The King Has Come
Opening Prayer
Holy Spirit, please speak to me through Your Word today and lift up Jesus before me.
Read John 12:12–19
12 The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 13 They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,
“Hosanna!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Blessed is the king of Israel!”
14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written:
15 “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion;
see, your king is coming,
seated on a donkey’s colt.”
16 At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.
17 Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. 18 Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out to meet him. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Imagine being one of the crowd that day. What would you be thinking about this man, Jesus?What opposition? Even Thomas must have thought that suddenly it didn’t seem so bad. As he entered Jerusalem the crowds welcomed Jesus as King and Messiah, waving palm branches as they did to hail a conqueror: “Hosanna!” meaning “Save us now.” But save them from what? The people’s agenda was for military victory, overthrowing the rule of Rome, and a return to Israel’s glory days. But what was God’s agenda? The people were not reading the signs.
Jesus hadn’t stormed the city on a charger with superior fire-power. His is not an earthly kingdom. He deliberately chose a young donkey (14,15) to demonstrate that Messiah was not to be co-opted into earthly power plays.
This Messiah will save all who turn to him, but not in the way the people were thinking. One day, Christ will return and all of heaven and earth will light up with his praise. On that day, he
won’t be sitting on a donkey but will ride a white horse with the armies of heaven behind him (Rev. 19:11–16), the King of kings and Lord of lords.
Apply
What are your expectations of Jesus? Are you truly looking for a spiritual salvation and rebirth or for someone to fix your problems?
Closing prayer
“Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, both great and small!” (Rev. 19:5). I praise You, God, for who You are, for all You’ve done, and for what You yet will do.
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