Untying the Colt | Zachariah 9:9

Bloopers are usually unexpected, unplanned, spontaneous events. I watch movie bloopers over and over and laugh hysterically. It’s entertaining to watch how the movie scene wasn’t supposed to go or the mishaps in executing the football play. There’s definitely a difference between the intentional and the accidental. But, for the large crowd of people gathered in Jerusalem for Passover watching Jesus on a donkey, they may have been hoping they weren’t experiencing a blooper. Their yearly pilgrimage reminded them of a coming redeemer, but the scene before them wasn’t quite how they’d imagined their warrior king. It seemed unlikely for their long-awaited Messiah to ride a beast of burden.

It wasn’t a blooper, not even one tiny bit. Every detail of Jesus coming into Jerusalem – the timing, the place, an unridden donkey – were all prophesied hundreds of years before. It was planned. It was on purpose. No surprise. No hesitation. On the most important celebrated day of the year, it was a very deliberate public act claiming deity and declaring Jesus to be king before the multitudes. Nevertheless, many in the crowds were impressionable or misguided. They shouted, “Hosanna, God save us” on the road, but cast their vote against Jesus in Pilate’s courtyard when they were disappointed. They were looking for release from their political bondage, but Jesus came to deliver them from their spiritual bondage. The tragedy is that they never saw Jesus for who He really was.

This triumphal entry was definitely not a blooper but many of us have glaring bloopers in our lives. It’s the gap between who we think God is and who He really is. We perceive what God is like, but in reality he’s more. We, like the crowds, are easily misguided. We accept misfortune rather than seeing it as a character-shaping discipline of God. We say thank you for God’s help rather than o ering genuine heartfelt gratitude. We worship as a result of receiving a blessing rather than offering a sacrifice of praise when there seems to be no blessing. Unfortunately, our perceptions have eternal e ects. In order to close the gap in your perception and live with Jesus in reality, you might consider making intentional e ort to get to know the God of Scripture. Perhaps as you get to know him, you’ll see him for more than just someone you need in an emergency room or when the bills are past due. You’ll see him as both the God-man who rode a little donkey into Jerusalem a long time ago, but also as the coming God-man wielding a white warhorse.