A Triumphant Victory
For over 400 years, the people of Israel waited and wondered as they endured persecution and painful abuse at the hands of harsh, foreign rulers. For weeks and months and decades, they clung to words from prophets like Isaiah and Zechariah that foretold of a time when their enemies would be destroyed.
The Jewish people were waiting for a powerful man who would overthrow the Roman Empire and take his rightful place as king and conqueror. And then one day, a renowned Rabbi (who had just raised a man from the dead) came to the capital city of Jerusalem, riding on a donkey—an animal often associated with kingship and peace.
But Jesus wasn’t just a man—He was God and man. And this wasn’t just a triumphal entry into Jerusalem: it was a determined, faith-filled march toward the crucifixion that awaited Him.
He would become king: but not in the way the Jews were expecting. However, His followers knew there was something special about Him, shouting and singing...
"Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"
Luke 19:38 NIV
In just a few short days, Jesus’ triumphal entry into the city would turn into a triumphant victory over the strongest enemies of all: death, the devil, and eternal separation from God. But this victory would cost Jesus His life, and His death would be cheered by some of the same crowd praising His arrival.
His sacrifice cost Him everything—but it gave us everything.
It’s because Jesus sacrificed Himself for us that we can now come unashamedly before Him.
So today, reflect on how Jesus’ faith-filled obedience resulted in your permanent reconciliation with God. Then, spend some time blessing and praising the King who came in the name of the Lord.
His Pain, Our Gain
Isaiah 53 is a stunning chapter in the Bible—in what is now commonly referred to as the “Old Testament.”
Approximately 700 years before Jesus walked the earth, Isaiah prophesied about a suffering servant who would also, somehow and in some way, be exalted. A coming Savior, a future Redeemer, the long-awaited Messiah—whose death would ultimately bring life.
A portion of Isaiah 53 says this:
“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.”
Isaiah 53:5 NIV
So, who was this man who would be pierced, crushed, and wounded because of someone else’s sins? Whose undeserved punishment would be the catalyst for healing? Whose life would be given as an offering—so that others might live?
Jesus Christ not only fits the description of the suffering servant who paid the ultimate price to buy His people back, redeem them, and set them free—He ...
“Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you. Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Grudge...