Standing in the crowd, what would have caught your attention? The anticipation and excitement pulsing in the air could have been noticeable, or maybe the abundance of palm trees in the street would have made you stop. I’ve always wondered how far away you could hear Hosanna being called out. Can you imagine it? The King was coming to them.
The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!” (John 12:13-15).
It must have been everything you imagined for the arrival of a King, let alone THE King. The blind had seen, the lame were walking and the dead were raised, the prophecies of the Messiah were coming true, and a multitude believed that Jesus was the Messiah. In the Old Testament, God spoke through his prophet Zechariah and said, “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 …” (Zechariah 9:9).
The world rejoiced.
We’re all drawn to a hero. Fighting off dragons and saving the hopeless, conquering evil with good, leading a people into victory and triumph. It’s a story we hear as children and even into adulthood; in the books we read and the movies we watch, kings and heroes are doing just as we think they should. But every single one, fictional or historical, cannot compare to the good King. The true King. The King who rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, ready and willing to conquer all evil so that the salvation and righteousness in his hands would become ours.
Death conquered.
Sin defeated.
The hopeless saved.
Good crushed evil.
Jesus.
The Good King.
There’s a reason the three wise men fell on their knees. This Christmas, may you remember that the baby in the manger is the true, rightful King, and when you bow your life to him, you bow before the One the prophets foretold about for centuries. Joy to the world — for the King is coming to you.