No red carpet… though he’s a star above stars

At Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem days before his crucifixion, there was great excitement. He came down from the Mount of Olives on a donkey. The people were moved, though some wondered who he was. They laid down their cloaks and garments in his path and waved palm branches, signifying, to them, the liberation they thought was on the horizon. No pomp and circumstance, just the shouts and acclamation of the commoners, who sang and shouted, “Hosanna to God in the highest. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.”

The chief priests and Pharisees were anything but pleased. They thought peoples’ exultation toward Jesus would be their loss.

As Jesus approached the city, he was disheartened to the point of weeping because he knew the imminent suffering that was to befall the people. This day was among the last before his crucifixion. Had the people of Jerusalem truly understood what Jesus was all about, he would have saved them all. Yet they chose their own way, which brought about their ruin. Sadly, even the apostles were not aware of the prophecies being fulfilled, nor did they understand that Jesus was approaching a heavenly rather than an earthly coronation.