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| Peter Anifowose, CAC France Zonal Superintendent |
Ephesians 5 : 1–2, “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”
Miss the lesson of love, and you miss everything. Even your faith becomes meaningless. 1st John 3:14–15, “We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in Him. » 1st John 4: 7–8, “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”
Love leads into many good works. Ephesians 2:10, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
Paul reminded people that love is the opposite of selfishness. Love’s attitudes differ completely from pride and rudeness.
Love wills and acts for the good of others. Especially seeking their spiritual benefit « so that they may be saved” 1st Corinthians 10:33, “Even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.”
He reminded them of love’s supreme importance. Prophecies and tongues would cease, while faith, hope and love would remain. 1st Corinthians 13:8, 13, “Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. And now these three remains: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
Isaiah 32:1–2, “See, a king will reign in righteousness and rulers will rule with justice. Each man will be like a shelter from the wind and refuge from the storm, like streams of water in the desert and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land.” With a brief look into the Old Testament prophecies, we can see a deep meaning in the Triumphal Entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem. These prophecies show that: - The Messiah was to be a king who would rule forever in righteousness and justice on the throne of David on the Holy mountain of Zion where He would arrive ridding upon a colt. As you know, Mount Zion is used throughout the Bible as a symbol for Jerusalem. It was in Jerusalem that the Temple and the Ark of Covenant were located. They represented the PRESENCE of God among His people. However, Mount ZION also is used as a symbol of our future heavenly home in the PRESENCE of God. Revelation 14 :1, “Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. Matthew 21:5, “Say to the daughter of Zion. “See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. »
For most of us a COLT is just an animal that symbolizes something clumsy, youthful, and innocent. But, in Jesus’ day this was not the case. When a king approached a city on a HORSE it meant that he had come to make WAR. If the king came to the city riding on a DONKEY or a COLT, it meant that he had come in PEACE.
So then the symbolism which is found in the fact that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a COLT is that He was coming in PEACE.
Like many people today, most of the people who shouted and payed honor to Jesus during His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem probably expected Him to revolt against the Romans (their enemy) and establish an independent kingdom. When they cried out: “Hosanna to the son of David”, the king of Israel, it was this that they were thinking about. What about you today when praising Jesus?
The word hosanna means « SAVE US ». But it was not the salvation of their souls that the crowds had in their minds; it was salvation from the rule of the Romans. What about you.
This was not Jesus’ purpose. On the contrary, His Triumphal Entry is filled with symbols of the Messiah who would save men from their sins.