The King Prepares His Procession, Part 4 | Coronation of Christ the King

Luke 19:31-34

Unlike Adonijah, Solomon didn’t put himself forward. He’s chosen by God. He’s appointed by David. Solomon knew, which you can read in 1 Chronicles 22:6, in fact, if you’d like to go there, I’m going to go there now. But in 1 Chronicles 22:6-10, Solomon knew his father David had chosen him because God had already chosen him. This is the word of the living God. Who’s going to controvert his word? Who’s going to contradict him? Who’s going to push back against the will of the Lord?

It says in 1 Chronicles 22:6, “He called for,” David, “called for Solomon his son and charged him to build a house for the Lord, the God of Israel. And David said to Solomon, ‘My son, I had it in my heart to build a house to the name of the Lord my God. But the word of the Lord came to me saying, “You have shed much blood. You have waged great wars. You shall not build a house to my name, because you have shed so much blood before me on the earth.”’”

“David, you’re a man of war. That’s your role. That’s what I chose you for. But your son, Solomon,” verse 9, “‘“Behold, a son shall be born to you who shall be a man of rest. I will give him rest from all his surrounding enemies, for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days. He shall build a house for my name. He shall be my son, and I will be his father, and I will establish his royal throne in Israel forever.”’”

Know what the name of Solomon means? Peaceable, peaceable. His very name symbolizes who he is, what he’s like. God named him peaceable because peace would characterize his reign and his kingdom; and the peace of wisdom would characterize his person and his work.

So in Solomon’s procession, there’s no indication there, of fear, no hint of anxiety about this coup attempt. The rivalry of his brother Adonijah is nothing but a usurper. Solomon, though, is the rightful king. He’s the one affirmed by David as the true heir to the throne.

There’s one more passage I want to read, 2 Samuel, chapter 7. 2 Samuel 7, the Davidic covenant, and it connects Solomon and Jesus as sons of David, kind of, in this text. In 2 Samuel chapter 7, starting at the middle of verse 11, God promises David, “‘I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house, and when your days are fulfilled, when you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.

“‘He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men. But my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’ In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.”

God did give David rest from his enemies. He put Solomon at ease. He gave Solomon peace and stability in his time, in his kingdom. He’s given Solomon confidence to take the throne and to do what he was chosen to do, which is to build the Lord’s temple. Solomon, though, we understand as history goes on, we understand that Solomon is not the greater son of David that is fulfilled in this text. He’s not the one who fulfilled that prophecy, ultimately.

David’s greater son, Jesus, he comes, though, in the same royal dignity, and he comes in that same settled spirit of confidence to do what he was chosen to do. Solomon was a peaceable man, chosen by God to build the temple. Jesus came as the Prince of Peace, chosen by God to fulfill the entire purpose of the temple. The temple is about reconciling man to God through sacrifice, through blood atonement, through prayers, and Jesus came to fulfill that in his own person.

Which is why, if you go back to Luke 19, now, we can see this at the end of the chapter, that Jesus’ first stop after entering into the city of Jerusalem is at the temple of the Lord. In fact, in this triumphal entry passage, we keep expecting Luke to say somewhere in this passage as we’ve been reading, Jesus now entered into the city, He came to Jerusalem and he entered in. Doesn’t say that. In fact, in verse 36, it’s, “As he rode along,” so he’s moving. In verse 37, “as he was drawing near,” so still moving. Verse 41, “and when he drew near and saw the city,” so he’s still not there. He’s under the Mount of Olives, and he’s going to weep over the city.

When’s he going to get there? I mean, Jerusalem has been the end goal of this entire section that we’ve been in for a long, long time together. Jerusalem is the final stop. It’s the reason he set out on his journey, and Luke doesn’t let us culminate in Jerusalem itself, per se, because he wants us to look deeper. He wants us to see the spiritual significance. It’s not until verse 45 of this text that Luke portrays Jesus as finally arriving at his destination, and he’s very specific about it. He doesn’t say he entered into the city of Jerusalem or anything like that. He says, “He entered into the temple,” which presupposes he’s in Jerusalem, but it’s, “He entered into the temple.”

