Jesus went ahead toward Jerusalem. Near Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, he sent two disciples ahead. He told them that they would find a colt tied in the village, one that no one had ridden, and that they were to untie it and bring it to him.
If anyone asked why they were untying it, they were to say that the Lord needed it. The disciples found everything as Jesus had said. When the owners asked why they were untying the colt, they answered that the Lord needed it.
They brought the colt to Jesus, put their cloaks on it, and set Jesus on it. As he went, people spread their cloaks on the road. Near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the mighty works they had seen.
Their praise answered the powerful works they had personally witnessed. Together they called Jesus the king coming in the Lord’s name. Their words joined peace in heaven with glory in the highest, and they spoke loudly enough for the Pharisees within the crowd to object.
They called blessed the king who came in the Lord’s name and spoke of peace in heaven and glory in the highest. Some Pharisees in the crowd told Jesus to rebuke his disciples.
Jesus replied that if the disciples kept quiet, the stones would cry out. When he came near and saw the city, he wept over it.
He spoke of the things that would have made for peace, now hidden from the city’s eyes. He said that enemies would surround and destroy it, leaving no stone on another, because it had not recognized the time of God’s visitation.