ニューイングランドの母校から、受難週日々の便り2

Day 1 (Palm Sunday) | "What Kind of King?!"
Zechariah 9:9 & 12:10

On the first “Palm Sunday” a rabbi from Nazareth entering Jerusalem on a donkey was met with great fanfare. Crowds threw their garments on the path before him, waving palm branches and hailing Jesus as the long-awaited Son of David. Somehow, within a week, this “king” would be turned over to the Roman authorities to be executed by the hideous death of crucifixion. Yet a sign in three languages hung above his head, “King of the Jews.” Who on earth was this man?

Some strong hints are in the gospel accounts. Jesus sent for and mounted his donkey at Bethpage, at Jerusalem’s city limits. Recalling the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9, the crowd recognized their coming king with deliverance, “gentle and riding on a donkey.” Jesus was proclaiming himself Messiah in Israel’s regal city, and the crowd was in dramatic agreement on this day.

But the crowd missed something that Zechariah had also predicted. The royal Shepherd who came to liberate his people would be “pierced” (Zech. 12:10). On this Sunday prior to Passover, Jesus arrived as both Leader and Lamb. We follow this Messiah only after first receiving forgiveness and freedom by his priceless blood.

Timothy Laniak, Th.D.
Dean of the Charlotte Campus &
Professor of Old Testament