That’s because Jesus came as the Prince of Peace, and he came to win for his people a true and lasting peace, a final peace, reconciling God and man. He came to accomplish all that the tem, the temple symbolizes, to atone for sins and to reconcile man to God, to make peace between God and man. So Jesus comes to fulfill the Davidic covenant and many other prophecies of Scripture as well, and he comes in peace, symbolized by riding on a donkey’s colt. And in verse 30, Luke 19:30, we can now discern the reason for selecting the donkey’s colt as the most fitting symbol. It’s because the Lord as the king comes as the king of peace, not a king of war at this time. He comes offering peace, symbolized in his procession, by riding on a donkey’s colt.

All right, just to recap, the Lord is regal, humble, intentional, peaceful, and then fifthly, the Lord is knowledgeable. The Lord is knowledgeable. It’s not only what the Lord knows, it’s what he does with what he knows, and it reveals his great wisdom. The meticulous detail of his knowledge, I believe, comes by means of prophetic revelation by the Holy Spirit.

Why do I say that, especially since some commentators say that the Lord has really prearranged the borrowing of this donkey’s colt by, by natural planning? You know, he prearranged it some time that’s not mentioned in the text, and he got this done some weeks past, but it’s not by supernatural knowledge, they say. They say Jesus could have done that, made arrangements the last time he visited Bethany back in John 11, when he raised Lazarus from the dead. And so they say none of this is really supernatural; it’s just good planning that’s shown here.

So it’s possible that they’re right about that, but why do I disagree? Why do I believe that the Lord’s knowledge, here, is something that’s supernatural, something that is by prophetic revelation, by the Holy Spirit? I’m going to give you several reasons.

First, when we read John 11, we can see, that’s the passage where Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, and he was intentional about staying away from Bethany until Lazarus was dead, buried in the grave, in fact, for four days before he came. But we see when he gets to Bethany, there’s the limitations of time and occasion, there, that argue against Jesus making any arrangements then and at that time for the future use of an animal.

At that time, he isn’t, he’s not visiting Bethany to borrow a donkey’s colt. He’s there to raise Lazarus from the dead, to attend to the family, the emotion of the moment with the family and everything that they’re going through, the presence of mourners that are putting on the mourning and putting on the show of mourning over the family, the ministry to the family and the time and attention that that would occupy, as any pastor understands. His interest is going to be to do what he came to do. He’s not mixing purposes here.

After he raised Lazarus from the dead, we understand from John 11, time grew short as things changed very quickly. The Jews, the leaders of the Jews came looking for him right away, as we understand, intending to put him to death. They’re really jealous and envious of him and his power and his following, and so they want to get rid of him. This guy who just raised the dead, they want to try to kill him. Seems a strange plan, but nonetheless there it is.

So highly unlikely at this time in John 11 that he ventured outside Bethany, that he took time to go into another village, as we see here, it’s not Bethany, it’s a village across, is what the language says. Highly unlikely that he ventured outside Bethany at that time and took the time to go to another village, ask about a donkey rental. He had to pack up and leave in a hurry. So John 11, at that time, there’s too little time. It’s not the right occasion to get transportation and make arrangements for his future procession into Jerusalem.

A second reason, I think, that this is supernatural and not just natural planning, in the intervening weeks between the miracle about Lazarus and, and his return here to Bethany, that really did provide enough time for Jesus’ miraculous work to be known and spread throughout Bethany, but from Bethany throughout the whole region of Bethphage. So a lot of time passed for his deeds to become known, for people to become more thoroughly acquainted with him, his kingdom his, or his kingdom message, his Gospel preaching.

This comes into consideration when we see the disciples are challenged by the owners in verse 33, and the answer in verse 34, “The Lord has need of it,” that’s enough to satisfy them. They’re like, Oh, and let it go. There’s no further argument, no further challenge offered, no further explanation needed beyond the part of the disciples that are there, no further concern that they have about letting their animal go. Clearly the owners knew who was meant by “the Lord.” Oh, he’s that guy. Hendrickson says, “The mere mention of the fact that Jesus needed the colt was enough to secure immediate and unqualified assent.” End quote.

Their trust only makes sense because of familiarity throughout Bethphage in this unnamed village of who Jesus is, what he has done, what he represents; and so third, a third reason I think that this is supernatural, not just natural planning, but supernatural knowledge in making the preparations right on the spot, if Jesus had worked out the arrangements ahead of time, what, what explains this challenge from the owners and how Jesus told his disciples to respond? What explains this at all, that it wouldn’t make sense if he’d already arranged it?

