Day 269, or September the 26th. Don't let pride
get in the way. Our thoughts today come from
Zechariah chapter 9, verse 9. Rejoice greatly,
daughter of Zion! Shout, daughter of Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious,
lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the
foal of a donkey. Now the big picture surrounding
this verse. Zechariah is so convicted and saddened
by the way his fellow Jews are rejecting his
words, and thereby rejecting his God, who has
given Zechariah the job of taking God's word
to the people. He gives us that great verse which
is quoted in Matthew's Gospel, as Matthew describes
Jesus coming into the city of Jerusalem on a
donkey. The cry, Hosanna, meaning, set us free,
resounds for all to hear. And now today's action
step. Today we have a clear prophecy that is
fulfilled when Jesus enters Jerusalem, on what
we now call Palm Sunday, at the beginning of
the week that will end with his death on the
cross at Calvary. It's hard to imagine how it
would feel to be going towards an horrific death,
which you don't deserve, and which you could
avoid simply by calling for help from your Father
in Heaven. On top of this, Jesus enters on the
back of a donkey's colt. It is impossible to
remain dignified and ride like this. In our sophisticated
21st century society, to remain dignified is
very important, so much so that we are often
tempted to take extraordinary actions rather
than have our ego dented. This can be especially
true for those of us who may be involved in public
ministry or have a leadership role in a local
church. Please refuse to believe your own publicity.
Would you be just as happy to turn up at church
next Sunday and find you were not required and
could sit in the pew and worship with the rest
of the congregation? If you hesitated before
you answered this hypothetical question, then
maybe you need to remember that Jesus entered
Jerusalem lowly and humble. As his followers,
we need to be lowly and humble too.