April 3, 2023

The Messiah arrives on a donkey.

Zechariah 9:9-13; Matthew 21:1-11

Cindy Martin
Monday's Devo

April 3, 2023

Monday's Devo

April 3, 2023

Monday's Devo

April 3, 2023

Monday's Devo

April 3, 2023

Big Idea

He is Risen!

Key Verse | Zechariah 9:9

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 9:9-13

The Coming King of Zion

9  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.
10  I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
    and the war horse from Jerusalem;
and the battle bow shall be cut off,
    and he shall speak peace to the nations;
his rule shall be from sea to sea,
    and from the River 1 9:10 That is, the Euphrates to the ends of the earth.
11  As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you,
    I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.
12  Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope;
    today I declare that I will restore to you double.
13  For I have bent Judah as my bow;
    I have made Ephraim its arrow.
I will stir up your sons, O Zion,
    against your sons, O Greece,
    and wield you like a warrior's sword.

Footnotes

[1] 9:10 That is, the Euphrates

Matthew 21:1-11

The Triumphal Entry

1 Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” 4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,

5  “Say to the daughter of Zion,
‘Behold, your king is coming to you,
    humble, and mounted on a donkey,
    on a colt, 1 21:5 Or donkey, and on a colt the foal of a beast of burden.’”

6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. 8 Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” 10 And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”

Footnotes

[1] 21:5 Or donkey, and on a colt

Holy Week: What's the significance of Jesus riding on a donkey?

Listen Now

Dive Deeper | Zechariah 9:9-13

A poor, obscure, homeless man entered Jerusalem on a borrowed donkey. People shouted, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!" (Matthew 21:9) The whole city was stirred up, saying, "Who is this?" (And rightfully so!)

"Who is Jesus?" That is life's most important question.

The whole Bible answers that question. Jesus is the Messiah, the long-ago promised Savior King! But this forever king came like no other. He rode on a donkey, not a war horse. He came in humility, touching the unclean, stooping to raise the lame, eating with outcasts, washing dirty feet. He came in self-sacrifice, laying down His kingly rights. He spoke peace to the nations through His death, resurrection, and ascension, and He rules from sea to sea in goodness and beauty. No kingdom has ever been or will ever be like His.

And in the light of this glorious King, we must ask ourselves, "Who are we?" We are prideful and self-serving, and we devote ourselves to lesser kings. We are not the people crying out "Hosanna." Apart from His grace, we are those among the crowd who would soon be shouting, "Crucify Him."

But Jesus graciously laid down His life as a ransom for us that we might have life in His name. He set us free from the waterless pit; He restored to us double.

King Jesus still has His eye on His people today. He sees our brokenness and need. He heals us and gives us abundant life. He saves and sanctifies us, growing us more like our King by the Spirit, so that we may serve with humility and love and may live generously, laying down our lives for His sake. May we all pray and serve with fervency and expectation, knowing that He is working in ways we would not believe if we were told.

And remember, our King is coming again! This time He will be majestically seated on His war horse (Revelation 19:11-21). May we be ready for that day, keeping our hearts and minds watchful. And let's pray together: "Come, Lord Jesus!"

This month's memory verse

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand;

– Philippians 4:4-5

Discussion Questions

1. What does your life declare about Jesus? Could those closest to you see that you worship Him as King of your life?

2. In what areas of your life do you need to trust His good and sovereign care?

3. In what areas can you grow in serving, loving, and living like King Jesus?

4. How can daily fixing your eyes on the coming King help you live your life in transformed ways?

5. Is there someone to whom you need to declare that the King has come?

As we gear up to release even more features for Join The Journey in 2025, our staff team, unfortunately, no longer has the margin to continue to support the comment functionality. We have big things in store for Join The Journey 2025. Stay tuned!