I mean, in verse 31, if Jesus had arranged to get the colt from these owners ahead of time, wouldn’t it make more sense if Jesus told them, hey, look, if Billy Bob and his buddies come and talk to you about this donkey’s colt that you’re untying, just tell them I sent you, show them the rental receipt and they’ll let you go. It, wouldn’t that make more sense, for some kind of a mention: the preplanning, the prearrangement? No mention of that. This has every indication that there’s been no prior arrangement, on the one hand. We also see the immediate acquiescence, on the other hand, to let him go.

The fourth thing we see, the fact that all three synoptic Gospel writers include the same account, the fact that this story is told almost identically in all three Gospels, pretty clear that there’s something remarkable about this. The accounts read as if he’s using supernatural knowledge, as if he’s directing his disciples based on previously unknown information, but granted to him then, on this occasion, by the Spirit for the purpose of demonstrating who he is to his disciples. I think that’s very clear.

And finally, one more reason: What we see here is preparing us, preparing our minds, preparing our hearts for everything that’s about to come because in the coming week, and again we’ve seen this here and there through Jesus’ ministry, but in this coming week, Jesus is continuing to direct his disciples and to make predictions about the future. The accounts read like he’s using supernatural knowledge, as he is. It’s as if he’s using information revealed to him in the moment for that time to do what he needs to get done. It’s, it’s revealed to him in the moment and for the moment.

Here are just a few verses, of samples of those. John 14:29, he says to his disciples, “I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place, you may believe.” I want you to see that this is predictive, and I want you to see the fulfillment of it so you have assurance in your believing. John 16:32: “Behold the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will all be scattered, each to his own home, and you’re going to leave me alone.” That happened. He told him it would happen before it happened. Then it happened, and they look back and say, that happened. Luke 22:34, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster won’t crow today until you deny me three times, deny three times that you know me.” That happened, too. Our text reads exactly the same way as those.

There’s another parallel in Luke 22:7-13. If you look there, Jesus sends Peter and John to make arrangements and prepare for the Passover that they’ll celebrate together, his final Passover with them before he dies, is buried, and raises from the dead. He says to them, Luke 22:7, he says to them, “Behold, when you’ve entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the,” a man carrying a jar of water, by the way, that’s kind of an uncommon sight. Usually it’s the women carrying the jar of water. They’re the ones going to get the water, bring it back to the house.

He’s, it’s going to be a man, that’s going to be, that’s going to stand out to you. “Follow him into a house that he enters and tell the master of the house, The teacher says to you, “Where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?” He’ll show you the large upper room furnished. Prepare it there. They went and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.”

Again, passages like that, very hard to understand and explain if Jesus has prearranged all the details off-camera, so to speak. But if he knows what he knows by supernatural revelation, which is granted to him in the very moment by the Holy Spirit, all this makes perfect sense. All of it makes perfect sense.

The supernatural knowledge that we see here, granted to him by the Spirit, that’s not the end of what we’re supposed to see. It’s the means to an end. In what he does with what he knows, he demonstrates this incredible competency with the knowledge that he has. It’s in using knowledge that he shows gentleness and meekness of wisdom. In what can only be attributed to his unique role as a Messiah, the Lord always seems to have two perspectives in mind at all times: the great and the small; the general and the particular; the grand narrative, redemptive narrative story, but also the little details, too.

For example, the Lord keeps the big picture in mind as he’s preparing for his coronation procession, as he chooses the fitting symbols to signal the king, the kind of king that he is and the kind of kingdom that he represents. As he fulfills the prophecies of Scripture, he’s got big themes in mind, but at the same time, the Lord is concerning himself in the seemingly small issues. He’s attending to the little tiny details. He is showing, here, throughout, care and concern for people, and by the way, for animals, too.

