John 12:12-15 The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival (A crowd had come to Jerusalem for the Feast of Passover, one of the Israelites' required visits to the Temple each year, an appointed time the Lord had designed each year as a dress rehearsal for when Christ would actually become the fulfillment of the observance and eventually be revealed to them as their Passover Lamb.) heard that Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem. (Even as Christ makes His way to Jerusalem, the center of worship in Israel, we come to Him as the center of worship for us.) They took palm branches and went out to meet Him, shouting, (When a victorious conqueror came into town from battle, or to honor a king when he entered his kingdom, the common practice was for the celebrating citizens to spread palm branches before their conquering hero.) "Hosanna!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Blessed is the king of Israel!" (Through the word "Hosanna" the people are shouting their adoration, as well as a plea for their king to save them now. Here the people are acting out the fulfillment of an earlier messianic prophecy from Zechariah 9:9 telling the people, 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. The people saw Jesus as their King and rejoiced in His entry into Jerusalem. The ancient prophecy continues in Zechariah 9:10-12: 10 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. This was the prophecy that the people mistakenly thought was being fulfilled before their eyes and the cause of their joyous celebration, that Jesus was their earthly, political King to free them from Roman rule, but the part of the prophecy that places Jesus as Lord and King over all the earth remains yet to be fulfilled in Jesus' Second Coming,
at which time we all will acknowledge Him as both spiritual and political Savior and Lord. 11 As for you, because of the blood of My covenant with you, I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit. 12 Return to your fortress, you prisoners of hope; even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you. Since covenants were made with shed blood, this prophecy also foreshadows Christ's Own blood sacrifice. This is the part of the prophecy that in reality was being fulfilled in their presence. Jesus had come to fulfill the covenant of love God had earlier made with His people, that He would deliver them from the pit of sin and death and restore them to hope and that He would bring them into His Promised Land of redemption and salvation.) Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written: "Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey's colt." (In this passage from his Gospel, John the Apostle sees the Zechariah message fulfilled. Here is the picture of King Jesus coming to us today, humble and lowly. He comes to us, not on a war horse, wielding a sword, but on a young, untried colt. As we, too, often naïve and untested, carry Jesus in among the people where He guides us, He also tenderly and gently enters our lives today, and, as we welcome Him, He truly becomes the King Who sets us free from the pit of our sin and guilt and Who restores us and reclaims us, giving us hope and mercy!)
