9 Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.10 I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the warhorses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River[b] to the ends of the earth. (Zech 9:9-10 NIV)
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![d]”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”[e]
“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.”[f]
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. (John 12:12-16 NIV)
These verses speak to me of the faithfulness of God and the trustworthiness of his word. It may not be in my timetable, but you can trust it will happen. There were about 500 years between the time Zechariah prophesied of the coming Messiah, even to him riding on a donkey, and the actual event. No one expected the Messiah to come as he did, even though his birth was prophesized in Isaiah. We are told Jesus stood up in the synagogue and read a portion of Isaiah 61 and tells them the prophesy about himself was fulfilled that very day (Luke 4:17-21) and then sits down. He told them who he was and they missed it. When Jesus rode into town on the colt of a donkey, no one even connected the two events until after Jesus’ resurrection. Jesus reveals himself to me through his word and I can miss him as well. As an analytical person, I sometimes need to sift through data in my head before the light bulb goes off. The Holy Spirit is so patient with me.
Six days before the Passover celebration began, Jesus arrived in Bethany, the home of Lazarus—the man he had raised from the dead. 2 A dinner was prepared in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, and Lazarus was among those who ate[a] with him. 3 Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar[b] of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance. (John 12:1-3 NLT)
This dinner happened after Lazarus had been resurrected. I can picture it being a celebratory dinner of life when just days before there seemed no hope they would ever be together as a family again. Yet here they were. Mary was so overcome with love and gratitude for Jesus she poured her prize possession on him. There was nothing in this world that meant more to her than he did. She wiped the oil with her own hair. In those days, women kept their hair wrapped around their head, they did not wear it loose. Yet she exposed herself, leaving herself open to ridicule, in open abandonment to his presence. In my mind that is true worship.
Lord Jesus, I don’t know if I have ever felt that overwhelmed by you that nothing of this world matters more than you—but I want to. You came to set the captive free and I long for that freedom, that abandonment to worship you with everything I am. Thank you for stepping out of heaven to come to earth as a lowly infant and show us the way to true life. O come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord. Amen
Cindy (gardnlady)
Sixty-six books in a year 