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Michael Sisson

PUTTING PALM SUNDAY IN CONTEXT Will Messiah come “riding on a cloud,” or “lowly, riding on an ass”? In trying to reconcile Daniel 7:13 with Zechariah 9:9, the same vein of Rabbinic Judaism which rejected Yeshua (Jesus) also produced this extraordinarily insightful interpretation found in the Talmud: “R. Y’hoshua’a ben Levi explained: ‘If they [Israel] will be righteous, [the Messiah will come] on the clouds of heaven (Daniel 7:13); if they [Israel] will not be righteous, [he will come] as a poor man riding upon an ass (Zech 9:9).” — Sanhedrin 98a — Quoted by Raphael Patai in his book, THE MESSIAH TEXTS, p 83. [with amplification] (NOTE: The above quotation seems to assume one condition or the other will be fulfilled…not both. However, it would seem the commentator has not considered that both conditions, having been spoken by the L-RD through SEPARATE prophets, MUST be fulfilled according to Dt 18:22. Perhaps Messianic fulfillment of BOTH prophecies was too painful to see [Lk 19:42b] because the rejection of the Messiah was both a mystery and absolutely unthinkable.) ZECHARIAH 9:9-13 Re: Zech 9:9 Zech 9:9 (NASB) Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, >>>Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.<<< Re: Zech 9:10 Zech 9:10 (TLV) I will banish chariots from Ephraim and horses from Jerusalem, and >>>the war bow will be broken.<<< He will speak shalom to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea, from the River to the ends of the earth. See the “bow” in Gen 49:24, a prophecy about Joseph son of Jacob. See also “bow” in Gen 9:13 and Zech 10:4. Re: Zech 9:11 Zech 9:11 (NASB) As for you also, because of the blood of My covenant with you, >>>I have set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.<<< This may allude to Yeshua in His Messiah son of Joseph role. (i.e. Suffering Servant Messiah; See Gen 37:24; Jer 2:13; Jn 7:37-38) Re: Zech 9:12 Zech 9:12 (NASB) >>>Return to the stronghold, O prisoners who have the hope;<<< This very day I am declaring that I will restore double to you. See Ps 68:6; Ps 146:7; Isa 42:7; Isa 61:1b; Re: Zech 9:13 Zech 9:13 (ESV) >>>For I have bent Judah as my bow; I have made Ephraim its arrow.<<< I will stir up your sons, O >>>Zion,<<< against your sons, O Greece, and wield you like a warrior’s >>>sword.<<< Is Yeshua (Jesus; Messiah son of Joseph) being alluded to as the Ephraim (son of Joseph), the arrow in the Bow of Judah, and His Word wielded as a sword to subdue the nations? See also Mic 4:2b; Eph 6:17b; Heb 4:12a; Rev 1:16; Rev 19:15,21. MATTHEW 21:1-11 Matthew’s and Luke’s accounts of Yeshua’s (Jesus’) arrival in Jerusalem occurred during the Passion Week, on the 10th of Nisan (i.e. Palm Sunday; 4/1/23), when animals were being set aside to serve as Passover offerings. (See Ex 12:3; 4/5/23) Re: Mt 21:1 Mt 21:1 (NASB) When they had approached Jerusalem and had come to >>>Bethphage,<<< at the >>>Mount of Olives,<<< then Jesus sent two disciples, Beit-Pagey (i.e. Bethphage; Aramaic for “house of unripe figs” ) Starting in Mt 21:1 with the mention of Bethphage, there is a fig tree metaphor at work throughout the first half of the chapter. Jerusalem is represented in the fig tree. Our first impression is that most of the Jerusalem crowd in Mt 21:8 was ready to embrace Yeshua. Metaphorically, they seemed to be "ripe fruit," ready for harvest. However, over the course of the Passion week, we see these same crowds moved to reject Yeshua. In that sense, their "indignant" leaders (Mt 21:15) had failed to prepare them for the coming of Messiah (See Mt 23:13). Metaphorically, the crowds were "unripe fruit" or "unripe figs," and like the withered fig tree (Mt 21:19), Jerusalem had failed to produce fruit. The Mount of Olives is where Yeshua (Jesus) ascended into heaven, and where both Messiah and angels testify He will return on a cloud (Dan 7:13; Mt 24:30; Mt 26:64; Lk 21:27; Mk 13:26, Ac 1:9-12). Re: Mt 21:2-4 Foreshadow the literal fulfillment of Zech 9:9 and Gen 49:11a. See also Jn 12:5. Re: Mt 21:5 In this verse, Matthew records Yeshua conflating to passages from the Hebrew Bible: Isa 62:11 and Zech 9:9. Of this conflation, Dr. David Stern wrote: “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘See your >>>salvation<<< comes! See, His reward is with Him, but His work lies ahead of Him.’” “The word for ‘salvation’ here is ‘yesha‘,‘ identical with the name of the Messiah, Yeshua, except for the optional letter vav. Moreover, Isaiah describes this ‘yesha‘ ‘ as a person, and not just any person, but God—since a person who is salvation must be God. English translations, including Jewish ones, which capitalize pronouns referring to God recognize this fact by capitalizing ‘His’ and ‘Him’ in this passage, as is done above. One may even say that in this verse Isaiah, writing 700 years before Yeshua was born, refers to him in his divine aspect by name. Zechariah 9:9 has these lines in it: “Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion!... See, your king comes to you. He is triumphant and victorious, humbly riding on a donkey, yes, on a colt, the offspring of a beast of burden.” “By combining the two verses Mattityahu gives a hint (remez) that God, the Salvation of Israel, the Messianic King and Yeshua of Natzeret are one. Also he hints at the two comings of the Messiah and the difference between them: at his first coming Yeshua is our final atoning sacrifice, bringing salvation by his death; therefore he rides into Jerusalem humbly on a beast of burden, ready to perform the work which lies ahead of him. But he will return, triumphant and victorious, as ruling king, rewarding the faithful—although for those who are faithful now, he has already begun to share the reward which he brings with him.” — David Stern, JEWISH NEW TESTAMENT COMMENTARY, on Mt 21:2-7 See also… Luke 19:41-44 (NASB) When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! >>>But now they have been hidden from your eyes.<<< For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, >>>because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”<<< Re: Lk 19:43-44 Yeshua (Jesus) alludes to Tisha B’Av, the date on the Hebrew calendar when both the First (Solomon’s) and Second (Herod’s) Temples were destroyed. Traditionally, “sinas chinam” (“baseless hatred”) is cited as the reason for the destruction of the Second Temple, though the object of this baseless hatred is vague. In vv43-44, Yeshua alludes to Himself as the object of their baseless hatred, when He prophesies Jerusalem will be destroyed and the Temple leveled because they, “…did not recognize the hour of their visitation.”
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Hugh Stephenson