He’s thoughtful for the disciples. He’s thoughtful for the assignment that he sends them on. He’s thoughtful about the care of the animals. He’s thoughtful about the owners of the animals. Look at verses 30-31. He’s knowledgeable and he’s thoughtful. “Go into the village in front of you where I am entering. You’ll find it, a colt tied on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it, bring it here. If anyone asks you why are you untying it, you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’”

I’ll give you a couple sub-points here. Sub-point A, the location. They’ll be quick ones. So sub-point A, the location. Knowing where the colt will be, it means he’s not sending his disciples on a wild goose chase or a wild donkey chase or whatever the chase is. He’s not sending him on a chase. He’s not sending him on this, this mission where they’re going to be wandering around. He sends them on a mission, it’s a point of fact; he knows the exact location, area of operation.

He’s going to guarantee it’s going to result in success as long as they obey him, follow his instructions and do exactly what he says. Directions are not hard to follow. In fact, in Mark 11:2 he says, “Go into the village in front of you and immediately as you enter, you will find a colt tied.” In, in other words, you’re not going to have to hunt around the whole village. You just got to get to the outskirts. Immediately as you enter, there it is. It’s going to be right there, very easy to find.

Sub-point B, the situation. So location, sub-point B, the situation. He knows what situation the colt is going to be in, and that is to say, it’s going to be tied up. It’s another way to make that animal easier to identify. Mark 11:4. We know the colt is not in a pen with other animals. It’s not wandering around, either. It’s tied at a door outside in the street. Huh.

So knowing the colt is going to be tied up, tied up on a door outside in the street, that assures them they’re not going to have to chase this thing down. A colt, it’s never been ridden, so it’s unbroken, may tend to be a bit skittish, bit nervous, shy of strangers, prone to buck and kick, but they’re going to be able to untie the colt easily, take it back to the Lord.

Which leads to sub-point C, the attention, the attention that he gives, here. Knowing the colt has not yet been ridden. The Lord tells us disciples to untie the colt, and it doesn’t say it here in Luke, but we see it in the other Gospels, “untie the colt and its mother,” and bring both animals with them.

In the parallel account in Matthew 21:2, Jesus says, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you’re going to find a donkey tied and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me.” The Lord only needed the colt for his purposes, right? But here he’s showing attention, care, concern lest the mother donkey and her baby colt donkey, lest they become anxious in being separated from one another. The Lord is concerned to keep these animals calm by keeping them together. Paying this kind of attention, using a gentle touch when they conduct these animals, mother and foal, back to him, is going, they’re going to come to him, sense his gentleness. They’re going to be calmed by their Master’s touch, their Creator’s touch. So gentle.

Sub-point D, the anticipation, the anticipation knowing the donkey’s owners are going to challenge the disciples. The Lord anticipates that, and he prepares them to answer. His knowledge is so thorough that he’s thought of everything, here. His instructions are clear, imbuing the disciples with confidence, and assuring them that they are going to accomplish the mission he sends them to do. They don’t have to stumble around. They don’t have to fumble around. They don’t have to come up with some big, long, eloquent explanation. He says, say this sentence, no more, no less. Gives them that sent, they, they give the owners that sentence, and they’re fine with it. They move on.

James asks this question in James 3:13, “Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct, let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.” That is what our Lord is showing us in this text, that his works are accomplished in the meekness of wisdom. It’s not just what he knows; it’s, that’s, that’s a start. But it’s what he does with what he knows. It’s how he uses knowledge.

Think about this. As you grow in your understanding of the Bible, as you understand it, grow in your understanding of your theology, does that Bible knowledge, doctrine, theology wash through your life and change your heart so that you’re not an arrogant jerk with what you think you know, but the knowledge has actually changed you, and so that your works and your words and your actions and your tone and the way you handle yourself is done in the meekness of wisdom.

Because that’s what the knowledge is for. The knowledge is to change your life. The knowledge is to cause the fruit of the Spirit to bear up within you so that you are a different kind of a person. You’re a transformed person, who bears that gospel message and all that good doctrine and all that strong theology, that you bear it well, in meekness of wisdom. It’s what we see here. It’s what our Lord shows us in this text. It’s what he shows us throughout his life, his ministry, that he’s competent in his knowledge, but he’s also gentle and meek in how he uses his knowledge.

