Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he,
humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
–Zechariah 9:9 (ESV)
I have never ridden a donkey. I’ve never really wanted to. Horses, yes. Donkeys, no.
Donkeys have always seemed to me as dirty and dusty animals and maybe even mentally challenged when compared to horses. Granted, I don’t know anything about the animals, so that is just my impression of them.
When I think about Zechariah’s prophecy it doesn’t surprise me that he talks about the humility involved in riding a donkey. If I ever went on a trail ride on a donkey, and everyone else was on a horse, I would feel pretty humble.
The above verse from Zechariah was fulfilled by Jesus when Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem prior to His death on the cross. At that moment, Jesus was humble and yet was highly exalted by the multitudes. Perhaps the multitudes were remembering Zechariah’s prophecy. I think they focused on the “your king is coming to you” part.
It is easy for me to do the same thing as the multitudes. I want God to do what I want Him to do. Yet God always has the best agenda. Just days after Jesus rode into Jerusalem, Jesus was humiliated on the cross, and the same multitudes shunned Him. Jesus had not done what they wanted Him to do.
I know that Jesus had to die. Without His death, and the humiliation associated with His death, I would not have forgiveness. Jesus paid the price for my sin. He is my King and He has come to me.
Prayer: Father in heaven, thank You for sending Jesus to humbly die on the cross, taking the punishment for my sin. I now identify with Jesus. Others can appreciate me, or shun me as I choose to love others the way that Jesus has sacrificially loved me.
