The Gospel of Matthew: Jesus & The Donkey

Scripture: Matthew 20:29-34; Matthew 21:1-11

Intro: Today marks Palm Sunday, the start of Passion Week, commemorating Jesus' Triumphant Entry into Jerusalem. Recorded in all four Gospels, this event shows Jesus finally receiving public acclaim, with crowds shouting "Hosanna!" Yet, this recognition is built on expectations He ultimately subverts. We see the beginning of the week that culminates in the cross and resurrection, revealing the complex nature of our King.

Key Points:

1. The Hero Stops for Beggars (Matt 20:29-34): On His way to Jerusalem, facing the immense task of the cross, Jesus hears two blind men cry out, "Son of David, have mercy!" The crowd tries to silence them, but Jesus stops. He doesn't just heal them; He asks, "What do you want me to do for you?" This reveals His character: accessible, compassionate, and attentive to the marginalized even amidst His ultimate mission.
2. The Hero Rides a Borrowed Donkey (Matt 21:1-11): Jesus intentionally fulfills Zechariah 9:9, entering Jerusalem not on a warhorse symbolizing power, but humbly on a borrowed donkey colt, an animal of peace and burden-bearing. This declares His kingship, but defines it as lowly, servant-hearted royalty, contrasting sharply with the crowd's expectations.
3. The Hero Confronts Expectations (Palms vs. Donkey): The crowd waves palm branches (a symbol tied to past military victory, like the Maccabean revolt) and shouts "Hosanna" (Save now!), anticipating a political Messiah to overthrow Rome. Jesus' choice of the donkey signals a different mission: conquering sin and death, not earthly oppressors. This clash between their desired Jesus and the real Jesus explains their later turn ("Crucify him!"). He addresses the root issue (sin), not just the symptom (Rome).

Conclusion: Palm Sunday reveals a King who stops for the needy, embraces humility even in His royalty (riding a borrowed donkey), and consistently defies worldly expectations. He is the "Son of David," but His path to salvation involves the cross, not military might. Like the crowds, we often want a Jesus who fits our agenda, solves our perceived problems, but He focuses on the deeper realities of sin and redemption His way.

Call to Action: When the Jesus you encounter doesn't meet your expectations:

1. Expect It: Recognize His ways and thoughts are higher than ours (Isaiah 55). Don't be surprised when He operates differently than you anticipate.
2. Decide Who He Is: Is Jesus truly God to be worshipped and obeyed, or merely a consultant, vending machine, or good luck charm defined by your desires? Settle in your heart that He is Lord.
3. Trust the Process: Remember the cross – seeming defeat became ultimate victory. Trust His wisdom even when you don't understand. Trust the humble King on the donkey, knowing His plan leads to true life.

radiantvisalia.com
The Gospel of Matthew: Jesus  & The Donkey (Matthew 20:29 - 21:11)
with Travis Aicklen

Transcript

if you've got a Bible,

you can open it to Matthew,

chapter 21.

Would you stand with me for the reading of God's Word,

which is also coming to us live from India, maybe.

Church, will you please join me in standing for the reading of God's Word this morning?

We're reading from Matthew 20, verses 29 through 34.

As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, "Lord, son of David, have mercy on us." The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, "Lord, son of David, have mercy on us." Jesus stopped and called them. "What do you want me to do for you?" he asked. "Lord," they answered, "we want our sight." Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him. Matthew chapter 21 says, "As they approached Jerusalem and came to their face on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and there will be a colt with her. And unsie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, say the Lord needs them, and you will send them right away." This took place to fulfill what was spoken to the prophet. Say to the daughter Zion, "See your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt full of a donkey." The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them and for Jesus to sit on them. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds went ahead of him and those who followed him shouted, "Ozana, to the son of David, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, Ozana in the highest of heaven."

When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, "Who is this?" The crowds answered, "This is Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth and Galilee."

You can be seated.

That's so fun.

Technology is terrible until it's not, and that's awesome. So if you're familiar with church, maybe grew up going to church,

you know that the Sunday before Easter is something of a holy day as well, something of a holiday for us. It is Palm Sunday.

