Palm Sunday: Jesus Enters Jerusalem
As Jesus and his disciples approached Jerusalem, he sent two of them ahead to a nearby village. "You will find a donkey tied there, with her colt beside her," he told them. "Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone questions you, say the Lord needs them." This happened to fulfill what the prophet had written: "See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey."
The disciples brought the donkey and her colt, laid their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them as he rode toward the city. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the path ahead of him. The crowds who went ahead of him and those who followed shouted, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!"
When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred, asking, "Who is this?" And the crowds answered, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee." What began as a joyful, triumphant welcome -- with a king arriving not on a war horse but on a humble donkey -- was, for those with eyes to see, a sign that God's promised king had finally come, though not in the way anyone expected.
Read the Bible passage
See the full scripture text this story is based on.
- 21:1And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples,
- 21:2Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me.
- 21:3And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them.
- 21:4All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying,
- 21:5Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.
- 21:6And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them,
- 21:7And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon.
- 21:8And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way.
- 21:9And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.
- 21:10And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this?
- 21:11And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.
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