If you were a great king and had lots of power, money, and servants, how would you decide to make your entrance into an important city, like London or Washington DC? Would you fly into the airport on a private jet and then take a big, bulletproof limousine through town? Back in Jesus’s day, if the Roman Emperor rode into an important town, he would ride on a strong and beautiful horse with hundreds of guards surrounding him—holding banners, shields, and swords. When Jesus decided to make his entrance into Jerusalem, he did things differently. He sent two of his disciples into a small town to borrow a young donkey, called a colt. No one had ever ridden this colt. After the disciples found the colt, they brought it to Jesus and laid their coats on it as a saddle. Then Jesus sat on it. It took days to train a colt to let a person ride it, yet Jesus immediately steadied the small creature like he steadied the big waves.

As Jesus rode up to Jerusalem, a crowd ran ahead of him to spread their coats and palm branches on the road. Some shouted, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” (Luke 19:38). Others yelled, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!” (Mark 11:9–10). “Hosanna” means “save us.” They were asking King Jesus to save them. The Pharisees didn’t like what they heard. They didn’t want to praise Jesus. They didn’t believe that Jesus was the King they were waiting for. “Tell them to stop shouting such things,” they told Jesus. But he would have none of their nonsense: “Even the stones would cry out in praise, if I silenced all the people” (see Luke 19:40). All creation should praise the Creator. All people, then and now, should cry out, “Save us, King Jesus!”