Easter is for sure the Super Bowl, but the whole week kind of leading up to Easter is very significant for a follower of Jesus. So today we're celebrating Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem, which Bruno just read for us. We're celebrating like the beginning of Passion Week, the week leading up to Christ's crucifixion. So the text that was just read describes the scene, but we'll go into more detail about what was going on that day and the significance for us in our lives today. So the scene is significant enough to be recorded in all four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. They all cover this. So that communicates something of the significance of this moment. It's only in John's Gospel, believe it or not, that we're told that they're palm branches.

No other Gospel account tells us that they're palm branches.

And Luke tells us that all this praise is coming Jesus' way. The crowds are shouting Hosanna in the highest. They're screaming their brains out. And the religious leaders are like, hey, could you shut this down? You need Jesus. You need to stop this, the madness that's going on here. And Jesus responds famously, if they don't cry out the rock's will.

This is such a powerful scene. He's saying even the rocks will recognize me and my authority.

And I've always thought that this is also a sort of backhanded way of saying to the religious leaders, you're dumber than a pile of rocks. I don't know what the origin of that statement is, but I think it could be here. Even the rocks recognize. You've heard it said that you're as dumb as rocks. I'm saying you are dumber than rocks because they recognize me.

Our hero is finally getting the recognition that he deserves, and it feels good, doesn't it? Like the whole book of Matthew, it's like secrecy. Don't tell anybody. Don't tell anybody. And you're like, man, tell somebody.

Man, we want Jesus to get the recognition that he's due. And finally, there's a parade in his honor. And finally, he's being recognized for his beautiful work. And I think this moment feels good for us. He's finally getting the credit he deserves. Now we know that the tide of public opinion can be fickle. And if you know the story, you know that just a few days from now, he's going to be in hot water. But right now he's on fire.

He's on fire right now. Three observations I want to make from this text, and I want to ponder on Palm Sunday. The first is this.

The hero of our story stops and takes a call.

As they went out of Jericho, he's headed to Jerusalem. He knows where he's headed.

A great crowd starts to follow him, so he's gaining kind of momentum. And behold, two blind men sitting by the roadside, when they heard that Jesus was passing by they cried out, "Lord, have mercy on us, son of David."

And the crowd rebuked them. They said, "There's a parade in his honor. He can't be bothered right now.

Be silent." But they cried out all the more, "Lord, have mercy on us, son of David."

And stopping, Jesus called to them and said, "What do you want me to do for you?"

And they said to him, "Lord, let our eyes be opened."

And Jesus and pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him.

I love this.

I love this about the hero of our story.

He is a man on a mission. He set his face like Flint towards the cross. He knows exactly what's about to go down.

He's got momentum. The crowd is gathering. And how many know he's a man with some things on his mind?

Right?

He's got some things to take care of. He's got some things to tend to. Things on his checklist for the week are conquering death,

taking the sins of the world, being forsaken by God in the process, being tortured by a group of people that have perfected it like an art, like they got really into it. So dividing BC from AD, that's his to-do list for the week. And I just can't get over the fact that in that process he takes a call that beggars. He stops and he stoops down, and he takes a cry from beggars. And he doesn't just say, "Be healed and be quiet."

He asks the question, "What do you want me to do for you?"

With the week that's in front of him, with the things that he's about to check off his list. He stops, takes a call. What can I do for you?

It reminds me of, I've had a couple trips to Africa.

And one of the things that is really difficult as a Westerner in Africa is, I can remember, we were like 30 minutes late for a meeting.

And the pastor is driving us there, and he stops to talk to somebody about how they're doing. And the Westerners in the car are like writhing, like manifesting.

We're like, "We're 30 minutes late already."

And he gets back in the car and he says, "In America, you guys have watches, but in Africa, we've got time." And I'm like, "Wow,

let's go." It was a great talk. Let's move.

I just think it's remarkable, and I've said it before, but I don't want us to move past this.

The miracle, of course, is amazing. People having their sight restored is incredible. It's overwhelming. But miracles reveal not just the power of Jesus and his authority over sickness, but his very character and signs and wonders. They point to him. They're a sign that points to him. They cause us to wonder about him. Who is our God? What is he like? He stops and he stoops down and he takes calls when he's on his way to the one and only parade in his name.

