“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. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim And the horse from Jerusalem; The battle bow shall be cut off. He shall speak peace to the nations; His dominion shall be ‘from sea to sea, And from the River to the ends of the earth.’ Zechariah 9:9-10
Israel has long awaited for their Messiah, He was prophesied since the beginning in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:15) He was foretold by Moses in the Law (Deuteronomy 18:18) He has been foretold by the Prophets like Isaiah, Daniel, including here Zechariah.
The prophet Zechariah, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, gives us exactly the event that will happen when the Messiah will be proclaimed to the world. We as Christians know this day as Palm Sunday, which Jesus fulfilled this prophecy, among over 300 other Messianic prophecies.
Despite Jesus fulfilling these foretold events, exactly as it was prophesied, many still denied him then, while shouting Hosanna at the beginning, by the end of the week shouting Crucify Him! Why? Because Jesus is not the Messiah, the King, Israel wanted. The Son of God didn’t come with military force, He came to die for our sins on the cross (Isaiah 53, Daniel 9) Jesus defeated Sin, Death, Satan, and Hell on Calvary and rose again the 3rd day to give us eternal life
What is the sign of the Messiah? “Behold Your King is coming to You, riding on a donkey” Do you not remember this was fulfilled by Jesus of Nazareth? Listen to what the Apostle Matthew documented:
This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: / “Say to the Daughter of Zion, ‘See, your King comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey Matthew 21:4-5
But why a Donkey? Why would the Messiah ride in Jerusalem on a colt? Because it was foretold since the beginning, in the Torah, in the book of Genesis:
Judah is a lion’s whelp; From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He bows down, he lies down as a lion; And as a lion, who shall rouse him? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor a lawgiver from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes; And to Him shall be the obedience of the people. Binding his donkey to the vine, And his donkey’s colt to the choice vine, He washed his garments in wine, And his clothes in the blood of grapes. Genesis 49:9-11
The scepter, the Messiah, the King, The Lion of Judah (Revelation 5:5) has been prophesied to come on a donkey, a sign of royalty and meekness. There was nothing accidental that happened on Palm Sunday, it was the Messiah being revealed to the world
Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: “Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ Hosanna in the highest!” Matthew 21:9
The Jewish crowds in Jerusalem recognized these signs, they shouted Hosanna (Save Us) from Psalm 118, They called him The Son of David, which is another title for Messiah, Blessed Is He who comes in the name of Yahweh, they knew Jesus is the Messiah, all the signs were there, all the prophecies are fulfilled, so why did they reject him? Same reason why do you reject him?
Pilate said to them, “What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said to him, “Let Him be crucified!” Matthew 27:22
What shall we do with Jesus who is called The Messiah? Will you submit to the Messiah? The King of Kings and Lord of Lords? Or will you be a child of the devil, and partake in the murder of the Son of God?
Messiah has Come! Repent and believe the gospel
