Why would the Lord allow this horrible day to come, with the
city taken, houses plundered, woman raped and the people forced to either flee
or watch the spoils divided in front of them by their enemies? Why did He allow the Nazis to kill six
million Jews in the 1940s? At the end of
the day there are many things we cannot explain and all we can do is believe
that He is great and He is good, no matter what happens on this earth. We live in a fallen world and who can know
why the Lord tarries in coming or does not save us from trial, difficulty, pain
and suffering. We are to blame for these
things and we are to work diligently for justice and against evil until the day
of His coming. Finally, Zechariah tells
of a day when Jerusalem is exalted and sees the vision John saw in the revelation
of no night, perpetual daylight and the goodness of God reigning forever.
The triumphal entry of the true king. If we go all the way back to 1 Samuel 8 we
see the people clamoring for a king. They
know that Samuel won't live forever and they don't like or trust his sons so
they want a king to be like the other nations around them. The Lord tells Samuel that it isn't Samuel
being rejected, it is the true king, the Lord who is being rejected. Here, Jesus, the Word made flesh, the only
Begotten Son, one with the Father, is coming in fulfillment of Zechariah's
prophecy on a donkey, the greater fulfillment of a king from David's line, but
the even greater fulfillment of the prophecies that no one dared interpret so
literally, God Himself coming to shepherd, lead and guide His people. The people acclaim Him with messianic cries
but the leaders, the bad shepherds, ask the disciples to tone it down, the
Romans might get upset and shut them down as leaders. The truth is revealed, they see themselves as
possessing leadership because the Romans allow it. Jesus says if the people don't cry, the rest
of creation will do so, they have been silent long enough and now the Lord has
come back.
Paul sees that Jesus is not simply King of the Jews as the
inscription Pilate had recorded over Him on the cross proclaimed, He is also
king of the Gentiles, the other nations of the world. Our worship is proclamation of Jesus as King
of kings and Lord of lords. He is
without peer and He is indeed Good, as no other has ever been or ever will
be. Paul tells the Roman church to
welcome one another as this king has welcomed us. The time has come as we get to Advent, to
welcome the King, to remember Him and to long for His coming again, to worship
Him with the acclaim He received on Palm Sunday in Jerusalem. Let the rocks be kept silent for one more day,
let the whole world sing out and let the people say, "Hosanna to our
King!"
No comments:
Post a Comment