It's beautiful.

The God who's on his way to divide human history stops and asks a beggar, "What can I do for you?" Because apparently he has time.

And I just want to say, that's our guy.

That's our hero. That's the one I want to worship.

Love that about Jesus.

So these guys are screaming out, "Son of David," which that term might go right past us, but that's a very loaded term. And it sets the stage actually for his triumphant entry into Jerusalem. The title "Son of David" is a reference to God's promised Messiah, the anointed one.

The anointed one who's going to deliver Israel from their oppressors and lead them into a place of strength and prominence, once again, where they're not being dominated by the nations which they had been at this point for 600 years, but the nations were going to come to them again.

So this term "Son of David" is super loaded and we have no idea how these blind guys know this. We have no idea how these guys put this together, that that's who they're crying out for.

But either way, the news that Jesus could heal reaches them and they connected Jesus' ability to heal to a prophecy that happened in Isaiah.

There are messianic prophecies that the people of God were living with, that the Messiah, this great deliverer, was going to do these things. This is what Isaiah 35 says about what it's going to be like when this Messiah, he's not just a political figure, there's power and healing in his hands. "Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened," it said about him, hundreds of years before him, "and the ears of the deaf unstopped, and then shall the lame man leap like a deer and the tongue of the mute sing for joy." So they've obviously heard this and they're obviously putting it together that this might be God's Messiah and what do we got to lose so that he starts screaming out and God stops.

The second point I want to make about this on Palm Sunday is that the hero of our story makes his entrance in a borrowed 93 Ford Taurus.

Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and they came to Bethpage on the Mount of Olives,

then Jesus sent two disciples saying to them, "Go into the village in front of you and immediately you'll find a donkey tied in a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, just tell them the Lord, he needs them and he will send them at once." And this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet saying, "Say to the daughter of Zion, behold, your king is coming to you humble and mounted on a donkey a colt, the foal of a beast of burden."

The disciples went and did it as Jesus directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks and he sat on them and most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road. Now this is an ex- most people only had one cloak,

expensive piece being laid in and on the dirt.

Others cut branches from the trees, spread them out on the road and the crowds that went before him and followed him were shouting, "Hosanna to the son of David!

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest!"

And when he entered Jerusalem the whole city was stirred up saying, "Who is this?"

And the crowd said, "This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee." I've never been to the Holy Land before,

but you've probably- if you grew up in church you've probably pictured this scene a number of times.

When you picture the Mount of Olives, what do you picture?

Yeah, a mountain because it's a Mount of Olives. And I was a little bit shocked to find out that it's a little bit more like a foothill,

that the Mount of Olives actually only sits 300 feet higher than the Temple Mount itself. Jerusalem was a city on a hill. And so this hill, the Mount of Olives, is about 300 feet higher than the Temple. So he's making his way down what we would call a foothill and making his way towards the Golden Gate where he'll enter Jerusalem.

Another thing that was kind of surprising to me was to understand how many people were there. I think when I heard that the whole city was stirred up I assumed that somewhere around 250,000 people were gathered for this. It was disappointing to find out that it was 2,000, probably 2,000 people who are gathered around. It was also kind of shocking to me to find out how long this procession was. It takes about 16 minutes to walk three quarters of a mile from the Mount of Olives to the Golden Gate where Jesus would have entered.

And in some ways what is being described here is very special. In other ways what's being described here is actually pretty normal. The Jewish people had songs or Psalms of ascent.

These Psalms were read, prayed, shouted as they made their way to the Temple. So as they ascended to the Temple they would sing and say these Psalms that were hundreds of years old. And this, the one that is shared,

screamed, prayed, shouted on this day is Psalm 118.

It's a Psalm of ascent.

And it's interesting to look at the context of the Psalm that they're praying, but it starts, well it doesn't start. In verse 22 it says, "The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone."

That's what they're saying as Jesus makes His way into Jerusalem.

The Lord has done this and it's marvelous in our eyes. The Lord has done it this very day. Let us rejoice today and be glad. Lord save us. That's Hosanna.

