12 The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 13 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!”
14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written:
15 “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion;
see, your king is coming,
seated on a donkey’s colt.”
16 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.
17 Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. 18 Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out to meet him. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”
Read John 12:12-19 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
In John’s gospel, we learn that when Jesus rode the young donkey into Jerusalem, He was fulfilling a prophecy. After sharing the prophecy itself, John includes an interesting statement that says a lot about human nature and life.
“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.” (v. 16)
This idea is incredibly significant because it describes our lives and situations just as accurately as it described what the disciples realized. At first Jesus’ disciples had no idea the significance of what was happening, but only when they looked back were they able to put the pieces together and see how Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem was significant.
This also speaks to you and I.
Very rarely do we realize just how God is moving when we face events, challenges, or trials in our lives. When we are in the middle of something big or hard, it is sometimes easy to forget God – especially in challenges that require us to use our ability to solve the problem. For challenges that come where we have no way of impacting the results, in some ways, it is easier to lean on God than in the other times. It is like saying, “When God is the only option, I’ll trust Him, because after all is said and done, what else can I do?”
However, this attitude fails to capture how God wants to be in our lives. God doesn’t want to be our last resort; He wants to be our first choice. Sometimes, He will lead us to use our ability in a certain way to solve the challenge, while other times, He brings in outside help from others.
But one of the big truths we can learn in this phrase is that we are best able to see how God has moved, directed, and guided our lives when we look back on our past. Looking at our past helps us put all the pieces in place and when we are looking for God, we are able to see how He has moved and directed us to where we are today.
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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