It was a busy day in Jerusalem. Five days before Passover, and the city was taking on visitors for the holy days. When a group of scruffy out-of-towners collided with the general traffic, a flash mob broke out.

They were shouting, singing, waving branches ripped from palm trees, tossing their cloaks to the ground, all to honor a man riding on a young donkey. 

“Hosanna to the Son of David!”

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”   (Matthew 21:9)

As Jesus entered Jerusalem that day—a day we remember as Palm Sunday—this happy celebration fufilled prophecy, and offered a glimpse of the future.

Many in the crowd were Jesus’ disciples who had walked closely with him for years. Perhaps they had an inkling of the significance of this moment. John, Matthew, and likely Mark, were eyewitnesses. When they later recorded their experience in the Gospels, they pointed clearly to this event as answering God’s prophetic words about the Messiah King.

“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, NIV).

Others were caught up in the color and noise and excitement. After all, Jerusalem was filling up with people from all over the world—many came to mark the Passover, recalling God’s rescue in the past, and anticipating with hope the Lamb of God who would cover their sins with his own blood.

A few days later, Jesus, as the perfect Lamb, would shed his own blood for the sins of the world. That sacrifice was still ahead of him as he rode on a humble donkey’s foal to the joyous noise of a crowd.

This moment was a glimpse of a future day—a celebration on a scale the world has never seen—when Jesus, the Eternal King, will return to earth to make it new and establish His perfect, ever-lasting Kingdom.

There before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: 

‘Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb”  (Revelation 7:9-10).

Today, we live between the Palm Sunday crowd and Jesus’ return. And if we are called by His name, we have a mission to accomplish. Jesus has charged us to make him known among the nations—so that people from every tribe and language and nation have an opportunity to know Him and His sacrifice that covers their sin.

Today, it’s our privilege and responsibility to go out in the name of the Lord and share the Good News, to show people the forgiveness and grace Christ gave through the cross, and to make disciples who will love and follow him, carrying this message into the world. 

The flash mob on Palm Sunday was only a pale shadow of the celebration to come. One day, people from every tribe and language and nation will be part of the Kingdom, singing and shouting praise to the Savior and King. Today, let’s do all we can to add to that coming celebration!