GM Cindy!! Many thanks for opening Palm Sunday week with such a great devo. Love your link to Matthew 16:15. My main life verse. Thinking about the memory verse. -Confession: I do not always rejoice. I let my idol, the God of inboxes and tasks lists, draw me off mission. Worship music pulls me back. As does deep dives into God’s Word and time with His people. Reasonableness: Of course everyone can see how reasonable I am.  When I get what I want. . At hand. AKA “near”: All I have to say is “Jesus come” and the moment’s temptations and temper tantrums are swept away. Q1. A mentor says, “You can be a great example or horrible warning. Choose wisely.” Q2. Prodigal children. God teaches me about sovereignty when I accept that I can do nothing to save them. That job is already taken.
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Hugh Stephenson

Q3. Sacrificial giving that blesses another person in a way they convey, rather than a way that I want or that is easy for me. Q4. When my eyes are fixed on Him these temptations are not extant- Abridged list- -Some material desire I have- clothes, new toys, new truck, new shotgun, next hunt etc. Matthew 6:19-21 -worry about some world issue and how it might affect. Me with hassles, costs, or trouble, (John16:33). -salvation of my unbelieving children. 2 Timothy 1:9 -ups and downs of marriage Genesis 2:24, Ephesians 5:25 If I’ve fixed my eyes on Him, I can’t be gazing at my navel. Or focusing on self. Or staring off in the distance for some self-aggrandizing fantasy. The only other place my eyes should fix on is the next person He calls me to love and serve. Q5. Yes. 8 billion of them.
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Hugh Stephenson

Thinking about donkeys and Jesus, the Great Shepherd… Amy’s brother has a cattle ranch in N Texas. We love going out there. So quiet and peaceful. Awhile back he added a small herd of sheep. Not long after that he got two donkeys. We asked him why and he said, very matter-of-factly, “The donkeys protect the sheep.” He’s had some trouble with coyotes and bob cats, so this made great sense. Who knew that donkeys versus horses could provide such powerful images and contrasts. What I love the most about these minor prophets is that there is a huge amount of conviction in each passage. It’s way too easy for me to see the promises of blessing and then skate by the prophecies of judgement. In God’s sovereignty He was patient with me…and then merciful…and ultimately graceful in aligning my heart with His.
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Chris Landry

