By Jeff Cranston

On a very special day nearly 2000 years ago, an amazing thing happened in Jerusalem just before the Jewish Passover. God rode a donkey into town! The all-powerful, all-knowing God, Creator of the Universe. Have you ever thought about how amazing it was that God just strolled into Jerusalem? Let’s see what the Scriptures say about this. Read Luke 19:35-40. 

In this passage, we can see that people reacted in different ways when God came to town. People were forced to take sides. When God rides into town, we’re all faced with a choice. We’re forced to either crown Him as our King or reject Him as our Ruler. We either bow before Him or fight against Him. According to this passage in Luke, how did people respond to Jesus Christ?

Some responded callously.

God in the flesh came to town, and the Pharisees refused to see it! These callously indifferent people were the most religious people in the crowd that day. They couldn’t stand the fact that people were getting happy about Jesus! Why?

1. Jesus upsets their rituals. Before Jesus came, the Pharisees were very comfortable in their rituals. “They felt that as long as you looked good in front of others, you were OK. They wore distinctive clothes so everyone would know they were religious. They performed distinctive rituals so that everyone would know they were holy. They prayed loudly so that everyone would know how religiously eloquent they were.

The Pharisees loved rituals because rituals protected them from real worship. They were full of head knowledge, but their hearts were far from God.

2. Jesus upsets the status quo.

Status quo is a Latin term meaning “the existing state of affairs.” Sam Rainer, a pastoral colleague of mine, says that most people who push for the status quo are wanting to stay put. Jesus NEVER called us to stay put.

The status quo is highly contagious.
The status quo discourages risk.
The status quo encourages complacency. “I’m fine with things the way they are” is the mantra of a person headed toward spiritual illness.
The status quo leaves people unprepared for disruption. And if it’s one thing Jesus does, He causes disruption! [1]

Before Jesus came to town, the Pharisees were the religious leaders. People looked to them for spiritual guidance. They were considered the godliest people around, and they liked the power and control they had over people.

Whenever Jesus shows up, some people are going to get upset. We can’t follow two leaders. It’s Jesus or something or someone else, but it can never be both. The people couldn’t follow both Jesus and the Pharisees. And as soon as that became apparent, the status quo was rocked.

 Anytime Jesus is leading, everyone and everything else has to step aside! John the Baptist had it right when he said, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” - John 3:30

Some celebrated.

What an incredible moment for our Lord Jesus Christ! Matthew 21:8-9 tells us that a very large crowd had gathered and that nearly all of them got in on welcoming Jesus into Jerusalem.

Picture the scene:

• Jesus is riding a donkey into town. The donkey was a symbol of peace, service, and sacredness.

• The disciples were leading the people in praise/worship of Jesus.

• This was probably not just the 12 disciples, but the 70 disciples that Jesus had sent out earlier.

• Palm branches—which were a symbol of joy—were laid before Him.

• The people took their coats and laid them on the ground for Jesus to ride over. That was a symbol of respect and reverence normally reserved for a king.

• They shouted, “Hosanna!” Hosanna means “save now!”

These folks were happy to see Jesus! They had waited and prayed for God to show up! There was a party going on in Jerusalem that day!

Some asked, “Who is this?”

According to Matthew 21:10, some of Jerusalem’s citizens were, it seems, ignorant concerning Jesus Christ. Here was the “glory of His people, Israel,” yet Israel knew Him not. The Holy One unknown in the Holy City!

Matthew 21:11 fills out the rest of the story: “And the crowds were saying, ‘This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee.’”

They called Him “a prophet from Nazareth.” They almost had it—SO close to the total truth—if they had said a prophet of God or a prophet sent from God. But they said a prophet from Nazareth. They missed it. Here is One sent from Heaven! One sent to save! He bore the load of our guilt and sin. He broke the chains of our bondage. He creates us as new people through the power of His Holy Spirit. He conquers and He alone conquers. The spoils of His victory come to us in the forms of forgiveness, grace, and love.

We all need visits in our lives. We all find ourselves in need of expertise, confrontation, encouragement or perspective that we will only find if someone visits us with the resources we need. When our lives become unraveled and veer off course, we need God's expertise and resources. The good news is, God still visits today!

Jeff Cranston is the lead pastor at LowCountry Community Church in Bluffton, South Caroilna.

[1] Accessed 21 March 2021. https://churchanswers.com/blog/why-the-status-quo-is-so-tempting-and-dangerous/

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