Daily Devotional for Tuesday 19th March
Too good not to share!
As Jesus enters Jerusalem with His disciples, the crowds gather and do Him homage, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD, even the King of Israel!” (v.13); everyone is excited (except for the Pharisees!) but no one knows what is about to happen, apart from Jesus.
All the little details of Jesus’ life, ministry, death, and resurrection, add up to prophecy upon prophecy being fulfilled, so that when the early Christians looked back, and when we look at the bible today, we can see how it speaks to Jesus’ coming and ministry in amazing ways.
Today’s passage shows Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey’s colt, fulfilling what the prophet Zechariah said in Zechariah 9:9, “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your King is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.”
This is all gall and wormwood to the Pharisees! They gnash their teeth and say in verse 19, “You see that you are not doing any good; look, the whole world has gone after Him.” Their schemes to do Jesus harm do not appear to be having any effect.
Verse 16 says that Jesus’ disciples didn’t understand all this initially, either, but later, after His death and resurrection, they searched the scriptures and remembered the things that were said about the Messiah, and that they had a hand in making those prophecies come true with Jesus.
Sometimes we need that kind of confirmation to build up our faith. When we look back at our lives and see God at work, drawing us to Him so that we come to believe, accepting Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, and then working in our lives to help us grow to be more like Jesus, to know God better and love Him more, and understand His great love for us – how can we not extend that kind of love and the gospel of Jesus with others?!
Time to reflect…
· Let’s take some time to look back on our lives and count the blessings we’ve received from God. When did we first come to know Jesus? Where did we make acts of faith to mark that, like being baptised? Where in God’s word has He spoken to us recently?
· Let’s thank God for His faithful work in our lives, and ask Him who He would like us to share that with.
Pause to pray…
Dear Father God, thank You for all the ways You have led us and drawn us to You throughout our lives. Your mercy and Your goodness are there every day. Please grant us the passion and the courage to share the good news of Jesus to those You bring our way. Show us who they are and please give us the words to share. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
