Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, saying: " 'BLESSED IS THE KING WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!' Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" Luke 19:37-38

Throughout Jesus’ ministry He regularly sought to withdraw from crowds. When He healed people, usually He told them to tell no one. When the crowds became too numerous, He spoke hard truths, routinely thinning the herd, so to speak.

Now, uncharacteristically, Jesus makes a grand entrance into the Holy City of Jerusalem, during the week of Passover when the population of the city swelled to 3 to 5 times its normal number, making His entrance widely publicized. Why the change in strategy?

Jesus was entering the most important week of His rescue mission. He was going to die for the sins of His people and then rise again. The events of this week are the most important in human history. Jesus wanted it well documented. What He was about to do was not to be hidden away in a dark corner, but done in the full light of day for the world to see. Having thousands of eye witnesses to every detail, Christ removed the excuses of those who would reject Him by claiming that there wasn’t enough evidence. Folks, the hard evidence that Jesus Christ was crucified and rose from the dead is overwhelming. Hundreds, if not thousands witnessed His entry into Jerusalem.

In 1 Corinthians 15:6 the Apostle Paul pointed out that Jesus had 500 eyewitnesses who saw and testified that He rose from the dead—and that after thousands knew of His death! How much more public can you get?

Why did Jesus go public? So that the only way a person could disbelieve is to flat-out deny the evidence.

What about you? Do you believe the evidence? Oh how I pray you believe the evidence—and it is that by grace of God that you do! The glory, even for our faith, is His!