Click for a PDF version
Monday
Read John 12:12
The Feast
“The next day the great crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem.” (John 12:12)
What is simply referred to as “the Feast” in John 12 was, of course, the celebration of that amazing Passover event described in the book of Exodus. It is the night when the LORD “passed over” the homes on which blood had been applied to the doorposts and lintels of certain houses. Moses was then instructed to establish a way of permanently remembering what God had done to free His people from slavery in Egypt (Exodus 12:43-51). This feast started with a Passover meal on the 14th day of the month, followed by seven days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23:5-8). These two terms came to be used interchangeably for the same event.
For us, of course, a similar meal has taken on a profound significance that still impacts us as believers today when Jesus reinterpreted the event by making the unleavened bread represent His body and the wine His blood, making it clear that what we are now remembering is not the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, but our personal “exodus” from sin through the blood of Jesus Christ. Paul clearly understood this when reminding the church in Corinth by writing: “Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Corinthians 5:7-8).
We have become so familiar with the frequent celebration of the Lord’s Supper that there is a real danger of forgetting the turmoil in our Lord’s own mind in that meal, since He was the only One who knew exactly what was coming the next day. Not only was there going to be the physical trauma of the flogging, the crown of thorns, and the crucifixion, but the anticipation of the emotional trauma of watching His close band of disciples abandoning Him at the hour of His greatest need—one to betray Him and another to deny Him. Yet, because of His obedience to the Father, He went into the Garden of Gethsemane that night and prayed, “Not My will!” Obedience cost Him everything. Dare we offer less?
Questions
What does it mean to you to surrender all in obedience to Him?
Prayers
Living Room International
With the dismantling of USAID, thousands of people in Kenya are without life-saving medications. While LRMI isn’t directly funded by USAID, our clients are being significantly impacted. Some of those include our Kenyan staff. Pray that the people we serve will be able to receive medications and resources.
Tuesday
Read John 12:13
The Entry
“They took palm branches and went out to meet Him, shouting, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the King of Israel!’” (John 12:13)
The Passion Week commences with what we call “Palm Sunday,” so named because John’s Gospel identified what had been simply named “branches” in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark as coming from the palm tree. The Gospel of Luke doesn’t even mention the branches, but rather speaks of people throwing their cloaks over both the donkey and the street.
Commentaries often reflect on the irony of what has become known as the “Triumphal Entry” of Jesus into Jerusalem because the same people who cried “Hosanna” on Sunday cried “Crucify Him” on Friday. But there is an even greater irony here. The word “Hosanna” is actually a Hebrew expression meaning “He saves.” Whether those people even considered the significance of shouting “Hosanna” is doubtful. We know now that it was absolutely accurate; what was about to happen that Friday would accomplish salvation not just for those bystanders but for anyone in all of history who would respond in faith to what Christ did at Calvary.
The people on the side of the road then added to this acclaim by calling Jesus “blessed,” both because He came “in the name of the Lord” and because they saw Him as “the King of Israel.” Of course, Israel already had kings appointed over the years by the Romans, plus there was the ruling Emperor, yet here we have an acknowledgement of Christ as their real King. Perhaps it was this that prompted Pilate to ask Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?” (John 18:33). Our Lord responded affirmatively, but clarified that His kingdom was not in fact of this world and that His coming into the world was not to establish an earthly rule but “to testify to the truth” (John 18:37).
As we ponder today on Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, let us not miss all the truths which surround that event. The greatest paradox of this entry, which is also often missed, is that most kings have a victorious entrance into their capital city after great victory. In Jesus’ case, the entrance came before the victory, which He had yet to accomplish because of His obedience to the will of the Father. All these years later, we are the unworthy beneficiaries of that victory.
Questions
How do you show your gratitude for victory through Christ? How does this impact your relationship with Him and other believers?
Prayers
Living Room International
Pray for the construction (and complete funding) for the four-story Outpatient Center in Eldoret, which is in its final stages. Pray it will be open to receive patients in June 2026.
Wednesday
Read John 12:14
The Donkey
“Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written.” (John 12:14)
Part of the reason why the Gospels give every indication of being accurate eye-witness accounts is because they so often include details which, on the surface, appear to be unnecessary and almost irrelevant. After all, do we really need to know that our Lord sat on a “young donkey” as He entered Jerusalem on that fateful Sunday? The answer is, of course, yes we do!
John’s Gospel provides the bare bones of the story, but both Matthew and Luke provide much more detail, indicating that Jesus sent two of His disciples into the little village of Bethphage on the eastern side of the Mount of Olives. And there, according to Matthew 21, they would find two animals, a female donkey and her colt. They were to tell the owners that the Lord needed the colt, according to Luke 19. Of course, it turned out exactly as Jesus had predicted it would.
There are at least three possible reasons why identifying Jesus’ choice of transportation is significant. The first is that riding a donkey would have symbolized peace—as opposed to a horse, which in Roman times would have been associated with war. This contrasted with the expectations of many Jews who for centuries had looked for a Messiah/King who would save them from being under the control of foreign powers.
