As
Jesus makes his way to Jerusalem the crowd grows larger. Jews flocked
to Jerusalem from every corner of the world to celebrate Passover.
The holiday commemorated the deliverance of God’s people from
slavery in Egypt. It was a combination of Thanksgiving and the 4th
of July.
It
was a time of high expectation; people would get excited about the
possibility that – maybe today -- Messiah would come. There was
tension in Jerusalem. Everyone was talking about Jesus. Passover was
only a few days away. Would Jesus make a move? What would the
authorities do?
Jesus
entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey as the people waved palms and
shouted Hosanna (save us). Many spread their garments on the road
(Mark
11:8) in the same way they did when Israel's King Jehu entered
Jerusalem (2
Kings 9:13). The prophet Zechariah predicted, “Rejoice greatly,
O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king
comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a
donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” (Zechariah
9:9)
Jesus
made an important statement about the character of his kingship by
riding a donkey rather than a horse. In
the East, when a king rode a donkey into a city it was a declaration
that he came in peace; when the king rode a horse into a city it was
a declaration of war. Jesus arrived as the Prince
of Peace.
There
is power in the way of peace. When a city council blocked the
establishment of a proposed AIDS
hospice, Mother Teresa got on her knees before the council and begged
to allow the hospice to open – IT DID. Mother Teresa had no
political power but she had influence earned by ministering to the
dying on the streets of Calcutta.
Hard
ball politics is not the way of Jesus. When the Montgomery Bus
Boycott threatened to turn violent, Martin Luther King, Jr. rose to
national leadership by advocating non-violence. He held no political
office but wielded influence by using the words and attitude of Jesus
Like
a tiny mustard seed the influence of God would grow. Like yeast it is
unseen but powerful.
“Not
by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,”
says
the LORD
Almighty
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