In today’s video lesson series by Ray Vander Laan, he discussed Jesus’ triumphal entry being misunderstood as a all for a violent revolution. He began by describing the Zealots’ symbol that they wore, like our American Flag is sometimes found on clothing in the United States of America. They used a palm branch that represented victory over Rome. When someone waved a palm branch, they were essentially saying, “Kill the Romans.”

When Jesus came into the city, people waved palm branches. They took their Bibles literally and believed Jesus would take the kingdom by military power. The palm branch was the Zealots’ declaration of war. They thought He was coming as a military leader. When Jesus saw the crowd waving palm branches during the Triumphal Entry, some people thought He was crying because they didn’t recognize Him as the Messiah. The word used in the text means to “wail loudly” (Luke 19:41).

Lamb Selection Day is the day God commanded the Israelites to choose a lamb for Passover, four days before the sacrifice (Exodus 12:3). A crowd gathered because Jesus chose to ride a donkey, fulfilling the prophecy:

“Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
 —Zechariah 9:9

Jesus said to two of the disciples, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me.” They brought them to Jesus, and He sat on them (Matthew 21:2–7). These are the very words of God.

In Matthew’s version of the story, there were two donkeys, and Jesus sat on them, which has inspired some interesting interpretations and pieces of art. Why did He sit on them? It's not entirely clear—the text doesn’t explain.

Ray taught that there was a practice in rabbinic thought of adding a fictional character to a story to represent the audience or the reader. The idea is that the extra character represents us.

For example, when the legion of demons was cast out, Matthew writes that there were two demon-possessed men, while the other Gospels mention only one (Matthew 8:28 vs. Mark 5:2, Luke 8:27). Some believe this is Matthew’s way of including us in the story, saying we all have our demons.

As Jesus saw people waving palm branches, He wept because He was distraught. They believed His character was such that He would kill the people they wanted Him to. They didn’t recognize His true declaration that He was the Messiah, and they missed how He taught that the kingdom would come.

The people shouted "Hosanna," which means “save us,” from Psalm 118:22, 26 which says, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone… Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna!”

But the crowd changed the Scripture. Instead of “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,” they said, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord” (Luke 19:38). They twisted the Scripture to fit their expectations of a military leader, probably without realizing they did it.

The Pharisees told Jesus to rebuke the crowd. They were nonviolent and didn’t believe the Romans should be attacked. Ironically, they had the same philosophy about violence that Jesus did. They recognized that this was a military plea.

Jesus responded, “If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out” (Luke 19:40) which is also found in Habakkuk 2:11 which reads, ““The stones of the wall will cry out, and the beams of the woodwork will echo it.” It seems Jesus was saying, “Because you have blood on your hands, the stones of the temple will cry out” because they believed the kingdom would come through violence.

Jesus was warning them that if they used violence, they would be destroyed. They misunderstood how He would come and what He would do.

During His descent into Jerusalem, Jesus said two important things:

1. “If these people stop shouting, the stones will cry out” (Luke 19:40). As Habakkuk said, if you build the kingdom with blood, the stones will cry out.
2. “If only you had known on this day what would bring you peace…” (Luke 19:42). This is a critique of their vision of the Messiah—He wasn't coming to conquer Rome but to bring peace through sacrifice (see also Isaiah 9:6–7).

It was a great declaration that Jesus was the messianic king—but they got it wrong. How could the same crowd that shouted “Hosanna” on Palm Sunday want Him dead by Maundy Thursday?

Because Jesus’ way of being Messiah was very different from what they thought it should be. He wasn’t coming to kill their enemies—He came to die for them. Jesus knows we’re not waving palm branches because we want Him to kill the person who cut us off in traffic. He knows we’re trying to worship Him.

The real question is: are we willing to accept His way? A way that calls us to live sacrificially for Jesus? That’s how we bring the kingdom—through sacrificial living.

There’s an extra donkey in the story. If you want to come along for the ride, He would love to have you in the procession.