Save now or save please depending on a different scholar's kind of definition. But save now, save please, save us. This is what they're shouting as they shout, "Hosanna, Lord grant us success.

Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord."

Oh, maybe not.

I must be reading from the ESV if you guys want to change that.

So if you'll notice, that is the Psalm of ascent that's being referenced as they make their way to the temple in Jerusalem.

But they've added some things. In Matthew's account they've added that loaded term, "Son of David."

In Mark's account they say, "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." This is going to get you in trouble in Rome.

Luke's account says, "Blessed is the king." That was not in Psalm 118. They're adding that in. John's account says, "Hosanna, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel."

So the people are declaring what those blind men were declaring in the section of Scripture before this. This is God's promised Messiah. And they're right. They're right about that. They're not wrong. This is God's promised Messiah. But the million dollar question is, what kind of Messiah?

The million dollar question is not if Jesus will save, but how will Jesus save? Not if He'll fight, but how will He fight? How will Jesus be this deliverer, this rescuer? And to understand this, you need to know that Palm Sunday is actually not about the palms.

It's about the donkey.

It really is about the beast of burden. We just can't give little kids each a donkey.

It's too expensive. So it's like, make this palm out of a paper plate and just parade it down. Shout, "Hosanna." I don't know what that means. It doesn't matter. Just say it. This is what we do. Nobody can get a donkey, but that's the point of Palm Sunday. And this is how we understand who Jesus is, how He's going to save, how He's going to deliver. Oh, He's royalty, all right. But what kind of royalty is He?

The people wanted palms.

Jesus gave them the symbol of the donkey. The people wanted palms. They're chanting, "Save now, save now, save now, save now." And they're waving palm branches. The palm branch was connected to military victory to receive an army back from battle. In 150 years before Jesus lived, the Maccabees led a successful revolt, and they drove Israel's enemies out of the city. This guy, Simon Maccabee, actually ruled over a semi-independent Jewish nation until about 67 BC when Rome put a puppet king in there. So this is what's really interesting about this. 150 years before Jesus. Now I'm going to read from 1 Maccabees, not a part of our Bible, but still this is really helpful. On the 23rd day of the second month in the 171st year, the Jews entered it with praise and palm branches, with harps and cymbals and stringed instruments, and with hymns and songs because a great enemy had been crushed and removed from Israel.

What are they doing with these palm branches?

Like let's do it again.

We were a semi-independent nation for nearly 100 years, and they know exactly what they're doing as they scream, "Save now," and wave palm branches.

By picking up the palm branch, they're saying something, which is something like what we would say or any other people group would say. We're done with Roman occupation,

done with being ruled over in our own neighborhoods. Before the Romans, we were done with the Greeks or the Syrians. Before the Greeks and the Syrians, we were done with the Persians. Before the Persians, we were done with the Babylonians, and before the Babylonians, we were done with the Assyrians. We're done.

Save now.

Save us now. Save us now. Save us now. Save us now, Release us out from under this oppression, we no longer want to be under thumb. All the Gospels are clear, though, that Jesus chose a symbol.

And that symbol was a way to make sense of His kingship, and it's a young donkey.

