Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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  Hosanna, Christ the King of Peace         
               
Zechariah 9:1-12

“Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”(V.9)

C.S. Lewis once said, “A world of nice people content in their own niceness, looking no further, turned away from God, would be just as desperately in need of salvation as a miserable world – and might be even more difficult to save.”

The Sunday prior to Passover was a very joyous day for the Hebrew people during the time of Jesus, because on that day, so many of them gathered and shouted in jubilation for their King. Yet, that Sunday was not an unexpected surprise. In fact, God prophesied through Prophet Zechariah five hundred years before the actual event that Jesus would ride into Jerusalem.
The Hebrew people interpreted that the Messiah was to come strong and ready to battle, but in reading verse.9 , we see that the King comes gentle and bearing humility. That King has come to save us. He came, so that we may have life in Him. The prophecy says, “righteous and having salvation,” and because of His righteousness, we have been given salvation. In II Corinthians 5:21, Paul wrote, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” The righteous King bore our sins, so that we might bear His righteousness.
In Matthew 21:1-11, we see the prophecy of Zechariah ring true, through the act of Jesus coming to Jerusalem on the donkey and colt. Jesus affirms that He is the one and true King, and the crowd acclaims of His Kingship by saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” Hosanna is derived from the Hebrew words “Hoshiah Na” which means, “Save us, we beseech thee!” The crowd called out to the Son of David to save them. Returning back to Zechariah 9, the Word of the Lord says, “But I will defend my house against marauding forces. Never again will an oppressor overrun my people, for now I am keeping watch.” The Lord says that He will defend His house, and we are His children. The oppressor will not overrun us, because the Lord watches over us. The cross of Calvary is where He saved us and restored us, bringing peace that transcends all understanding into our lives.
Prayer: King of kings, we praise you that through Your sacrifice, we have become reconciled to you, and we bear Your righteousness. We shout Hosanna asking that You save us in the days to come. Amen.
Thought for the Day: The King of peace is coming soon, will you join in singing Hosanna to the Son of David?

Mathew Stan Samuel,  St.Paul's MTC,  Dallas

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