audience stands and cheers for several minutes. It is how they honor the office of the president. When Jesus was about to offer himself officially to His nation as their Messiah, He did not want them to think He was coming as a warrior to overthrow the Roman regime, so He rode on a donkey. He presented Himself as God’s humble Lamb. His death would atone for the sins of the whole world. When His disciples brought the colt to Him, they threw their garments over the animal to make an improvised saddle, and Jesus sat on it. People in the crowd showed their homage by spreading their garments on the road ahead of him; others spread leafy branches they had cut in the fields. Jesus rode in the center of the procession as people shouted, “Praise God! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the LORD! Blessings on the coming kingdom of our ancestor David. Praise God in the highest.” Their shouts meant they believed Jesus was the King God promised to send them–a king in the line of David. Jesus deliberately offered himself as the Messiah. He knew this would provoke the leaders to arrest him. But He was more focused on fulfilling God’s plan to us than about His own safety and popularity. Like Jesus, we should aim to do the will of God — whether or not we receive praise from people.
