{"id":31216,"date":"2024-05-24T22:00:05","date_gmt":"2024-05-25T05:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/john-12_1-11-copy\/"},"modified":"2024-05-21T13:13:12","modified_gmt":"2024-05-21T20:13:12","slug":"john-12_12-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/john-12_12-19\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Did Jesus Ride On A Donkey?"},"content":{"rendered":"

John\u00a0 12:12-19\u00a0 \u00a0(CLICK HERE FOR\u00a0BIBLE VERSES)<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is John 12:12-19.\u00a0 I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help, then read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

John 12:12-16 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem.
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Blessed is the King of Israel!”
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it, as it is written,
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.”
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 12-16:\u00a0 Here Jesus arrives in Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover.\u00a0 His entrance is met with great fanfare from the massive crowd who were expecting him.\u00a0 Jesus\u2019 entrance into Jerusalem is eye-catching for a number of reasons.\u00a0 First, Jesus is riding on a donkey (v14).\u00a0 Second, the people were greeting him with palm branches (v13).\u00a0\u00a0Why a donkey and why palm branches?\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0Let\u2019s look at that now.<\/p>\n

There are at least two reasons Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

First,<\/strong>\u00a0Jesus rode on a donkey into Jerusalem to fulfill Old Testament prophecy about the Messiah.<\/strong>\u00a0 Centuries before Jesus was born, the prophet Zechariah wrote that the Messiah would enter Jerusalem on a donkey:\u00a0 \u201cRejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation,\u00a0gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0(Zechariah 9:9)\u00a0 Jesus, knowing what the Scriptures say about the Messiah and knowing that he is the Messiah, decides to fulfill Old Testament prophecy by riding on a donkey.\u00a0 He picks a time when all Israel is gathered at Jerusalem, the Feast of the Passover.\u00a0 He picks a place where huge crowds could see him: at the eastern gate to the temple area, later known as the Golden Gate.\u00a0 Before when people would try to publicly declare that Jesus was the Messiah, Jesus would shush them.\u00a0 Now, with just a few days left before he would be crucified, Jesus is bringing attention to the fact that He is the Messiah, though his disciples would not get it at the time (v16).<\/p>\n

Second,<\/strong>\u00a0Jesus rides on a donkey to<\/strong>\u00a0show that Jesus is a king who comes with peace<\/strong>.\u00a0 Back in Jesus\u2019 time, if a ruler entered a city on a horse, it signified that the ruler was ready to go to war.\u00a0 But if a ruler entered a town on a donkey, it signified that the ruler had come in peace.\u00a0 Jesus enters Jerusalem on a donkey to communicate that he is the king who comes to bring peace.<\/p>\n

Now why palm branches?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0While palm branches tend to evoke thoughts of vacation for me, back in Jesus\u2019 time, palm branches evoked thoughts of victory and peace after a long struggle.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>In ancient Rome, when a runner would win his race, he would be welcomed to the winner\u2019s circle and be given a palm branch.\u00a0\u00a0 By greeting Jesus with palm branches, the people were declaring that Jesus is their conquering and victorious king.<\/p>\n

The kind of welcome and celebration that accompanied Jesus\u2019 entrance into Jerusalem is a reminder that\u00a0when Jesus has entered your life, it is something worth celebrating<\/strong>.\u00a0 That\u2019s because our victorious, conquering king, the one who brings us peace that the world cannot give, has arrived.\u00a0 His name is Jesus.<\/p>\n

John 12:17-18 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word.
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Many people, because they had heard that he had given this miraculous sign, went out to meet him.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 17-18:\u00a0 The crowd that witnessed Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead \u201ccontinued to spread the word\u201d about what Jesus had done (v17) and were leading people to Jesus (v18).\u00a0 Likewise,\u00a0may we not stop spreading the word about Jesus and what He has done.\u00a0 May we not stop leading others to encounter Jesus.<\/strong><\/p>\n

John 12:19 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 19:\u00a0 Try as the Pharisees might, they could not stop the move of God.\u00a0 They could not keep people from following Jesus.\u00a0 \u00a0Whereas the Pharisees would later think they had stopped Jesus with the crucifixion, little did they know that through their own evil actions they would help light a fire that would never die out and that continues to burn to this day.\u00a0 It reminds me of what a Pharisee Gamaliel would later say about the Christian movement: \u201c\u2026if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.” (Acts 5:39)\u00a0 As Jesus Himself would say, \u201cI will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.\u201d (Matthew 16:18)\u00a0 If you believe in Jesus, you are part of the only movement of people in human history that will never end.\u00a0\u00a0 For just as in the Pharisees\u2019 mind the whole world had gone after Jesus 2,000 years ago, so in the future \u201cthe earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, just as the waters cover the sea\u201d (Habakkuk 2:14).<\/p>\n

Lord Jesus, You are my conquering king and the one who brings us peace.\u00a0 Yours is the only kingdom that will never end.\u00a0 Thank You that I get to be part of the one movement of people that will never stop but will continue on for eternity, the movement to honour Jesus as king.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2022 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is John 12:12-19.\u00a0 I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help, then read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let’s go!
\n\u00a0
\nJohn 12:12-16 (NIV)
\n12\u00a0\u00a0The next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem.
\n13\u00a0\u00a0They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Blessed is the King of Israel!”
\n14\u00a0\u00a0Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it, as it is written,
\n15\u00a0\u00a0“Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.”
\n16\u00a0\u00a0At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him.
\n\u00a0
\nOn verses 12-16:\u00a0 Here Jesus arrives in Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover.\u00a0 His entrance is met with great fanfare from the massive crowd who were expecting him.\u00a0 Jesus\u2019 entrance into Jerusalem is eye-catching for a number of reasons.\u00a0 First, Jesus is riding on a donkey (v14).\u00a0 Second, the people were greeting him with palm branches (v13).\u00a0\u00a0Why a donkey and why palm branches?\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s look at that now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31218,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31216","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31216","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31216"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31216\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31317,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31216\/revisions\/31317"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}