Prophecy foretold:
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. (Zech 9:9) NIV
Prophecy fulfilled:
12 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” 14 And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,
15 “Fear not, daughter of Zion;
behold, your king is coming,
sitting on a donkey’s colt!”
16 His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. (John 12:12-16 ESV)
Living on the other side of the cross, we have the advantage of knowing Jesus. While we can read verses in the Old Testament and totally get they were talking about his coming, the people of that day struggled with who Jesus was even though the signs were there:
39 Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said,
40 “He has blinded their eyes
and hardened their heart,
lest they see with their eyes,
and understand with their heart, and turn,
and I would heal them.”
41 Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him.(John 12:39-41) ESV
Several years ago, my word for the year was “light.” During the course of that year, my understanding of that word not only changed but deepened my belief. I, too, saw his glory. It was a tough year. Together we walked through dark places that needed his light.
46 I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. (John 12:46) ESV
For years I lived in darkness as an unbeliever, not knowing the power Jesus had to change my life. After becoming a believer and walking with him for years, I was finally able to open those places to him. He gave me the courage to visit memories I wanted to forget. They were dark and shrouded in pain. It was like he did radiation on those cancerous memories. His light radiated into the memories, he revealed himself to me in those memories (“I will never leave you nor forsake you”), and the power they had over me was destroyed. Now whenever those memories try to come back all I see is Jesus and his radiant light.
Lord, even before you breathed life into Adam, you had a plan for our redemption. The fall of humanity was no surprise to you. Jesus was always the plan. As I celebrate Christmas, may I sing songs of praise for the God who stepped out of heaven and came into this world as a baby. May I speak of your glory to anyone who will have ears to hear. Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Our Savior, Christ the King. In your name I pray, Amen
Cindy (gardnlady)
Sixty-six books in a year 