Zechariah 9:9 – December 24, 2020
Zechariah 9:9
Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion!
Shout in triumph, daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
He is [a]righteous and endowed with salvation,
Humble, and mounted on a donkey,
Even on a colt, the]foal of a donkey.
What a great verse! Clearly prophetic words about Jesus Christ. Don’t just take my word for it, hit pause and then go read Matthew 21:1-11.
Do you see what I mean, it fits perfectly. Jesus entering Jerusalem, riding on a donkey. Now you might be thinking, riding on a donkey? That doesn’t seem like something a King would do, and you’d be wrong. Don’t feel offended, I was wrong for long time too, until I discovered that in Jesus’ day, and before, when I King came in peace, He didn’t ride on a Stallion, that was for war, he rode on a donkey, symbolizing peace. Do you see it now, Royalty seeking peace, rides on a donkey.
And in Matthew 21 we see Jesus’ triumphal entry as a joyful celebration. But what would a roman spectator see? To him, it didn’t seem too triumphal. When Julius Caesar returned from war in Gaul, there was a parade that lasted three days. He marched all the captives and everything that they plundered through Rome. Now contrast the procession of Jesus to that of Julius Caesar…must have seemed pretty humble, it must have shown that Jesus was a different kind of King.
Most Jews in Jesus’ day missed Him as their Messiah and King because they were expecting a different kind of Savior. They thought that Messiah would be a mighty political deliverer, who would lead Israel to military victory over Rome. They were not looking for a lowly Savior, riding on a donkey. They could not even imagine a Savior who was about to die on a cross to be the ultimate for sinners. And so, tragically, they missed the coming of their King!
Many people still miss Jesus because of wrong expectations. They’re looking for a Savior like Aladdin’s Genie, who will grant their every wish, but it hasn’t happened. They want a Savior who will instantly solve their deepest problems, but those problems have not gone away. Or, they expect a church where everyone always loves one another. But a church member treated them wrongly, so they dropped out in bitter disappointment.
How about you? Do you see Jesus like someone in Jesus’ parade or like the Roman citizen?
Do you see Jesus like God’s Word describes Him, or like you imagine he should be?