Rejoice Greatly

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey,” Zech 9:9. This incredibly profound prophecy was written 520 years before Jesus rode into Jerusalem on what we now call Palm Sunday. I urge all of you to read for yourself the accuracy of Matthew 21:1-11 and the prophecy hidden for us in Zechariah 9:9. 

Now picture Jesus of Nazareth, sitting on a donkey that has been covered with the disciple’s cloaks, entering the city of Jerusalem. The crowd begins to press in on Him as they sing “Hosanna, Hosanna, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” This was from a section of Psalm 118:25-26 that the Jews would sing as they traveled to Jerusalem for three annually required Feasts. Interestingly, sometime during the night of the Last Supper, Jesus and His disciples would have sung this hymn as part of their Passover celebration.  

Back in the book of Exodus, God instructed the Israelites to take a lamb without spot or blemish into their homes on the 10^th day of the first month and then to sacrifice it on the 14^th day. As Jesus rode into the city, He was presenting Himself on that 10^th day as the world’s final Passover Lamb who being God Himself was without spot or blemish. Jesus would later die on the 14^th day of the month becoming the final Passover Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. His cousin, John the Baptist, would declare just that in John 1:29.   

With every step the donkey took that day, the crowd put freshly cut tree branches on the road before Jesus and were calling out “Save now!  Save us now! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” The crowd was looking for their Messiah. The Jews were looking for a king, the Lion from the tribe of Judah, who would take control away from the Romans and usher in God’s promised kingdom. They were right to hail Jesus as their Messiah-King but what they didn’t realize is that He was going to first be bound and led like a lamb to the slaughter. It’s amazing to me watch as an all powerful God, who created all life in the first place, allows Himself to be mocked, beaten and put to death by His own creation.

Jesus had to defeat death before He could return to claim His rightful place as King, ushering in the millennial kingdom and eventually a new heaven and earth. With every step Jesus took that day, He carried with Him all the sins of the world on His shoulders. He paid the ultimate price for us in order that we might be redeemed and be able to enter in to fellowship with God. 

In the book of Daniel there is written one of the most crucial and interesting prophecies ever written. From his captivity in Babylon, Daniel had been reading Jeremiah’s writings and knew seventy years were decreed for the desolations of Jerusalem. Daniel sets his mind to seek and pray to the Lord and ask for forgiveness.  God hears and answers his request by sending Gabriel to comfort him with these words. In the book of Daniel 9:25 Gabriel speaks. 

“Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command To restore and rebuild Jerusalem Until Messiah the Prince, There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; The street shall be rebuilt again, and the wall, Even in troublesome times. And after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off, but not for Himself;” 

Sir Robert Anderson and others have completed extensive research, completed numerous calculations and discovered that the bible foretold to the exact day when their Messiah would enter the city of Jerusalem. Jesus rode into the city of Jerusalem on the exact day that was recorded in the book of Daniel. The text also records His death. “And after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off, but not for Himself;” 

If by chance you are reading this and have not yet asked God to forgive you then do it now! Hosanna! Save us now! Jesus is waiting to return for us, all those who believe in God’s plan of redemption. Cry out to God and He will hear you, He has given you a way out which is through His Son. Jesus came the first time as the Lamb of God, but the next time He returns there will be trumpets and fanfare as the King of Glory will claim the earth and all those who choose to receive His free gift of salvation. Rejoice Greatly!