Jesus, our Messiah – Day 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. 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 to the ends of the earth.” Zechariah 9:9-10 (NIV)

This prophecy of Zechariah foretold Christ’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem. Street demonstrations are centuries old. People take to the streets to express their solidarity with, or opposition to, a cause or individual.

Unfortunately, crowds are fickle and are often influenced.

The streets of Jerusalem were packed with people who had come for the Passover feast. Then they heard that Jesus, the long-awaited Messiah, who had just raised a man from the dead, was on his way to the city. “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!’” (John 12:13)

They must have been puzzled that their Messiah did not come riding on a war horse, to overthrow the enemy and establish his kingdom. Instead, he entered the city on an ass, a symbol of peace.

Sinister forces were at work. Jesus, betrayed by Judas for 30 pieces of silver, was condemned to death. Pilate wanted to grant him amnesty, however, the mood of the people had changed. They no longer sang hosannas to the King of Israel, instead, they screamed, “Crucify him.” (Luke 23:21)

Pilate, after trying in vain to reason with the people and chief priests, submitted to their demands.

Judas bitterly regretted what he had done. He tried to return the money, but the chief priests refused to accept it. Judas threw the 30 pieces of silver on the temple floor, went off and hanged himself. The chief priests decided to use the “blood money” to buy a potter’s field, for use as a burial place for foreigners.

Their actions fulfilled the prophecies of Zechariah (11:12-13) and Jeremiah (32:6-9) made centuries earlier. The saying that in the Bible – the New is in the Old concealed, the Old is in the New revealed – was once again proven true.