Palm Sunday – we reflect on the verse from Zechariah 9:9
Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!
Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
righteous and victorious,
lowly and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Before the singular event of His resurrection, Jesus enters Jerusalem fulfilling this prophecy. Jesus is the righteous and victorious king, announcing his divine majesty, riding on a donkey. A crowd shouts, “Hosanna!” meaning “Save us… now!”
Even his own followers did not understand what His declaration of kingship meant until after his glorification. (John 12:16) This crowd liked the idea of ‘righteous and victorious’, conveniently overlooking the ‘lowly’ part of the prophecy. They wanted immediate relief from their current Roman oppression. They wanted their immediate lives fixed and covered by blessing upon blessing. After all, they had seen his miraculous signs and wonders, who wouldn’t want a piece of that! But as Jesus said to Pilate (John 18:36) “My kingdom is not of this world.” The conversation between Jesus and Pilate is stunning.
37 “You are a king, then!” said Pilate.
Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”
38 “What is truth?” retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him.
In the recent years, humanity has been subject to increasingly loud noises where various crowds shout different messages… all of them claiming truth and all of them fundamentally asking the same thing, “SAVE US NOW”. The loudest voices promise to save you but we see no fruit. They all claim their truth, but again, no fruit. Or worst of all, we are hearing the opinions of those that claim there is no objective truth. This is dangerous but we should not be surprised – the Jewish leaders brought Jesus to Pilate to have Him killed. When Pilate disagreed; they ‘canceled’ him and shouted “Crucify, crucify!” 🤦♀️
In the Old Testament, (Jeremiah 6:14 and Ezekiel 13:10) certain priests and false prophets were called out for claiming peace when there was no peace. In the New Testament, Paul charges Timothy to remain focused on the truth of Jesus – who He is and why He came, because there will be a time when people will not listen to the truth and will only listen to what they want to hear. (2 Timothy 4:3)
In Matthew 24:4-14, Jesus responds to His disciples asking about the signs of the End of the Age… you know, that age between His resurrection and His glorious return. Don’t we all do this? Don’t we all look around at this world and ask, “What is going on?” How could we possibly live in such an advanced age of civilization and still see such senseless violence, injustice, war, sickness, and the growing lack of compassion and empathy for our fellow human beings? How do we not wrestle with our own participation in being the cause of these things or our lack of participation in providing any comfort to others in their suffering? Look around, there is no peace! Jesus tells His disciples:
4 And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. 5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.
9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. 10 And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. 12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
In Ephesians 6:12, the apostle Paul tells us “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” So, when we hear the current call of divisiveness and disunity because of race, nationality, political affiliation, gender, status, or some other attribute that others may use to define us, a Christian must remember who they are in Christ. And their lives must be their testimony, reflecting that truth – that by our belief in Jesus, as the one and only Son of God, our Lord, and our Savior, we are now Children of God. (John 1:12) We are in this world, but we are also in His Kingdom. Our lives should be inviting to those still outside of that kingdom, they are not our enemies. We are constantly to stay alert to evil – the evil within, the evil around, and the evil above.
Remember, 1 Peter 5:8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. During this age, the devil can prowl around in this world – we are to stand firm in the truth of the Gospel. We are to stand on that firm foundation with the sure hope we have of an eternal future in a world without sin. We are to invite, encourage, and strengthen others to stand with us. And we are to keep our distance from those who deny the truth – we cannot save those who refuse the invitation.
We don’t point fingers at others because we know that our fallen world is a result of sin and we remember that before our own new birth, we were complicit with that world, in fact, some of us were very comfortable there! Instead, we shift our focus and remember our King, riding on that donkey, lowly in this world but also victorious, as He will conquer the world by taking all the punishment of our sin on that cross. Not to save the world, but to open up a way into His Kingdom for all of those who come to Him, admit their sins, admit their need for a savior, and willfully choose to repent – starting life again through His saving grace, submitting to His authority over our lives and we call Him, Lord. And we thank Him every day for being our Savior.
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain and who conquered death – worthy is He to receive all honor, glory, and praise.