After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them,"Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, 'Why are you untying it?' tell him, 'The Lord needs it.' "Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, "Why are you untying the colt?" They replied, "The Lord needs it."
They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road. When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:
"Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!"
"Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples!""I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."
As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you."
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Jesus was going on His way to His Crucifixion when He was praised by a crowd of His disciples. Such glory He received from them during that event as He was literally treated as a king, a star.
There are times, in our walk as a Christian, when we are praised by the others, put on a pedestal and admired to no end. We may be treated like a superstar, receiving compliments and attention. That’s all right as this is part of the Cross as well.
Scripture says “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:5-8)
Jesus was already carrying His Cross before He actually carried His Cross! What I mean is that Jesus had already taken up His Cross - the spiritual one - before the actual Cross on which He was sacrificed for our sins. Let me explain. First off, the Son of God left His glory in Heaven to become a human being. As a human being, He was but a servant to the rest of mankind. His whole life was consecrated to serving His Father in Heaven and serving man. He didn’t live a minute of His life for Himself as He did His Father’s will continually; His life was that of a servant’s.
During His life, He had His moments of glory in the midst of all His continued suffering. “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” (Isaiah 53:3) Jesus suffered continually at the hands of those who surrounded Him; there were only a few who actually loved and praised Him. As disciples of Jesus, we will experience the same things as He did. The joys, the pains… “Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.“(1 John 2:6) So yes, the life of the Christian is the Cross with moments of glory once in a while.
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