“Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” – Zechariah 9:9
We’re two days away from Palm Sunday, the occasion in which the church celebrates the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. It marks the beginning of Passion Week which culminates in Christ’s arrest, crucifixion, and resurrection. The church has been honoring this day throughout her history and we will continue to do so until our Lord returns for us.
The Triumphal Entry is a significant event; each of the gospel writers describes it (see Matthew 21:1-11; Mark 11:1-10; Luke 19:28-44; John 12:12-19). On this occasion, many of the Jews declared Jesus to be their king, the one who would usher in God’s rule by driving out the Romans.
At least that was their hope.
Were they aware that Christ was fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah?
The people didn’t quote this verse, but they proclaimed a similar one.
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD. From the house of the LORD we bless you.” – Psalm 118:26
Was Jesus aware that He was fulfilling the prophecy?
No doubt about it!
He knew what He was doing because He knew the will of His Father, and that’s what prophecy is about.
It’s easy for us to think of prophecies as predictions of future events, but there’s more to them than that. They express the will of God so people might learn and respond in ways that honor Him.
I’ve come across four passages in the Bible that link prophecy and testimony or witness. This might seem odd because we tend to associate prophecy with the future and testimony with the past, but the Scripture integrates the two.
Let’s see how.
“But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.” – Romans 3:21
In this verse, the apostle Paul explains that gospel righteousness is predicated on Old Testament Scripture. The Law of Moses and the prophetic writings bear witness to the righteousness which God would make available to us in His Son. If Paul wanted to stress the predictive nature of the Bible, he could have used a word like “foretell.” But he chooses the word “testify” to emphasize the veracity of the message.
Here’s another passage:
“One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, ‘Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.’ 13This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith” – Titus 1:12-13 (ESV)
Not a pleasant statement, is it? Well, the apostle doesn’t pull his punches!
In these verses, Paul quotes a Greek writer named Epimenides who apparently had a low opinion of his fellow Cretans. Paul calls him a prophet but describes his declaration as a testimony, not a prophecy. Again, to our way of thinking, this seems a little off-base. But prophecy isn’t only about the future. It’s an observation about the way things are that needs to be evaluated. Paul concluded the statement was correct, so he mentioned it to Titus so that man could anticipate some of the problems he’d encounter as he served the church on the island of Crete.
Then the book of Revelation has two verses linking prophecy (or prophets) and testimony.
“And I will appoint my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” – Revelation 11:3
“Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, ‘You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.’ For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” – Revelation 19:10 (ESV)
In the first, the apostle John hears God tell him that He is going to raise up two individuals who will declare His will to a Christ-rejecting world for a period of three and a half years. God calls them witnesses, but He says that they carry out their ministry by prophesying. The future was probably part of their message, but on the whole, these two were calling people to repentance and faith before time ran out.
In the other verse, John is overwhelmed by a glorious angel and he succumbs by prostrating himself before him. But the angel won’t tolerate this; only God is worthy of worship. The angel describes himself as a servant of the Lord like John and his fellow Christians are. What makes people Christian is that they hold fast the testimony of Jesus; they believe the gospel. It goes to the heart of prophecy. Ultimately, prophetic words are about the will of God in Christ Jesus. They may cover aspects of the future, but their aim is to bring people into alignment with the way of the Lord.
Prophecy and testimony belong together.
With all this in mind, let’s revisit the Triumphal Entry.
Jesus knew of the prophecy of Zechariah, spoken about 500 years before He rode into Jerusalem.
Skeptics might argue that Jesus wanted to pass Himself off as the Messiah, so He set up the scene.
That’s half right. The Lord did instruct some of His disciples to go ahead of Him into the city and retrieve a donkey and a colt. But the criticism leaves out a lot.
For one, Jesus told the apostles they could do this and the owners would permit it. How did He know? Why would they? They didn’t know these disciples who looked like they were stealing animals! Jesus was confident because He knew the will of His Father.
A second issue is the crowd. Jesus could stage Himself as the Christ, but why would throngs of people rush out to greet Him and sing His praise? If I marched down the middle of Main Street announcing I’m God’s anointed one, I’d be arrested, not celebrated!
Again, the Lord knew. He counted on the plan of His Father and the power of the Spirit to bring things to pass. The situation would come to pass just as Scripture said it would.
The prophecy of Zechariah was oriented to the future; it was fulfilled centuries after he spoke it.
But for Jesus, it was testimony. By expressing what the verse said, He was demonstrating its truthfulness and present-day relevance.
So this Palm Sunday, we can apply this lesson to our life in Christ. In a sense, we’re looking back to the Triumphal Entry because it happened almost 2000 years ago. But it addresses us here and now, too. God wants us to welcome His Son as our Ruler, our Savior, the One who saves us. And Palm Sunday anticipates the return of Jesus, when His kingdom will govern the whole world.
The prophecy of Palm Sunday is testimony. It’s true now and forever. It’s not something we have to manufacture by our own devices. Like Jesus, we can trust the God who gives us His Word to fulfill it.
Have a blessed Palm Sunday.
Hosanna in the highest!
