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9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. (Zechariah 9:9 NRSV)
Happy and Blessed Wednesday, ConCafe Family! Blessings to you, Friend, as you wind down your Lenten Journey! May the face of Christ shine brightly on you this day and alll days is my prayer for you. As we pray, please lift up Mr. Emmit Currie as today he undergoes knee replacement surgery in Gonzales, TX. May all go well and may God's peace be with Marie, his wife. Please continue to pray for Baby Hudson as on Monday he underwent a tracheotomy and is doing well after that procedure. He is facing another surgery and many repairs will be needed for his eventual arrival home. Pray for this little guy that God surprise the doctors with His healing power on this precious baby. LATE PRAYER REQUEST: The Rev. Michael Dobbs, pastor of Mathis and Alice UMCs, is requesting prayer. He has a bad case of the flu and is in Doctors Regional Hospital in Corpus Christi for overnight observation. Pray that Mike beat this flu and return home quickly! Pray for one another. Pray for your needs. Pray for the needs of the world.
If you ever have a chance to visit the Holy Land, please do. Nellie and I were so blessed in making our first trip there as retired folks. How I wish I had been able to go as I was starting my preaching career because the Bible came alive with the places we saw and the unexplainable sense of power and strength in that place knowing that Jesus our Lord had set foot in and around those places. A dear sister from our church, Mrs. Jenice Benedict, wrote after her visit to Jerusalem, "I stood looking at that very gate outside of Jerusalem and imagined all that is described (in the passage from Luke 19:28-40). Still give me chills." Indeed. Jenice wrote a very moving book on her family, that focused on her patriarch's years of ministry which I found very powerful and very smiliiar to my ministry as well. I recommend her book, "In the Land of Cotton," which is available on Amazon.com.
The prophet speaks to "Daughter Zion," which is another name for the people of God, aka Israel. And also to "Daughter Jerusalem," telling them of their need for them to rejoice. This event that was comingl would be something to behold. I wonder if the prophet Zechariah, was allowed to view the entrance into Jerusalem on that day. I can't begin to imagine what goes through a prophet's mind and heart to be led by God to write about an event, so awesome, yet have no idea what it was all about. As I said yesterday, the prophet's job is to speak for God, not interpret but to share the desire of God to share a glimpse of the hope that should be eternal in our hearts, minds, and spirits. I would believe the prophet was humbled by the role, but would downplay anything of significance or importance, rather pointing to God as the Author of Hope and love. The late Mother Theresa of Calcutta, when asked about the importance of her role in helping the sick and dying of Calcutta, would respond she was simply the donkey on which Jesus rode into Jerusalem. And another Catholic saint of many years past, would always end his daily and nightly prayers with "Your mangy donkey," and say his name. One night when this saint was in a dark alley a mugger came to rob and kill him, when out of nowhere came a strong man who easily handled the would be killer and caused him to run off. The saint wanted to thank him and ran to him and tried to hug the man, who simply said, "No thanks are necessary you mangy donkey." This let him know the rescuer was an angel sent by God for no one knew he closed his prayers by referring himself as a mangy donkey.
And so it was that on a donkey, the prophet says, will come the king of Jerusalem and Zion. And this king will be a triuphant and victorious king, who is also humble and riding on this donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will never forget that a member of my church, who was also our veterinarian, in San Marcos, on one Palm Sunday, after church that for Jesus to be able to ride in on an unbroken colt was in and off itself, a miracle.
The entire day's event were the product of God's loving hand. For God's only Son to enter Jerusalem to fulfill history's greatest event, and it had to be done in God's marvelous way. We note the qualities that God attributes to Jesus as being fulfilling and significant; that the king comes into Jerusalem, riding a donkey, not a white charger; and with qualities not usually found in human kings, yet triumpant and victorious in the ways that matter, over sin and death. The impact of that day still impacting humanity even today.
PRAYER: Loving God, may we open our hearts as like those of Jerusalem, to welcome in the king in a triumphant and victorious way. Come, Lord Jesus, as my King. May my life reflect You in all things and in all ways; in Christ Jesus I pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Show the joy of Palm Sunday even today on this day!
Receive my blessings of hope and joy,
Pastor Eradio Valverde, Jr.
