Holy Week | Monday
9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
righteous and having salvation is he,
humble and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
— Zechariah 9:9
“This will probably be the toughest week…there will be death.” — President Donald Trump
The president used sober and serious words to describe the terrible week that awaits many around the world. There will be grief, suffering, loss, and death. It is the kind of week that you would run away from with all your might, the kind of week you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy.
Ironically, 2000 years ago, you could have used the president’s exact description to portray the week that awaited Jesus. It began with rejoicing and celebration, but it would without question be the toughest week of Christ’s life. It would hold the most violent and horrific death any human has ever experienced.
Perhaps the shocking thing is that this is not a week Jesus avoids or runs away from. It is this week that Americans are using extra precautions, staying indoors, and remaining especially socially distant to avoid pain and suffering that awaits. But for Jesus’ “toughest week,” he is not avoiding it; he is moving towards it. Each step towards Jerusalem brought him closer to the most horrifying death ever experienced. He certainly could have turned back and forgone the agony that was before him, but that is not the kind of king Zechariah prophesied about.
“Behold your king is coming to you.” Not running away, not avoiding, not saving his own skin. Instead, behold, oh daughter of Jerusalem! Your king is coming to you.
The gospels record Jesus moving towards Jerusalem mounted on a donkey, descending from the Mount of Olives. If you ever have the chance to visit the Mount of Olives, you will get to take in one of Israel's most captivating views. From the top, you are able to see the entire city of Jerusalem in all its beauty. As Jesus rode that donkey from the mountaintop with the cheers of thousands surrounding him, what he saw at the bottom was beautiful yet terrifying. At the bottom of the Mount of Olives is a temple, and the temple meant one thing: bloody sacrifice. He knew coming down from the top of that mountain would mean that he would make the greatest sacrifice ever offered--the sacrifice of his own life to redeem humanity from sin.
Why would Jesus keep going down that mountain into such a miserable week? What would provoke Jesus to come to his people, knowing it would mean nothing but death? Salvation.
“Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he.”
Jesus entered his worst week so that it could become your very best week. The horrors Jesus experienced brought about the salvation that you experience. The agony Jesus experienced brought about the comfort that you experience. The death Jesus experienced brought about the life that you get to experience.
As we begin Holy Week, we worship a savior who doesn’t turn and run from pain and death. Not when his people are in danger. He turns his face towards it with unwavering resolve until his people have been brought to safety. Jesus Christ rode a donkey down the mountain into all of our sin and suffering so that we could experience salvation.
Jesus, we stand amazed at you. What kind of God must you be like that you would enter into the suffering your people brought about themselves? You are great and mighty, yet also kind and compassionate. We praise you from the depths of our hearts this week knowing you moved towards this week and not away from it. We rejoice and offer our lives to you in response to the salvation you have given us. May we continue to give you the honor you are due on this most terrible and yet wonderful week.