Prayer: Ask the Lord to increase your love, appreciation, and admiration for what Jesus has done for you while reading His Word in these devotionals this week.
Read: Matthew 21:1-11 and Zechariah 9:9
We kick off this Easter week by getting dropped into a scene unlike any other in Jesus’ earthly life and ministry. To this point, Jesus has been doubted. He’s been questioned. He’s been accused of blasphemy. He’s had his life threatened to the point of being taken to the edge of a cliff to be thrown off of it (before putting an end to that by merely walking back through the crowd of people ready to put Him to death). He’s also been followed, desperately touched for healing, and even swarmed by crowds at times.
But He never made a public display of His entry into a city like this. As Jesus enters Jerusalem, He knows this will be His final stop. For once, He is treated by the people there like who He really is, whether they fully realize it or not: Priest and King. Savior and Lord. They lay their cloaks and tree branches out on the road before Him and shout, “Hosanna (meaning ‘please save us’) to the Son of David! Hosanna in the highest!”
I love thinking about this scene. How bittersweet that must have been for Jesus, feeling so much love and adoration from the people yet knowing what was in store in the coming days. But it’s important to note that Jesus didn’t make His triumphal entry to soak up the attention. He did it for a much more important reason, and that’s to fulfill prophesy. Jesus came in just as the coming king of Zion was supposed to back in Zechariah 9:9. The Bible is all about Jesus. Old and New Testament. It’s all about Him. It all points to Him. This is just another glorious example of that. Also, isn’t it a little amusing that it’s the “triumphal entry” yet Jesus is still only mounted on a lowly donkey colt, the foal of a beast of burden? Even in this moment, Jesus is humbling Himself before man. By the way, Matthew loves to point out when Jesus fulfills Old Testament prophesy and it’s littered all throughout his gospel. That’s kind of his thing.
As I mentioned before, this passage provides a picture of people choosing the rightful response to Jesus’ presence in their lives. Laying it down before Him. That’s what we’re called to do as followers of Jesus Christ. We are to lay our lives down to the glorious King, who laid His life down to save us from the penalty of our sin and redeem us to eternal life spent with Him in heaven.
Reflection Question:
Are there any areas of your life that you aren’t laying down before Jesus? Do you express the rightful response to Him in your life?