By Stuart Powell
We’ve often heard the story of Jesus riding the donkey down the Mount of Olives to the eastern gate of the city and the temple (Luke 19:35-38, NET):
Then they brought [the donkey] to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt, and had Jesus get on it. As he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. As he approached the road leading down from the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen: ”Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
Throngs of people surrounded him and sang the royal 118th psalm as they marched to the city. As the first-century Jews prepared to celebrate Passover, many looked at this man on a donkey as a new David. A king who would bring God’s peace to the people of Israel rather than the “Peace of Rome” thrust upon them by the occupying forces of the empire.
I wonder how many people took notice of the things Jesus said while he rode toward Jerusalem. How many heard the psalm of celebration as a call for liberation from Rome? Luke recorded three different topics that Jesus addressed on that donkey ride. Pay attention to the second thing Jesus said. “Now when Jesus approached and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, ‘If you had only known on this day, even you, the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes’” (Luke 19:41-42).
The crowd wanted God’s peace, and many believed it would come when they were ruled by a Jewish king like David. They forgot that even though David gave them military victories over the enemies of his day, he could not conquer our greatest enemy and bring the fullness of God’s peace. Jesus is the King of peace. The peace he brought to the Jews did more than free them from the corruption of Rome. Jesus offers all people a peace more enduring than any government can deliver. It is a peace that calms our hearts in every chaos. A peace that strengthens our spirit during every sickness. Jesus’ peace transcends culture and language and encompasses the entire universe.
You hold in your hands the reminders of “the things that make for peace” which Jesus spoke about on his way to Jerusalem: the bread and the cup. Jesus’ peace cost God the life of his Son. Jesus died by choice. Not for his own sins, since he had none, but to pay for our sins. The bread reminds us of his physical body that was crushed for our transgressions. The cup points us to the innocent blood that was poured out to cleanse us from our unrighteousness. As we eat and drink these symbols of peace, let us continue to celebrate the King who brought us the peace of God through his cross.
Stuart Powell lives outside of Terre Haute, Indiana, where he serves with the North Side Christian Church.
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