Good morning, Cindy! Thanks for serving us this passage today. "Sunday is coming!" 1. What does your life declare about Jesus? Could those closest to you see that you worship Him as King of your life? -- I hope they would see me give praise to Jesus when life is hard, not just easy. 2. In what areas of your life do you need to trust His good and sovereign care? -- I love my two boys so much. Sometime I can get fearful that they may not have long and fruitful lives with their own families. 3. In what areas can you grow in serving, loving, and living like King Jesus? -- being supremely focused on the well being of others with a kindness and patience that is unmistakingly like Jesus. 4. How can daily fixing your eyes on the coming King help you live your life in transformed ways? -- All else is in focus when my eyes are fixed on Jesus. What I mean is that all things are blurry in comparison to my King. If I focus to much on something else, Jesus becomes blurry. This "bokeh effect" belongs on things not of Him. 5. Is there someone to whom you need to declare that the King has come? -- whoever is within 3ft of me should have that opportunity. If only by my care and concern, but prayerfully by my words.
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Sue Bohlin

SUPER devo, Cindy, thank you! Such a rich reading today, the Monday of Holy Week. What a blessing! Yesterday I got to hear David Marvin preach about Psalm 118 on Palm Sunday. A-MAZ-ING!!! Then to get to read about the Triumphal Entry in today's JTJ . . . thank You, Lord. Two things blessed me especially. First, in Dr. Constable's notes, I learn, "Sir Robert Anderson has shown that the entry of Christ into Jerusalem occurred on the very day that the sixty-ninth week of Daniel’s prophecy had run out. This is the exact time in which the Messiah was to come (Daniel 9:25)." BAM! I love this!!! Second, there is such sweetness in v. 3, especially in the King James Version: "The Lord hath need of them." I love that Jesus here (and only here) refers to Himself as "the Lord." Every other place that phrase is used it refers to Yahweh; Jesus IS Yahweh in human flesh. But the idea that the Lord "hath need of" something, anything, anyONE, is poignant and real and yet another evidence that God really did enter our world and interact with us on *our* level. We incredibly needy people. I can easily imagine someone tapping me on the shoulder and saying, "Hey, would you come with me? The Lord needs you for something." (That Someone would be the Holy Spirit . . .) The reality is that the God of the universe needs nothing at all, but He stoops to our level to draw us into what He's doing. We respond to hearing we are needed.
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Michael Scaman

Zechariah had a slew of surrealistic almost Picasso like visions in the start of his book, mostly takeoffs on aspects of the temple and law. Then he makes a shift and prophesies much much more plainly about the coming king He comes riding on a donkey but the impact will be peace breaking out and felt around the world beyond Israel to all nations. Often in the Bible ''the main things are the plain things and the plain things are the main things'. AKA the perpescuity of scripture. It is a donkey no one rode on and the 'never ridden' donkey didn't act up but behaves as Jesus rides in. A donkey never used. A tomb never used. Pristine for the King.
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Michael Scaman

The stone rejected, this is the day, Blessed be the name of the Lord is from a cascade of thought in Psalm 118 with 3 verses we quote separately but should consider in a flow one after another 1) The most important of all stones is rejected by the builders, but actually 2) this is the day the Lord has made and we should rejoice in it and so we say 3) 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord' If we chop it up we may miss the impact. Psalm 118 is the final passover Psalm and the gospels are referring to things from the prelude to the passover psalms like 110 ( the LORD said to my Lord) 113-188 and the conclusion 118 (Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD' ) ( I also notice that the salvation related phrase 'the arm of the Lord' happens mainly in a couple places in Psalms in Psalm 15 - 21 leading into the Ps 22 23 24 cross crook and crown images and also in Psalm 108 109 100 then 3 times in Psalm 118 wrapping the Passover Psalms )
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Amy Lowther

1. My life declares believing in Jesus is good. Jesus helps us believe in Him, in God, and in ourselves. Yes. 2. Everywhere. 3. I will be working on communicating with uncles, aunts, cousins, and grandparents about believing in God and Jesus. 4. It affects how I value life. 5. I would encourage everyone to celebrate and attend the services of Good Friday and of Easter because they are great opportunities to learn about Jesus.