A King on a Donkey

Scripture: John 12:12-19  (Click link for scripture in Bible Gateway)

12 The next day, the news that Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem swept through the city. A large crowd of Passover visitors 13 took palm branches and went down the road to meet him. They shouted, “Praise God! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the LORD! Hail to the King of Israel!” 14 Jesus found a young donkey and rode on it, fulfilling the prophecy that said: 15 “Don’t be afraid, people of Jerusalem. Look, your King is coming, riding on a donkey’s colt.” (John 12:12-15 NLT)

This was a graphic, public declaration by Jesus that he was the Messiah of the Jews and the King of Israel. He chose a time when the maximum number of religious Jews would be gathered to witness the event and he chose the place that would permit the greatest exposure to the most people. If Jesus intended to lead a revolution against Herod and the Romans, this was the time and the place!

It was also the bravest, most courageous thing he could do! This was the very action that would finally bring the attention of King Herod, who was in Jerusalem at the time, and of the Romans who nervously watched the huge crowds as they gathered each year for the feasts, especially Passover. If there was ever a time when there was a possibility of an uprising or revolution, it was on this very occasion. Jesus had everyone’s full attention and there was no going back!

This glorious moment that declared Jesus of Nazareth to be the King of the Jews, the Messiah, also sealed his fate and ensured that in less than a week he would be crucified on a Roman cross and buried in a borrowed tomb. The battle that Jesus would fight would not be with swords and spears against the Romans and the Herodians and the Jewish leaders. The battle Jesus would fight would be within himself as he prepared to lay down his life for all mankind, to forgive his disciples for betrayal and desertion, to forgive the Jews for rejecting him, to forgive his adversaries for torturing and killing him. Jesus was about to fight the battle that would make him greater than King of the Jews, greater than Messiah of Israel. Jesus would fight and win the battle that would make him the Savior of the World.

Prayer:

Father, Thank you for this scene of celebration that set the stage for the greatest act of loving sacrifice to ever take place. Thank you for Jesus’ willingness to fight the inner battle that enabled him to lay down his life for our sins. Thank you that the King of Heaven is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!