Tell Daughter Zion, “Look, your King is coming to you, gentle, and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.” Matthew 21:5 HCSB
Our Scripture passage for today shows that the prophecy of Zechariah in Zechariah 9:9 is fulfilled. Isaiah also prophesied about salvation coming to Zion in Isaiah 62:11.
In Matthew 21, Jesus instructed His disciples to go into the village ahead of Him. He told them they would find a donkey tied there with her colt. Jesus instructed them to bring them to Him.
Jesus rode in humbly on the donkey’s colt. The people worshipped Jesus and threw palm branches on the road before Him. They gave Him a hero’s welcome but just a few short days later, He will be tortured, humiliated, nailed to a cross, and crucified.
How did Jesus go from hero to being crucified? What happened in those five days that turned Jesus from hero to criminal? Or was it that they never truly understood who He was?
The crowds gathered saw that the prophecies from Zechariah and Isaiah were being fulfilled. This indicates that they understood He was the Messiah, but did they?
In Matthew 21:8 they threw their clothes and palm branches along the road. This was an honor paid to high royalty indicating that they knew Him to be the King of the Jews.
In Matthew 21:9 the crowds went ahead of Him shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! He who comes in the name of the Lord is the blessed One! Hosanna in the highest heaven! Hosanna translates to, “Save now.” This indicates they knew He was the Savior.
But, in Matthew 21:10 the crowds kept saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee!” The prophet? This was the Messiah who had come to save us from our sins.
He rode in on the foal of a donkey fulfilling a messianic prophecy. They honored Him by throwing their clothes and palm branches on the road. They shouted, “Save now!” And then they said that He was a prophet.
We are told in 2 Timothy 3:5 that in the end times, many people will hold to a form of godliness but deny its power. We are told to avoid these people.
Many people claim to believe in Jesus but don’t seem to understand His power. They don’t seem to understand His great love for us. Many people claim to love Jesus and have trusted in Him as their Savior. They may adorn a church pew every Sunday, but they live as though they have no idea who He is.
They deny His power. They underestimate His desire for righteousness, justice, judgment, and His ability for great wrath.
Think about it, who is He to you? Is he the Lord and Savior of your life? Is He the God over your life? Do you acknowledge Him in all you do? Do you trust in Him for all you need?
If Jesus isn’t your everything, you have nothing. We should hold Him in such a place of honor in our lives that everyone and everything else comes behind Him. We should honor Him and give Him praise throughout the day. We should do our best to imitate Him (Ephesians 5:1) in all we do.
In Matthew 6:33, Jesus said, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be provided for you.” Jesus is all we need. He’s the alpha and the omega. He’s our guiding light. He’s our refuge in times of trouble. He’s our shelter in the storm. He’s our rock and our solid foundation.
If you don’t understand who He is, you are missing out. I beg of you to develop a good, solid relationship with Him through daily prayer and Bible study. Get to know the great love He has for you. Get to know how He wants to take good care of you and protect you. Experience walking through the fire and the flame with Him right by your side.
Who is He to you? If he’s not your everything, you may want to rethink that.
Have a great day!