Saturday, March 28, 2015

The Message of the Donkey

"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey."
- Zechariah 9:9

On Palm Sunday we commemorate Christ's "triumphal entry" into Jerusalem. There was great celebration and jubilation as Jesus entered that city, just a few days before the One being proclaimed as king would be put to death. Notice that he came, however, riding on a donkey and not a horse. This is significant. The Bible mentions horses some 185 times, always in some sort of military context. When a king or general who was bent on war would enter a city, he would come riding in on a horse - a war horse, if you will, but when he was on a mission of peace, he would ride in on a donkey. Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem was as the Prince of Peace, not as a military general nor as a warrior king. May we, like our King, be people of peace.

"Hosanna! 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!' The King of Israel!" - John 12:13

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