Tag: prophecy

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Prophecy XV

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.  (Zechariah 9:9, NASB)

When they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to Me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.” This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: 

“Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold your King is coming to you, Gentle, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’ ”

The disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them, and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their coats on them; and He sat on the coats. Most of the crowd spread their coats in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road. The crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting,

“Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest!”

When He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee.”  (Matthew 21:1-11, NASB)

Tomorrow is Palm Sunday.  People in churches across the earth will gather to commemorate Jesus Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem.  This also marks the beginning of Holy Week, during which Jesus was betrayed, arrested, tried, beaten, tortured, crucified, died, laid out in the tomb, and finally raised to new life.  Jesus endured all the humiliation and horrific pain and suffering willingly, and He did so for you and for me, all so we could have freedom over sin and death and spend eternity in fellowship with God the Father. 

Prophet Zechariah predicted a king coming to his people triumphantly and mounted on a donkey.  Our King fulfilled that promise on Palm Sunday in Jerusalem.  Jesus was either mounted on a donkey or a colt.  His instructions to the disciples whom He sent to fetch the animals were to bring back both the donkey and the colt.  Zechariah’s prophecies describing Messiah were accurate as well:  “He is just and endowed with salvation, [and] humble . . . “

“Hosanna! Blessed is He Who Comes in the name of the Lord!”  Found at St. Joseph Church, Rockdale, IL.   https://fsspjoliet.wordpress.com/2020/04/05/hosanna-blessed-is-he-who-comes-in-the-name-of-the-lord-palm-sunday/

In ancient times, there were two reasons kings would ride a donkey into a city.  One is to let the citizens know that his army had just conquered them.  The donkey was a symbol meaning that city was no longer a threat to him.  The second instance a king would ride a donkey into a city was as a gesture of peace.  As a non-threat (as opposed to a horse, a weapon of war), the people would see that this king meant no harm.  In Jesus’ case, I like to think His entry into Jerusalem embodied a little of both cases.  The conquering King whose weapons were peace and love.  And He came in peace.  Jesus conquered Jerusalem that Palm Sunday, only to give up control to become a sacrifice so we could live free from sin. 

Apostle Matthew’s account of the triumphal entry foreshadows another prophecy yet to take place.  During Holy Week, Jesus said that people would not see Him again until they say “Blessed is He Who comes in the name of the Lord.”  The crowds proclaimed this during His triumphal entry.  Could there be a second triumphal entry in the future when Jesus comes back for His people? 

Worship:  “In the Name of the Lord,” by Sandi Patty
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Prophecy XIII

From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”  (Matthew 16:21-23, NASB)

This account is from Apostle Matthew.  He was an eye witness as Jesus began to prepare the disciples for what was about to take place, His arrest, torture, crucifixion, and resurrection.  Other Gospel accounts speak of the apostles’ grief, or their failure to understand.  But Matthew’s story tells of Simon Peter’s “rebuke,” and Jesus’ declaration that Peter was a “stumbling block.”

Jesus’ prophecy of His own coming demise must have been hard to understand.  He had been telling the disciples that He was the Son of God.  He had performed miracles and healed the sick and the crippled.  How could the authorities arrest this Man and put Him to death?  And what was this about being “raised up on the third day”?  

Peter to the rescue!  He wouldn’t let the prediction of Jesus’ demise come true.  He, along with the Zebedee brothers, was part of Jesus’ inner circle.  He would be Jesus’ bodyguard.  Jesus would have nothing to worry about.  He would talk some sense into Jesus, straighten Him out.  What could go wrong?  Wait, what? 

“Get Behind Me Satan.”  Found at Catholic for Life, https://www.catholicforlife.com/tag/get-behind-me-satan/

Satan?  Jesus rebuked Peter’s rebuke by calling him “Satan.”  “A stumbling block.”  That he was “not setting [his] mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”  Many of Israel’s people were looking for a political Messiah Who would expel the Roman occupiers and rule Israel with justice.  The disciples, despite all the time they spent with Jesus, didn’t comprehend what this was all about.  Jesus didn’t come to the earth He created to free them from Rome, He came to free them from their sins.  To do that, He had to go to Jerusalem, and present Himself as the Lamb of God, a sacrifice acceptable to God the Father. 

