Holy Week Devotional: Day 1
Sunday, April 13, 2025
by Ryan Brown
Luke 19:33–44 (ESV)
33 And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 And they said, “The Lord has need of it.” 35 And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36 And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. 37 As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, 38 saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 39 And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”
41 And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42 saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side 44 and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”
It had been a confusing few days for Jesus’ disciples. They were somewhat used to being surprised by his teachings, signs, and wonders, but over the last several days, He had brought up His death several times. They were pretty sure that He was the coming Messiah that their people had been longing for for millennia. They were pretty sure He was the rightful king of their people and that He would be a conquering king who would liberate them. So why was He talking about His death so much? That couldn’t be right…
At the same time, they also know that the religious leaders probably wanted Him dead, especially after word got out that He had raised Lazarus from the dead a few days ago. So, the best plan would probably be to get out of town and lay low for a little while, but now they’re headed straight into Jerusalem on the week of Passover, when the city was full of people, especially the ones that wanted to kill Jesus. But they’re the disciples and He is the one they are following.
On their way into the city, Jesus asks them to do something fairly odd: go to a certain place and bring Him a donkey that they’d find tied up. He told them what to tell the owner and he’d be fine with it. It all happened exactly like He said it would.
Then He rides that colt down the Mount of Olives. If you’ve ever seen that area, you’ll know that the Mount of Olives is a large-ish hill to the east of the Temple in Jerusalem. It’s not a long walk to come down through a small valley and then walk up into the temple area. But as you walk down the Mount of Olives, you have a beautiful and clear view of the entire temple are and the city of Jerusalem, which on the week of Passover would have been buzzing with people just arriving from all over Israel to celebrate and worship together.
Somehow, the word spread quickly that Jesus was heading into town. A lot of people were convinced that He was the one that Israel had been waiting for, so they lined the pathway down the hill and lay their coats on the road—kind of like rolling out the red carpet —for Jesus to ride into the city on His colt.
Did you know that it was traditional for a conquering king to ride into a conquered city on a donkey? One army would defeat another and then the king would come into the conquered city and propose a treaty to the conquered king. The conquering king didn’t need his warhorse anymore, so he rode in on a docile animal, signifying both victory and a desire for peace moving forward. This wasn’t lost on the people around Jesus as He rode in. They started worshipping Him by crying out the words of Psalm 118:26:
“Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!
Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
Do you hear the language of a God-sent Savior? A conquering King?
It’s all true but just wouldn’t play out over the next few days exactly how the people had expected or hoped.
Did you notice the emotions of those present in this narrative? Verse 37 says, “the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen…” There were some Pharisees in the crowd who were likely angry and indignant when they said in verse 39, “Rebuke your disciples.”
Jesus affirms the disciples’ urge to praise Him and refuses to rebuke them, but what is Jesus’ emotional state? Verse 41 says, “And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it…”
There were a lot of differing hopes and expectations on this day, but Jesus was the only one who knew what was really going to happen. He knew He would deliver His people, but it would not be in a national-political way, it would be a deeper salvation from sin and death. He also knew that victory would come through suffering and death, not through military might or a political coup. So, He weeps.
He weeps for the people who should have recognized but would put him to death in just a few days. He weeps for the people who are enslaved sin and darkness but think they’re on the Lord’s side. They will kill Him like they’ve killed all the prophets sent before Him. But He’s not weeping for His own sake. He weeps because He longs for their good.
Resurrection, the victory over sin and death, will come through the pathway of suffering.
Romans 8:35–39 (ESV)
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Related Resources:
- Listen to our worship music playlist to help prepare your heart this Easter.
- View our Holy Week services and plan to worship with us this week.
