“Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your King is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!”
John 12:12-19
We come, now, to the beginning of the end of Jesus of Nazareth’s earthly ministry. We commemorate the Sunday before Easter as the day Jesus came into Jerusalem, riding on a donkey, in fulfillment of the prophecy found in Zechariah 9:9. Though the procession was attended to with great shouts by the people present, the religious leaders were not among the crowd cheering Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. If we believe the chronology in John’s Gospel, there is reason to believe this “triumphal entry” did not occur on what we call “Palm Sunday.” John writes that “six days before the Passover,” Mary anoints Jesus at a party at Lazarus’ house whom Jesus had just raised from the dead. Then, John writes, “the next day” to set the timing of the triumphal entry. The day of this event is inconsequential for Scripture prophecy only tells of the triumphal entry by the Messiah who will ride on the colt of a donkey. John includes the verses from Zechariah that prophesies this event. John describes a great crowd that lays downs palm branches to cover the dusty way Jesus rode into Jerusalem and the loud shouts of, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” John, also, writes that the Disciples, including John at that time, did not understand the event until the Holy Spirit called to their “remembrance” these, and other events, the Disciples needed to know as they became Apostles. John, even tells us why the crowd reacted as they did – because Jesus had raised Lazarus from his tomb. John ends this account by writing of the religious leaders’ reaction to one another of this event, “…Look, the world has gone after Him.” Christians, Jesus has told His chosen ones that, as He was persecuted by the religious leaders and Rome, so will be His followers. Right now, in this country, we may think that we are “free to worship God” but, there are parts of the earth where Christian are, daily, persecuted, even dying, for the faith we all share in Jesus Christ. Let all Christians prey for our brothers and sisters who are severely punished for their convictions for we know not when the same persecution will come upon us!
Source: S C Ball April 2, 2023
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