The second reason is the choice of a young donkey “which no one has ever ridden” (Luke 19:30). This could demonstrate Jesus’ authority over creation. Riding an untrained animal without difficulty could symbolize His divine power and control.
But certainly, a third reason would have been that by entering Jerusalem on a lowly donkey instead of a grand horse or chariot, Jesus once again rejected worldly displays of power and wealth. This served two purposes. The first was to emphasize, as He later did to Pilate, that His kingdom was spiritual and not physical in nature. The other would be an example to His followers that worldly acclaim and approval are inappropriate for His disciples, both then and now. Because of His obedience to His role of spiritual Messiahship, Christ overtly rejected the trappings of earthly glory. May we follow that example in a generation where glory is so often given to other humans rather than to the Lord.
Questions
How does this passage encourage you as a Christ-follower? Does it influence your obedience to Christ?
Prayers
Living Room International
The national (Kenya) healthcare system changed in October. It has not been an easy transition. Pray for the Kipkaren and Eldoret sites as they continue to navigate the various challenges that have arisen due to the transition.
Thursday
Read John 12:15
The King
“Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.” (John 12:15)
Yesterday we considered three possibilities for Jesus’ entering Jerusalem riding on a donkey. Undoubtedly, however, the most important reason that Jesus chose this method was because of His obedience to the Father and the Scriptures. Matthew, who wrote what some call the “fulfillment of prophecy Gospel,” actually quotes the passage from Zechariah 9:9—“See, your King comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Matthew 21:5).
We have already noted that this choice of a young foal would have emphasized His gentleness rather than the military might which riding on a horse would have depicted. But we must focus now on the fact that the people identified Jesus as this King whom the Old Testament prophet had predicted would enter the city on a donkey. Several Old Testament prophets spoke of the coming Messiah in various ways, but what the people of Israel living in Jerusalem at this time were witnessing was the Lord of heaven now on earth, in human form, among His people, introducing a Kingdom that would outlast even the remarkable empire of Rome.
The way Jesus entered therefore emphasized that the outcome would not be more war but, rather, victory and peace. Other kingdoms shed blood to accomplish their victories. In this new Kingdom, the blood would refer to the covenant that this King makes with His people, sealed quite literally with His own blood!
We might forgive the people of Jerusalem, and even the disciples of Jesus, for not being able to make this connection until much later. What king would ever offer himself as a sacrifice for his people? History was replete with kings requiring their subjects to offer their blood for his safety and the security of his kingdom. This King here was the Servant while was also the Savior! Because of His obedience to the Plan formulated before the foundation of the earth to make provision for sinful people like ourselves to be forgiven and granted a citizenship that we most certainly did not deserve, Christ the King made the impossible possible, and He bridged the gap between a holy God and a lost world. For that, we should be everlastingly grateful, both in our words and in our actions.
Questions
What does it mean to you to be the subject of a divine King? How does it impact your obedience to His commands?
Prayers
Living Room International
Pray for the physical, emotional and spiritual health for the Living Room staff and board(s) and their families.
Friday
Read John 12:16
The Realization
“At first His disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about Him and that these things had been done to Him.” (John 12:16)
An endearing aspect of the eye-witness Gospel accounts is the willingness of the authors to be completely honest. John states very simply, “At first His disciples did not understand all this.” To be fair to them, with two thousand years of history since those events, there are still many millions who still do not understand all the implications of Holy Week, starting with Jesus’ humble entry into Jerusalem and ending with His resurrection on the third day. While we refer to this day as “Good” Friday because we know how the story ends, for any followers of Jesus at the time, it must have seemed like “Sorrowful Saturday” as all their hopes and dreams were shattered.
Even after the resurrection, John implies that the disciples were still struggling to put all the pieces together. It was not really until “after Jesus was glorified” (the Ascension) that clarity came. We also know that for the forty days between the Resurrection and the Ascension, the eleven disciples returned to Galilee as Jesus had instructed them to do before His death (Mark 14:28), but there was a restlessness to their actions. They returned to fishing, but failed dismally, until Jesus appeared to them for the third time for breakfast. On this occasion, He took time to recommission the crestfallen Peter, and indicated to the whole group that the task to which He had called them as apostles still remained and was now more important than ever.
Their immediate return to Jerusalem seems to indicate the realization that the real work was now about to begin (how right they were) now that, because of His obedience, Christ had given them “the” message to proclaim to the world like no other message had ever been. The fact that just ten days after the Ascension they were in the Temple, fearlessly proclaiming the resurrection of their Lord, indicates that the urgency of the task had gripped them.
As we celebrate Easter this year, may we also be gripped by these “things that had been written about Him.” It is a message that the world needs today perhaps as never before, a message of forgiveness, of hope, and of eternal life. May we be fearless messengers of the Gospel at this significant time of the year.
Questions
How does the Easter calendar inspire you to being obedient to Christ?
Prayers
Living Room International
Pray that God will continue to guide the work that Living Room does in Kenya. Pray that the staff can be attentive to the needs of those in this community and respond with His love.