All these little details, the location, where to find the colt, the situation, how to identify the right one, the attention, care and concern in keeping mother and foal together, the anticipation of the challenge of the owners, the Lord has supernatural knowledge, and it’s a meticulous knowledge, and it’s a knowledge that he uses with wisdom and care and gentleness and meekness. And it’s the very meekness of divine wisdom, clearly revealing Jesus as Lord, Jesus as the king, as the one before the people. He’s the one whom God has chosen to be king, the Messiah of Israel, the Savior of the world. This is the one.

So the Lord is regal, humble, intentional, peaceful, knowledgeable, five points that coalesce into this final sixth point, a summary picture of the Lord, here. The Lord is noble. The Lord is noble. Verses 32-34, here’s the nobility of the Lord, “So those who were sent away found it just as he had told them. As they were untying the cold, the owner said to them, ‘Why are you untying the colt?’ They said, ‘The Lord has need of it.’” Stop there, end of narrative.

I’m drawing a conclusion from those verses that this shows the nobility of the Lord. And you would be right to be scratching your head about this point and wondering, how in the world are you saying that that represents nobility? Looks like he’s stealing a momma donkey and her baby colt donkey. It’s not noble; it’s theft.

It’s actually more going on here. There’s a historical precedent for this, an ancient custom called angaria that allowed kings as heads of state, duly constituted authorities, to commandeer the personal property of its citizens and put it to use for official business in the service of the kingdom. It was compulsory because it’s a king, but considered very reasonable by the citizens of the kingdom because this is kingdom business. This is, these are state affairs. So I will render up my personal property for the king.

We understand this. Police officer, in pursuit of some criminal, has every right to commandeer the personal vehicle or, of a private citizen. We’re willing to give up, I’d be willing to give up my car for a good purpose, hoping I get it back in one piece, but hope they get the bad guy. That’s what I’m, that’s what I want to see.

There’s an explicit te, text about this back in the Old Testament. For the sake of time, I won’t have you turn there. But in 1 Samuel 8, Israel had rejected God as king, demanded a human king like all the other nations around them, and God told Samuel, “Give the people what they want, but warn them this is what a king is going to be like.” He’s going to commandeer your stuff. He’s going to take your sons, your daughters. He’s going to have them do different functions in his kingdom for his purposes. He’s going to take your property and your stuff because he’s got to use it for kingdom purposes. In fact, one of the things mentioned in that text, “He’ll take your donkeys.” “He’ll take even your donkeys.” So Samuel says in 1 Samuel 8:10, “Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who had asked for a king from him.” Warned them.

Even without the explicit reference in Scripture in 1 Samuel 8 that “he will take your donkeys,” it is clear that the king’s rights and the needs of the state supersede the rights of private citizens. Personal money in the form of taxes. You and I have stuff that we are commandeered by our government for government purposes, right? They’re called taxes. We also give up our stuff, our money, resources. They’re required for a nation to protect its own citizens, required for a king to protect and provide for his people.

In the same way, but to an even greater degree, the right of the Messiah should supersede any right of a citizen over his ownership of personal and private property. Right? I, I mean, we have a right to personal property, private property. The Bible affirms that throughout. So let’s not come up with any socialistic and communistic nonsense about, you know, it’s all going to be a collective and all that stuff. That’s not biblical. The right to personal property, the rights of, property rights are very important and part of biblical law.

But again, we’re struck, even though he has the authority to commandeer whatever he wants, we’re struck by the gentle way in which Jesus makes use of his rights of nobility, and it only accentuates the nobility of his character more fully. He could have told his disciples untie the colt, bring it to him, period.

That’s how the account in Luke reads. We add another significant detail from the accounts of Matthew and Mark. There’s a more considerate nuance, here, that sort of fills in the picture. Jesus says in Matthew 21:3, “If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’” he’s referring to the donkey and the colt, “‘and he will send them back at once.’” Not only does he need them, but don’t worry, we’re going to, you’re going to get them back.

I would love to see that on my next tax offering that I give to my government. Don’t worry, we’re going to give this all back to you. Thanks so much for giving us your taxes. We’re going to do, use it well, invest it, and we’re going to give you back everything you’ve given. Mark 11:3: “If anyone says to you why you’re doing this, say, ‘The Lord has need of it,’” that is, the colt, “‘and he’ll send it back here immediately.’” You’re going to get your stuff back.

