Sunday 13 Apr 2014

April 13: Matthew 21:10-11

Key Verse: Matthew 21:11
So the multitudes said, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.”

Devotion:
When Jesus came back into Jerusalem riding on the donkey, there was a whole lot of attention being paid toward Him; attention that the disciples did not really want to be shown for fear of His life. But Jesus knew what was coming and He was now ready to face up to what had to be done. Here we see a classic view of the difference between the so called normal people and the people in charge. The people in charge were seeking to shut down the preaching by Jesus in any way they could whereas the people were looking at what was happening and relating it back to the scriptures, saying that this was the Messiah.

They called Him the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee because the scriptures (first in Deuteronomy 18:15) foretold of a prophet being raised in amongst them as one of their own; this prophet then being shown to be the Messiah. Unfortunately for many of the people, the authorities were not going to take this as it was because it would mean them losing the absolute control they had over the people!

Jesus may have been riding the donkey showing His authority in one sense, but He was coming in as a servant and not as a king. This was not just one or two people saying that this was a prophet but it is described here as all of the city. Jesus never backed down from the truth and this truth was not one to back down from either, even though it would mean Him laying down His life in a few days.

Just as we see many people saying the right thing here, we see many people saying the right stuff nowadays; but how many of those people came to see Him hanging on the cross? How many of those people stood up to the Scribes and Pharisees and told them that Jesus should be saved and not Barabbas? I fear something like the same number of people that we see every week in our church buildings… We need to stand up for the truth and uphold it, not just talk about it…

Points to Ponder:
What would you do if the King or Queen came to town?

What do you do when Jesus is nearby?