The Donkey, the Branches, and the Sons.
The crowd laid down their garments. They tore branches from trees. They shouted Hosanna as the King entered, not on a stallion, but on a donkey.
Palm Sunday is not about palm trees. It is not about religious ritual, another Sunday to sing nice songs and wave leaves in the air. It is a prophetic picture. It is the announcement of authority. It is the moment a hidden Son reveals Himself to a people who did not even know what they were welcoming. And if we are not careful, we will treat it like a parade when it was actually a procession of war.
Jesus does not ride into Jerusalem for attention. He rides in to fulfill prophecy, yes, but more than that, to provoke a confrontation. A conflict between the systems of religion and the reality of the Kingdom. Between temple sacrifice and the once for all Lamb. Between those clinging to titles and the One who carried the towel. Between slavery to the fear of man and the liberty of sons.
But let us slow down.
The scene in Matthew 21 is familiar. Jesus tells His disciples to go into the village and bring back a donkey and her colt. He says, if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, The Lord has need of them. The Lord had need of a donkey. Think about that.
The King of Glory, through whom all things were made, says, I need a donkey.
This is not random. This is the deep strategy of Heaven. This is not weakness. It is divine humility wrapped in authority. Because the donkey was not about convenience. It was about prophecy. Zechariah chapter nine verse nine had already declared it. Behold, your King is coming to you, righteous and having salvation is He, humble and mounted on a donkey.
He comes low. Not because He lacks power, but because He knows who He is.
And this is the revelation of Palm Sunday. Sons do not need to posture. Sons ride donkeys.
The religious spirit always tries to exalt self. It rides the stallion of performance. It demands recognition. It manipulates, climbs, and competes. But Jesus rides the donkey. Not because He is trying to prove something, but because He is already seated in the confidence of beloved identity.
He does not need to announce Himself with pomp. He is the announcement. He is the Word made flesh, the government on His shoulders, and He rides not with arrogance but with calm, royal humility. That is what beloved identity looks like. It does not seek attention, but it carries authority. It does not chase affirmation. It walks in it.
And the people start to shout.
Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.
They are quoting Psalm 118, whether they realize it or not. They are aligning themselves, for a moment, with Heaven’s declaration. They lay down palm branches. The palm represents victory. Triumph. A declaration that the one who enters has already overcome. And here is the mystery. They celebrated before the Cross. They shouted Save us now before they understood how He would do it.
And that is the nature of true praise. It is prophetic. It is ahead of the breakthrough. Real worship is not reactionary. It is revelatory. They did not even know what they were doing, but their spirits recognized the King.
But they also missed Him. They shouted Hosanna on Sunday, but by Friday they were screaming Crucify Him. Do not think the crowd always gets it right. Do not assume popularity means revelation. Because when Jesus does not meet your expectations, it will expose whether you were praising Him for who He is or for what you thought He would do for you.
Palm Sunday confronts our motives.
Are we praising the King because we want His Kingdom, or because we want Him to fix our circumstances?
They expected a conqueror. He came as a servant.
They expected Rome to fall. He came to destroy something far more powerful, sin and death.
And when He did not fit the narrative they wanted, they turned on Him.
That is why beloved identity matters. If you do not know who He is, and who you are, you will misinterpret everything. You will think His silence is rejection. You will think His humility is weakness. You will think the donkey means He lacks power, when in reality, it means He is ruling from a higher throne.
Now look again. Look deeper.
Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. But He was not the only one there.
So were the Pharisees. So were the temple leaders. So were the disciples. So were the ones who were healed, the ones who followed for the miracles, and the ones who followed because they saw something in Him that awakened something in them.
And that is the moment we are in now.
He is still riding in.
He is still entering places we have tried to control.
He is still confronting our systems, our performances, our need to be seen, our fear of being rejected, our addiction to the opinions of others.
And He is still riding a donkey.
He is still looking for the sons and daughters who understand that true authority does not shout. It moves in stillness.
He is still calling forth those who will lay down their garments, not just their clothes, but their old identities, their self made personas, their religious masks, and welcome Him not just with songs, but with surrender.
Because Palm Sunday is not just about Him entering Jerusalem. It is about Him entering you.
Will you let Him confront the temple of your heart?
Will you let Him flip the tables in your soul?
Will you let Him drive out what does not belong?
Because the very next thing Jesus did after riding in on a donkey was not to rest. It was to cleanse the temple.
He went straight to the center of religion and tore it up. Because you cannot ride with the King and keep your idols. You cannot shout Hosanna and still cling to control. He comes to establish the Kingdom, not to bless our chaos.
And this is where it gets uncomfortable. Because many want His presence, but not His purification. We want to be near the donkey riding King, but we are not ready for the fire in His eyes when He starts flipping tables.
But beloved identity is not afraid of the fire.
Because sons do not fear discipline. They understand it is proof of love. They know the King rides into their lives not just to be worshiped, but to make them whole.
So here we are.
Palm Sunday is not just a story from the Gospels. It is a confrontation in our spirits. Will we continue to build temples for ourselves, or will we become the dwelling place He deserves?
Will we praise Him with branches in our hands but rebellion in our hearts?
Or will we lay it all down and let the King take His rightful place?
The donkey reminds us, humility is the highway of Heaven.
The branches remind us, the victory is already secured.
And the sons. We are the ones crying out, not because we need a rescue, but because we have seen the King and we have been changed.
This is not the parade of a religious leader. It is the procession of the King of Glory. And He is not riding in for applause. He is riding in for possession.
Palm Sunday is possession.
Let Him ride in.
Let Him take over.
Let the garments fall.
Let the branches wave.
Let the tables flip.
Let the Kingdom come.
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