When we understand the accepted custom, here, of angaria, and when we see, actually, how Jesus practiced it, making use of it as a necessity, that he’s not acting in any rude manner, any harsh manner, picture clarifies once again in highlighting his nobility. He is unlike any other human king. He is meek. He is kind, he’s considerate. Though he is regal, he’s also humble, intentional, peaceful. The Lord is knowledgeable. He uses what he knows to serve others. He shows that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom, and that is true nobility of the highest quality on highest display.

So the Lord is noble, and you know who has the privilege to receive this unique special insight into the Lord’s nobility? It’s his disciples, these two disciples in particular. The crowd lining the streets for the procession in verse 37 and following, they discern all this, the portrayal of nobility in Jesus, by comparing what they see to the prophecies of Scripture. Just as we’ve done together, they could do the same thing. They’re actually closer to the action with regard to the prophecies that were given.

But these disciples, they’ve been given privileged insight into the king’s nobility, into the nature and character of his nobility. And it starts with these two disciples in verse 32. “They found everything just as he told them.” They had the privilege of being there, participating, being involved. He tells them about all the details, the location, situation, all the rest. They found the details exactly as the Lord told them. The owners challenged them exactly as the Lord predicted. Their answer satisfied the owner’s challenge, just as the Lord said it would.

The Lord’s knowledgeable, supernaturally so, and it commends him as king and as the noblest of men; and the way that the Lord uses knowledge commends him to them in particular, as kind, as meek, gentle, caring. The very wisdom of Solomon is here, stately in his leadership, kingly in his comportment, the very picture of nobility from every possible angle, by every possible measure.

His noble reputation spread. The owners of the donkey and her colt were disciples, which is likely. They came to see his nobility in a very special way. I’m guessing that once the donkey and her colt were returned, they didn’t use them for any common purpose on any day after that, right? The two disciples, they obviously spread the story of the Lord’s nobility to other disciples as well, which is how Matthew, Mark, and Luke gathered the information for their Gospels, included it. As I said, very few differences between them telling the same story, giving the same picture.

And now, beloved, this record of the Lord’s nobility, it comes to you and to me as we read the account together today. We see, we read this account with understanding and insight, and so we see this procession from a unique perspective, don’t we, from a very privileged vantage point.

I was, I was kind of thinking as we watched the coronation of King Charles III on May 6, 2023, that that coronation included many of those who attended the ceremony at Westminster Abbey, and they were there live and in person. But so many of them failed to see the significance of the five stages of his coronation: recognition, oath, anointing, investiture, enthronement. I mean, as an American, I certainly make no claim to know the full significance of all that happened there.

But as Christians we understood way more than King Charles, way more than the Archbishop of Canterbury, the head of the Church of England, because those people, and many of the other participants and guests there at Westminster Abbey, are apostates or pagans, rank unbelievers, secularists. That coronation ceremony was filled with Scripture, saturated with Scripture. But we as Christians know far more than they about the truth, the spiritual meaning of the Scriptures that were read, of the hymns that were sung, the prayers that were offered, the oaths taken in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In a very similar way, you and I, beloved, have more privileged spiritual insight to see the spiritual significance of verses 36-38 in our Lord’s coronation procession than most of the people that were lining the streets on that day that he walked down the streets. They were there rejoicing, praising God, saying, “Blessed is he, the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” But because five days later they’re going to be calling for his blood, they had a very superficial understanding of what’s going on. You and I as believers in this gospel, we have the privileged insight of discipleship. Let’s pray.

Our Father, we thank you so much that you’ve been pleased to include us into the band of disciples, that we get to see what these disciples saw. We get to see what the, what the Twelve saw around Jesus, Jesus’ closest followers. We get to see what the believers saw, what Mary, Martha, Lazarus saw. We get to see Jesus for who he really is, and we believe now, not seeing him in the flesh. But we long for that day when we will be united to him again. We know that when he comes the next time, he won’t come on a colt, the foal of a donkey, but he’ll come riding on a white horse to conquer.

And we’re so thankful that on that day we will be at his side, and from that day forward we’ll never be separated from him, him again. And we’ll get to, to gaze full on at his glory and majesty and the meekness of wisdom. We pray that you would develop those same traits of nobility in us because we are his brothers and sisters, your children, father, and we want to represent you well on this earth. Please let it be so for your glory. In his name we pray, by the Spirit’s power. Amen.