to you righteous and victorious all right sounds good lowly okay riding on a donkey what the is it foul or full full of a donkey okay so he is the promised Messiah he is but he's seeking to show his disciples what kind of Messiah he'll be and Jesus doesn't walk in he's not on foot he's riding which means he's royalty but the good question is what is he riding and it's a borrowed 93 Ford Taurus that's what he's trying to communicate here Martin Luther is really helpful on this he started the Protestant Reformation he's kind of a big deal he says look at him look at him look at him he just pulled up at the Grammys and a 93 Ford Taurus he rides no stallion which is a war animal and he comes not with fearful pomp and power but sits on a donkey which is no war animal but it is ready for burdens of work that will help human beings thereby he shows that he does not come to terrify people to drive or oppress them but to help them to carry their burdens and to take them on himself that's our guy the hero of our story he borrowed a Taurus and we love him for I love him for it I can't get enough of it I love it I love that it's a borrowed dog he doesn't even have a donkey he's like I need a donkey he's like you guys go get me a donkey well we don't have a donkey either you know he's like well just tell him the Lord said and they'll give it you know up it's it's like I own everything and I own nothing I love it have you ever had no it's like humiliating for me as a grown man to borrow things there's been a couple trips recently where I've been I've had to tell people I don't have a vehicle that I think will make it to Los Angeles can I borrow yours you know well sure seems like at your age you should I know I understand I need to borrow your car okay are you gonna shame me or loan me your car you know I need to borrow your weed eater you know it's like why aren't you can't you like start a weed here no I can't start my weed eater just let me borrow your weed eater you know I love it it's not just a donkey it's not even his donkey he's like hey listen I've got a parade and I need to borrow your donkey in order to do this I love Jesus we love Jesus which leads me to my last point the hero of our story is unable to live inside the expectations of others and we hear this and we're like yeah man stick it to the man that's so punk rock have you ever been the man or the woman that he sticks it to has that ever happened to you have your expectations ever been disappointed because Jesus is unable to live inside of them it's not actually that cool it's really cool in theory it's horrible and as many of you know these same crowds who are like Hosanna you're our guy they turn on him at week's end and they start screaming spoiler alert kill this guy like crucify him and I found myself asking the question like why why the sudden turn what happened that led to such a fickle change in heart well I know this for sure they wanted a Jesus who would deal with their issue and what was their issue Rome but they got a Jesus who wanted to deal with the issue underneath their issue has that ever happened to you the Jesus you wanted was not the Jesus you got so have you ever been to a good doctor good doctor what do they do well hopefully they don't treat symptoms hopefully they get to the root of the issue causing the problem hopefully they get to the source that's what they're attempting to do I think Stephen yeah they don't just throw some band-aid on a symptom they want to understand what's causing this and Jesus is the great physician he's not just a good one he's the great one and so they're like we have these issues and he's like yeah I'd like to talk about the issue under the issue we don't want to talk about that this has happened to me and my relationship with Jesus Jesus I have an issue and he's like yeah I'd like to talk to you about the issue under the I don't want to talk about that that puts things on me I was trying to put things on you you deal with this well this is what happens they wanted Jesus to take care of Rome their enemy but Jesus takes aim at their greater enemy sin and the greatest enemy death that's what he comes for have you ever wanted Jesus to deal with them and then he like starts with you has that ever happened in your relationship with him have you ever asked Jesus to get them sick them deal with them and then he starts with you well that's exactly what's going on here they wanted Jesus to deal with their oppressor take down Rome but Jesus actually right now takes aim at their religious leaders and he talks about the destruction of the temple the temple that's the wrong spot to destroy take aim at the Colosseum take aim at Rome don't not our leaders our leaders aren't the issue their leaders are the issue have you ever had this you've had this happen right where the Jesus you want is not the Jesus you get and things get messy when that happens if you move on in Matthew I'll read to you from chapter 27 about this crowd kind of turning on him now at the feast the governor was accustomed to releasing for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted and they had a notorious prisoner called Barabbas so when they gathered Pilate said to them whom do you want me to release to you Barabbas or Jesus who is called Christ for they for he knew that it was out of envy that they delivered him up they knew he was not guilty besides while he was sitting on the judgment seat his wife's sent word to him have have nothing to do with that righteous man for I've suffered much because of him today in a dream now the chief priests that's classic your wife's like don't he's like okay I will now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus the governor again said to them which of these two do you want me to release to you or release for you and they said release Barabbas and Pilate said to them then what shall I do with Jesus who's called the Christ they all shouted let him let him be crucified and he said why what evil has he done but they shouted all the more let him be crucified and I think it's what's really interesting is I've read this in the past and I've thought why did they want to crucify Jesus and that's certainly the main point of the passage here but secondary to that was that they wanted Barabbas released and who was Barabbas a famous freedom fighter an insurrectionist to roam a murderer but to Israel a hero someone who took matters into his own hands what I think they're saying here is we're done with donkey guy we're done with donkey guy the Jesus we wanted was not the Jesus we got and so if we could get rid of donkey guy that'd be great give us a guy who will take up arms and we read this and we're like man how could they what a fickle crowd but honestly what happens to you when the Jesus you want is not the Jesus you get things get really ugly really quick and so I wanted to end by just making a couple references or helping us so that we see ourselves in this crowd and maybe make some decisions in the week ahead what do we do what do we do when the Jesus we want is not the Jesus we get well number one I think you should expect it like just settle with it like it's guaranteed like it will happen so that you're not caught off guard like what in the world he's not doing what I asked him to do just plan on it John the Baptist who is the greatest man born of a woman and the first person to say behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world very clear on Jesus's identity John the Baptist finds himself in prison facing death and he's going hey are you are you the guy are you the one we hoped for or should we expect someone else if it happened to him it's bound to happen to us expect it the Jesus you want is not always the Jesus you're gonna get Isaiah 55 says this my thoughts are not your thoughts neither are your ways my ways declares the Lord as the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts he's saying very clearly I do not think the way you think I don't sit where you sit and don't see what you see and as a result I don't think the way that you think so be ready for it don't be surprised by it it makes perfect sense that we wouldn't see eye to eye with someone who sits where he sits and does what he does the second thing I want to say to you to us those who don't always get the Jesus we want is that you have to decide who Jesus is make up your mind about who Jesus is Larry Osborne who's a pastor in Southern California he hopefully kind of lays out these ways that we relate to God but he says that some people treat God not as a God but as some sort of cosmic consultant like is Jesus a great teacher who has some great ideas or is Jesus God so Jesus when he says get a donkey as God you're like well okay I don't know how this is gonna work but we don't know a donkey you know but he's God and he says get a donkey and so we say how high right this is kind of the vibe God becomes a cosmic consultant and he says go get a donkey and you're like well interesting because we don't own a donkey you know and I've got some questions and until my questions are kind of answered I won't be proceeding to go take a donkey right so a lot of us can treat God that way the cosmic consultant the other thing you have to reckon you have to kind of reckon with is Jesus your God or is he a vending machine is Jesus a God or is he a vending machine does Jesus exist to give you what you want is your relationship with him transactional I put a dollar in I press c6 you give me a Snickers I

