Humble Hero

No Train of Mourning in This Triumph

Never had the world seen such a triumphal procession. All around the Savior were the glorious trophies of His loving labors for sinful man. These were the captives rescued from Satan’s power. Leading the way were the blind He had restored to sight. Those who had been mute, whose tongues He had loosed, shouted the loudest hosannas. Cripples whom He had healed leaped with joy. Lepers He had cleansed spread their uncontaminated garments in His path. Awakened from the sleep of death, Lazarus led the donkey on which the Savior rode. HH 264.7

Many Pharisees, burning with envy, tried to silence the people, but their appeals and threats only increased the enthusiasm. As a last resort they confronted the Savior with condemning and threatening words: “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.” They declared that such noisy demonstrations were unlawful. But Jesus’ reply silenced them: “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.” The prophet Zechariah had foretold that scene of triumph. If human beings had failed to carry out the plan, God would have given voice to inanimate stones, and they would have hailed His Son with praise. As the silenced Pharisees drew back, hundreds of voices took up the words of Zechariah: HH 265.1

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your King is coming to you;
He is just and having salvation,
Lowly and riding on a donkey,
A colt, the foal of a donkey.”
HH 265.2

When the procession reached the top of the hill, Jesus and all the multitude stopped. Before them lay Jerusalem in its glory, bathed in the light of the setting sun. In regal grandeurs, the temple towered above all else, the pride and glory of the Jewish nation for many centuries. The Romans also took pride in its magnificence. Its strength and richness had made it one of the wonders of the world. HH 265.3

While the setting sun made the heavens glow, its radiant glory lighted up the pure white marble of the temple walls and sparkled on its gold-capped pillars. From the hill where Jesus stood, it had the appearance of a massive structure of snow, set with golden pinnacles, shining as if with glory borrowed from heaven. HH 265.4