Imagine how Peter felt at Jesus’ rebuke.  Not long before this, during a discussion about Who Jesus is, he had confessed that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  (Matthew 16:16)  Jesus praised him, and was ready to hand him the keys to the kingdom of heaven.  Now the Christ was calling him “Satan”!  Did Peter have a demon?  I don’t know.  Perhaps Jesus was giving him a wake-up call.  After all, He had The Plan, The Big Picture, and He wanted Peter on board. 

Ever since Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, God had a plan of redemption to bring men and women back to peace with Him.  He would eventually send His Son to earth, and He would act as a sacrifice.  He would take the punishment we deserve as a substitute for our salvation.  We deserve to die for our sins.  Jesus paid the price for us.  Our part is to accept His sacrifice, and ask Jesus into our hearts. 

Worship:  “Victor’s Crown,” by Darlene Zschech and Kari Jobe
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Prophecy X

 . . .  I am a worm and not a man, A reproach of men and despised by the people. All who see me sneer at me; They separate with the lip, they wag the head, saying, “Commit yourself to the Lord; let Him deliver him; Let Him rescue him, because He delights in him.”  (Psalm 22:6-8, NASB)

Psalm 22, written by King David, is “A Cry of Anguish and a Song of Praise.”  It’s prophetic as it foretells the agony that Jesus would feel upon being abandoned by His Father and  His companions, the disciples;  and rejected by the people of Jerusalem.  Indeed, Jesus quoted the psalm’s first line as He hung on the cross, shortly before He died:  “My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?”  (v. 1)

It was true that Jesus had become “a reproach of men and despised by the people.”  The Sunday prior, He had made His triumphal entry into the city of Jerusalem.  The people shouted “Hosanna!” and covered His path with their cloaks and palm branches.  It was triumphant indeed.  And here, days later, the people wanted Him crucified, the punishment of the most heinous of criminals.  They “sneer[ed] at” Him; “separate[ed] with the lip”; and “wag[ged] the head.”  These were, and are, common insults in the Middle East, and our Lord endured them to accomplish His mission.  In His humanity, His heart was broken. 

Psalm 22:6-8 image.  Found at https://slideplayer.com/slide/14376399/

As predicted in the psalm, people wondered why God didn’t save Him.  At the foot of the cross, the chief priests and the Temple scribes mocked Him, saying, “He saved others; He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel; let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him. He trusts in God; let God rescue Him now, if He delights in Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”  (Matthew 27:42-43)  Even “the robbers who had been crucified with Him were also insulting Him with the same words.”  (v. 44)

The Christ came to His earth fully God and fully man.  In His humanity, He suffered from the abandonment of His Father and the disciples, and rejection by the people.  He was brokenhearted.  He endured not only the physical pain of torture and crucifixion, but the mental anguish of the rejections.  He endured all this punishment and pain willingly, and He did so for me and for you.  It was all part of His Father’s plan to save us from our sins.  Would you acknowledge Jesus’ sacrifice today? 

Worship:  “Above All,” by Lenny LeBlanc
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Prophecy IX

All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth. By oppression and judgment He was taken away; And as for His generation, who considered That He was cut off out of the land of the living For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due?  (Isaiah 53:6-8, NASB)

This passage is another from Isaiah’s prophecy of “The Suffering Servant,” one of many describing the advent, life, and death of Messiah, manifested by our Lord Jesus Christ.  Isaiah’s narrative here goes into the “why” of Jesus’ sacrificial suffering and death. 

We “like sheep have been led astray.”  How?  Every human being “has turned to his own way.”  The Bible says there is not one of us who is good.  There has to be a way for us to be made right with God.  The solution?  The “Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.”  Jesus took the punishment we all deserve.  When He was being tortured and crucified, God placed all the sins of the world squarely on His shoulders.  This added immensely to the pain He suffered.  My sins would’ve been enough to endure, but Jesus had everybody else’s, too. 

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him (Jesus) the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:6How is your walk with God? Are you walking far away from Him?Some of us believe that we have...
Isaiah 53:6 image.  Found at The Word for the Day, https://thewordfortheday.tumblr.com/post/183292025562/all-we-like-sheep-have-gone-astray-we-have

While He was going through this horrific torture, Jesus “did not open His mouth.”  He at one point told His disciples that He could’ve called legions of angels to come rescue Him, but He did not.  A Bible study I did last Lenten Season ended the devotional with these words every day:  “He did so willingly, and He did so for you [me].”  Isaiah compares the future Messiah’s attitude when subjecting Himself to this brutality to a “lamb that is led to slaughter.”  “He did not open His mouth.”

