Zechariah 9:9 (NIV)
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.
This verse comes in the middle of a passage about judgment coming to Israel’s enemies. So we might expect the king to come on a war-horse, accompanied by powerful armies. But no, he sits astride a young donkey! What kind of victory can such a king bring? In the Gospels the King of the Jews is crucified. Jesus’ graciousness, humility, and even his suffering and death, are sometimes portrayed as examples for us to follow. But is that really all the gospel is about? Riding into Jersualem on a donkey, Jesus was about to turn our notion of victory and defeat upside down. Who could have predicted that God’s victory would come like that, through his crucifixion? As Paul tells the Corinthians, “The message of the cross is foolishness.”
Riding on a donkey? Born in a manger? Dead on a Cross? What does that mean for how you want me to live, Lord?
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