#DailyDevotion Let Us Bless The Lord And Praise His Name

Luke 19:36-40

And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road.  As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives— the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”  And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.”  He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”

Jesus rides into Jerusalem fulfilling the words of the prophet, Zec 9:9 “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” His disciple spread their cloaks on the road as a sign of humility to him and reverence due a king.  But not only the twelve but multitudes of his disciples also meet him and “begin to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen.”

And what things had they seen? They had seen feeding the multitudes, healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, lepers made whole, demons cast out and even raising the dead, even one dead four days. The prophet and king they had been expecting had come to Jerusalem. They were probably expecting Jesus to take the throne and Jesus would take a throne, just not the one they expected. But to get to the throne he desired, they would have to reject him, betray him, hand him over to the Romans and be crucified.

Yet on this day, the crowds fulfilled what Jesus has said earlier,  Luk 13:35 “Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’” Now the crowds in Jerusalem are giving the praise that is due Jesus. They recognize him as the King who comes in the name of the Lord and they bless him. Now Jesus truly is their King. He is their King because he is the rightful heir to the Davidic throne. He is the promised seed of David to whom the Lord had promised a throne that would last forever in 2 Samuel. But Jesus is their King in another way as well. Before the Israelites had been given a king by the Lord, the Lord, YHWH, was their King. Jesus is the Lord, YHWH, who is the true King of Israel. Jesus is also the promised seed of David.

Now as their King, the people proclaim, “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” As the angels sang at Jesus’ birth, Luk 2:14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” And peace Jesus came to bring. Eph 2:14-16 “For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility  (15)  by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace,  (16)  and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.” Through Jesus God is at peace with men and men with men. For Jesus reconciled us to God our maker with his blood and death.

Heavenly Father, grant us faith that we may join those who praise and honor your Son Jesus Christ as the promised King that we may be blessed in him and know his peace, now in time and then in eternity. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.