Jesus would be taken away “by oppression and judgment.”  Isaiah asks if any of the people would bother to consider if Jesus was to take all this punishment in their place, to take the punishment they deserve (“to whom the stroke was due”).  My guess is this is a rhetorical question as the people, who welcomed Jesus to Jerusalem only days before by spreading their cloaks and palm fronds in the road in front of Him, now wanted Him crucified. 

Every one of us has a sin problem.  Jesus paid the penalty we all deserve by going to the cross.  He came to earth for that reason, so we could all have fellowship for eternity with His Father in heaven.  Would you call on Jesus’ name today if you haven’t already?  “He did so willingly, and He did so for you.”

Worship:  “All We Like Sheep Have Gone Astray,” from “Messiah,” by G.F. Handel.  Performed by the Brussels Choral Society.
“He Was Cut Off Out of the Land of the Living,” from “Messiah,” by G.F. Handel.  Artist unknown. 

Mustache Update:  Here’s my progress on the 12th day of Mustache March: 

Rollie Fingers - San Diego Padres - 1978.jpg
Rollie Fingers, found at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rollie_Fingers#/media/File:Rollie_Fingers_-_San_Diego_Padres_-_1978.jpg

Just kidding, this is Rollie Fingers, former Major League pitcher, and Hall of Famer.  As impressive as that ‘stache is in the picture, it’s even more so in person.  When we were stationed at Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson in the early ’80s, I used to get to at least one spring training game for my Cleveland Indians.  One day I was walking past the visitors bench, and there was Rollie, mustache and all.  As I said, impressive!  My outstanding Nurse Meghan wants me to grow one like this.  Please check back in five years. 

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Prophecy V

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.  (Zechariah 9:9, NASB)

This is another prophecy to Israel about God’s Christmas gift to them and the whole world of the coming of the Savior of the world!  This one is from the book of Zechariah.  The Prophet Zechariah wrote during the end of the Babylonian exile.  Seventy years had passed since Judah was defeated by Babylon and carried into exile.  The Persian Empire in turn had defeated Babylon, and was now in power.  God spoke through Zechariah to heal the hearts of the Jewish exiles, reconcile them to Himself, and prepare them to return to the land of Judah.  (Zechariah 1)


The prophet says that Israel should rejoice.  Indeed!  The arrival of Messiah would fulfill hundreds of years of waiting and hoping for their Savior King to arrive.  Zechariah describes the future King as “just and endowed with salvation.”  Jesus fulfilled this description.  He walked among us, and taught justice and mercy, that we should love God and love other people.  Messiah would also be humble.  He left His heavenly home and humbly took the form of a man to deliver His message of salvation and gospel of love. 

1. Christ is claiming His rightful place as the prophesied Messiah.Untitled, found at crosswalk.com


Further, their future King would arrive “mounted on a donkey.”  Jesus would fulfill this prophecy during His triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.  We’ll talk more about this during Lent.  Zechariah’s prophecies would come true later, but they gave God’s people reason to hope as they prepared to reenter and inhabit the Promised Land.  

Jesus Messiah fulfilled 108 prophecies from the Old Testament.  God spoke through His prophets to tell Israel Whom to expect that would lead them to salvation.  The long-expected King came to the earth on that first Christmas.  He still calls us today.  God’s Gift to us is most precious.  Have you received Him? 

Worship:  “Rejoice Greatly, O Daughter of Zion,” from “Messiah,” by G.F. Handel.  Sung by Lynne Dawson. 

Meghan, my excellent nurse, made this elf for me.  I guess you could say it’s my elf-on-the-shelf!  He’s holding a pennant with a red football helmet representing the University of Oklahoma.  She tried to put a blue one on (Air Force!), but there wasn’t enough room.  I think Meghan couldn’t care less about football, but over the fall she’s evolved to root for my teams:  Air Force, OU, Ohio State, and TCU.  Oh, and the elf has my name on his shirt.  Thank you, Meghan!