Your Savior is come!

“Rejoice, O people of Zion! Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem! Look, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and victorious, yet he is humble, riding on a donkey-riding on a donkey’s colt.”-Zechariah 9:9

Zechariah the prophet lived 500 years before Jesus. He was part of the group of exiles that returned from Babylon commissioned with rebuilding the Temple. 

He, along with the Prophet Haggai were used by God to stir the Jewish people to finish the construction on the Temple. What is interesting about him is that he is seen by scholars as being, “the most Messianic of all the Old Testament prophets, giving distinct, verifiable references, to the coming Messiah.”

So this passage is of keen interest to us this week as we consider what took place as Jesus was about to enter Jerusalem:

“When He had said this, He went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. And it came to pass, when He drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mountain called Olivet, that He sent two of His disciples, saying, “Go into the village opposite you, where as you enter you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Loose it and bring it here. And if anyone asks you, ‘Why are you loosing it?’ thus you shall say to him, ‘Because the Lord has need of it.’ ” So those who were sent went their way and found it just as He had said to them. But as they were loosing the colt, the owners of it said to them, “Why are you loosing the colt?”

And they said, “The Lord has need of him.” Then they brought him to Jesus. And they threw their own clothes on the colt, and they set Jesus on him. And as He went, many spread their clothes on the road.”-Luke 19:28-36

As Jesus came to the Mount of Olives he sent his disciples into a nearby village. He told them what to look for, where to find it, and what to do with it. They brought the colt to Jesus and threw their garments over it for him to ride. As he rode along, the crowds spread out their garments on the road ahead of him. Why? Why such reverence?

There is certainly nothing special about a man riding a donkey. Unless, of course, your hopes and dreams of a coming Messiah are bound up in the words of an old dead prophet. Although, Zechariah had lived some 500 years before this, he had prophesied that the Messiah would enter Jerusalem riding on a donkey’s colt. The Jewish people surrounding Jesus would have known this passage very well. They would have seen this and immediately known what was being fulfilled before their eyes. 

Reverence soon erupted into the praise the closer He inched towards Jerusalem. Jesus was no longer trying to keep His identity hidden. He was openly fulfilling Messianic prophecy. 

The crowds that followed Jesus began to cry out as He was entering the city: 

“Hosanna! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that comes  in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”-Mark 11:9-10

Hosanna means: save now. It was not just a shout of praise, but a plea for deliverance. The crowd that had followed Him for so long started to look at Him differently. Now, they were not just focusing on Jesus as a great prophet, rabbi or teacher. They were seeing Him as the Messiah! 

The passion week has a way of revealing Jesus to us in ways that we had not previously seen. These days leading up to the celebration of His resurrection have caused people, for hundreds of years, to look at Jesus differently than they ever have before. Even this week, 2,000 years later, for the first time many will see Him as more than a prophet or great teacher, but instead they will see Jesus as their Savior. 

Pastor Scott Burr

Dayspring Community Church