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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.
I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
And the horse from Jerusalem;
And the bow of war will be cut off
And He will speak peace to the nations;
And His dominion will be from sea to sea,
And from the River to the ends of the earth.
(Zechariah 9.9-10)
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On this day, Palm Sunday Christians the world over remember and celebrate the entry of Jesus into the city of Jerusalem. The Gospels describe Jesus riding into town on a colt with crowds of disciples and followers cheering him; they waved palm fronds and threw down their garments at this feet. It was a big deal.
The prophecy of Zechariah portrays the coming king who will bring peace and salvation to Israel and all of the nations of the world. Ironically, this messiah who is to 'cut off the bow of war' will arrive in a position of lowliness and humility. Nonetheless, his dominion will be 'from sea right up to sea' (a mari usque ad mare) and 'to the ends of the earth'.
I can't even begin to imagine the expectation of peace and salvation that the crowds must have held. The prophecy was being fulfilled before their very eyes. The king had arrived to inaugurate his peace.
On Palm Sunday, this is exactly what we are asked to do: we are asked to join the celebratory crowds and welcome in our king. We are asked to share in this expectation and joyously celebration the imminent peace. And this we do; as Holy Week begins, we follow Jesus into Jerusalem where he will indeed inaugurate this kingdom of peace and salvation... though the road he travels, the road we will follow him on this week, will not be what the crowds were expecting. Nonetheless, today we join the song:
"Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!...
...Hosanna in the highest!"
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