Palm Sunday March 28, 2010
PalmSunday: the day Christians remember the triumphant entrance of Jesus intoJerusalem on the Sunday before His death and resurrection. As He rode along,the festive crowd shouted: “Blessings on the King who comes in the name of theLord!” (Lk 19:38 NLT) For Jesus, it was the deliberate and self-consciousfulfillment of a five-hundred year old prophecy from Zechariah: “Rejoicegreatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, yourking is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mountedon a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
It’sa familiar scene for the Christian faithful—perhaps too familiar. Look at Him againthrough Zechariah’s eyes. His most noteworthy feature: righteousness. Hisspecial gift to His people: salvation. His regal processional: humble. This isnot at all how we would expect a head of state to make his grand entrance intohis capital city! But lest we assume that this portrayal means His reign willbe weak and His dominion restricted, Zechariah goes on to write: “The battlebow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shallbe from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.”
Whata King! Speaking peace, ruling from sea to sea, reigning in righteousness,bringing salvation… This is good news for troubled times! So, let’s take this2500-year-old prophecy to heart today and “Rejoice greatly! Shout aloud! For behold,your King is coming!”