Everyone loves a parade. There’s just something about Main Street being blocked off and a steady stream of performers riding elaborate floats, big balloon characters and marching bands that causes us to line the parade route with anticipation or gather around the television to watch. Whether it’s the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, The Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena, CA or the local high school’s Homecoming Parade, there’s a high level of excitement and anticipation as we wait to see who or what is next in the line up.
And we don’t want to miss anything. Often on Thanksgiving mornings, I’m cooking the midday meal while the Macy’s parade is on the television. It’s difficult for me to do two things at once, and so I often will miss the new big float going by the screen. Or someone will say, “The cast from Wicked is on!” and I’ll drop what I’m doing and rush into the family room to see their performance. I’ll admit that I have ruined the gravy a couple of times over the years because I was distracted by the parade.
Dale and I moved to a small rural town in Georgia about 18 months ago. Having grown up in the suburbs of Atlanta, I was unaccustomed to the strong sense of community loyalty that is part of small town culture. One of the many ways the people of Hartwell, Georgia, demonstrate this loyalty is through regular parades. I’m not joking, there seems to be a parade for every holiday! People start pulling their cars and trucks up to the edge of the street, break out their folding chairs and coolers and start tailgating long before the first float or band ever passes by!
In today’s reading from Luke, we witness the preparations and execution of an exciting parade of One. As Jesus entered Jerusalem on the back of a donkey, take note of what the crowds lining the parade route called out.
Read Luke 19:28-40
After His brief stop in Jericho and redemptive visit with Zaccheus, Jesus continues towards Jerusalem. As He approached a couple of small villages built around a small mountain covered with olive groves, Jesus asked two of His disciples to follow some very specific and rather odd instructions. “Go into the village ahead of you. As you enter it, you will find a young donkey tied there, on which no one has ever sat. untie it and bring it. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say this: ‘The Lord needs it.’” (vv 30-31) A donkey on which no one had ever sat? Upon reflection, I imagine those two realized the implication - a kind of purity that destines an animal for a sacred task, like carrying a people’s new king.
Of course, the designated disciples find everything just as Jesus had said, including the questions of the townspeople of their intentions concerning the colt. They bring the young donkey back to Jesus, throw their robes on its back and help Jesus get on it. While those two had been fetching Jesus’ ride for this pop up parade (that was actually quite providential) the large crowd of disciples traveling with Jesus rushed ahead to prepare the route. They cut and gathered palm branches, then laid some of the branches and their cloaks along the path that Jesus would follow into Jerusalem. Others saw the commotion and asked what was going on, to which they exclaimed, “Jesus is here! We are witnesses to God’s mighty miracles! Join us as we celebrate His coming as our King!”
Everyone excitedly got into place, lining both sides of the parade route, and waited for signs that Jesus was near. They began to hear singing and jubilant shouts of praise to God. Was that a donkey braying that they heard next? Standing on their tiptoes, they finally saw a large crowd of men, women and children dancing and waving palm branches. Every few yards, they would stop and sing, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest heaven!” (v 28)
Did they realize that they were part of Zechariah’s Old Testament prophecy? “Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout in triumph, Daughter Jerusalem! Look, your King is coming to you; he is righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” (Zech 9:9) Rather than describing Zion’s coming King as victorious, the ESV describes him as “having salvation.” Other gospel accounts recount the crowd shouting, “Hosanna! Hosanna in the highest!” which means, “Save us, O God!” in Hebrew.
At some point, Pharisees who were observing this spectacle exhorted Jesus to shut this ridiculous parade down. Jesus replied, a smile spread across His face, “if they were to keep silent, the stones would cry out.” (v 40) There would be no stopping this celebration!
Big Picture Questions for Today:
Does the way Jesus’ disciples participate in fulfilling Old Testament prophecy, most likely without realizing, amaze you as much as it does me?
In his second letter, the Apostle Peter writes of Father God and Jesus Christ our Lord, “His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. By these he has given us very great and precious promises, so that through them you may share in the divine nature, escaping the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire.” (1 Pet 1:3-4) Can you think of some of the ways God has provided everything you need for life and godliness through Christ? Shouldn’t we celebrate and “praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles we have seen?” (Luke 19:37)
Pray Psalm 146 joyfully before the Lord today:
Hallelujah! My soul, praise the Lord.
I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing to the Lord as long as I live.
Do not trust in nobles, in man, who cannot save.
When his breath leaves him, he returns to the ground; on that day his plans die.
Happy is the one whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God,
the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea and everything in them. He remains faithful forever,
executing justice for the exploited and giving food to the hungry. The Lord frees prisoners.
The Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord raises up those who are oppressed. The Lord loves the righteous.
The Lord protects foreigners and helps the fatherless and the widow, but He frustrates the ways of the wicked.
The Lord reigns forever; Zion, your God for all generations. Hallelujah!
Lastly, I hope you will enjoy this song, Hosanna, performed by Kari Jobe at the Belonging Company Conference in 2019:
Hosanna (feat. Kari Jobe) (Live from The Belonging Co Conference) // The Belonging Co
Hosanna
By Kari Jobe and The Belonging Company
Humble King
You chose the road that led to suffering
Nothing was spared to prove Your love for me
Oh, the mystery
That Your final breath became eternity
What we had lost forever You redeemed, oh
Chorus
Hosanna, Hosanna
In the highest forever
Hosanna, Hosanna
Hallelujah forever
Triumphant King
The Lamb who was slain who rose in majesty
There's never a heart beyond Your victory
You are the one that we are welcoming
You are the one that we are welcoming, oh
Chorus
Songwriters: Ben Cantelon / Nick Herbert / Steffany Gretzinger
