Did He Know?

He humbly rode a donkey.
He came victoriously.
He came in peace.
The crowds called “Hosanna!”
He was exalted as “King of Israel”
They carpeted his path with their cloaks and green branches
They waved palm fronds
The symbol of victory, triumph, peace and eternal life.  


He traveled to Jerusalem
To celebrate the feast of Passover
The Jewish people identified Him as their long-awaited earthly emperor 
They believed he would be their warrior King
But he came as a King of Peace.

I wonder, did He know
His journey toward death, crucifixion
Had begun?
Did He look upon the people
With love and gratitude,
 skepticism and mistrust, 
or maybe loving forgiveness

Were the people pawns
In a political, religious struggle
Pawns in a power play on a grand scale
Or just caught up in the crowd?

Did he know
That the palm fronds
Would be replaced
By a crown of thorns?
That the Hosannas would be silenced
Replaced with a new cry
“Crucify Him! Crucify Him!”
That his title would be short lived
As the people proclaimed
“We have no king but Caesar!”

Did Jesus know
As he sat atop the donkey
That this 15 minutes of praise and adoration
Would be a prelude to rejection,
Abandonment and death? 

Maybe He did
Maybe He did not.

What we do know
Is that, when death approached
He forgave
“Father, forgive them
For they know not what they do.”

  He forgave
And He loved
As He accepted His death 
As sacrifice for all.