what I notice about a vending machine is like when that thing keeps my dollar or my Snickers gets hung up I feel completely justified to smash the plexiglass tip it over you know because again we have a transactional relationship I gave you this you give me that and a lot of people walk away from Jesus because they put their dollar in and they didn't get what they really wanted the shit they're still shaking the thing to this day

is Jesus God or is he a good luck charm something that we just wish on does Jesus need my approval to be God or is Jesus God whose approval I need that's like a huge question because I think when we face this and the Jesus we want is not the Jesus we get there's this attitude that's like well if it's that way with God then I just don't want anything to do with him if God's that way then I don't want anything to do with him and it's just an interest I understand the feeling of that I understand the sentiment of that but it's along the lines of saying like well if gravity is gonna be that way I don't want anything to do with gravity you know you're like well I don't know if that's an option for you you can do that if you want or you say God would never blank and it's like he needs my approval not me needing desperately his approval as God but him needing my approval in order to be God lastly besides deciding who Jesus is beside expecting that we're not always gonna get the Jesus we want the last thing I want to invite you to do and worship team would you come is trust the process if God is God then it makes perfect sense that he isn't always going to make sense the gospel of John tells us that they didn't actually know why they were getting a donkey until afterwards I love that that's faith they didn't even know why they were getting a donkey afterwards they were like I think there's a prophecy in Zachariah about this they didn't even know they were like yeah I think we'll I guess we'll go get a donkey as we come to the table and lift our voices and song to Jesus I just want to remind you of the cross something that we'll remember this Friday but I want to remind you of this the God who suffered humiliating defeat embarrassing defeat is victorious in such a way that thousands of years later millions of people gathered to celebrate a peasant being tortured the God who is absent is actually sovereignly working behind the scenes that's what we remember when we come to the cross the God who dies defeated death who saw that coming no one no one saw that coming he doesn't sit where you sit he doesn't see what you see he doesn't think the way you think and we're trusting that just as he shocked the world once he's gonna shock the world again behold your King lowly riding on a donkey I love the hero of our story