Just as He said

"prophecy never came by the will of man,

but holy men of God

as they were moved by the Holy Spirit"

2 Peter 1:21

Okay, we're gonna cover a bit more Biblical territory today than usual, so climb aboard!

First we need to look at a couple of the gospels.  First, Matthew 21 ~ regarding Jesus' "Triumphal Entry" as it's called.  His arrival in Jerusalem for His last Passover feast before His crucifixion.

"Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, 'Go into the village opposite you, and immediately find a donkey tied, and a colt with her.  Loose them and bring them to Me.' ... So the disciples did as Jesus commanded them.  They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them."

Okay, so this is the picture.  Jesus, riding on a donkey, as He enters Jerusalem. 

"The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him." (John 12)

"And they spread their clothes on the road and cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road." (Matthew 21)

Now, I love Jesus' actions here.  Sometimes His words or actions confuse us.  We wonder why He didn't just smite those pesky Pharisees, or call out Judas when he pretended that he was using the funds in the treasury box solely for the poor, and not skimming some off the top for himself. 

But we are told why He took this particular action.  Look at Zechariah 9:9b (the second half of verse 9) ~ "He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey."

Prophecy fulfilled, right?  Love that.  Matthew 21:4 even says, "All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet."

But wait; there's more!

Remember those people who lay their clothes, and tree branches in the road, well, the gospels continue, telling us "the multitudes who went before, and those who followed cried out, saying: 'Hosanna to the Son of David!  Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel!  Hosanna in the highest!' " (Matthew 21, Mark 11, Luke 19, John 12)

Now let's go back to Zechariah, and look at the first part of 9:9 ~ "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!  Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!  Behold, your King is coming to you;"

The multitudes were fulfilling prophecy, too.  But they didn't know it.  

Now, I love fulfilled prophecy.  It's one of the gifts that God has given us to assist in our faith when we're fighting one of those spiritual battles about truth.

But I also love the differences in fulfilled prophecies.   Jesus came in on a donkey ~ on purpose, to fulfill prophecy.  He is the Word.  He is the reason the prophecies exist.

And the crowd honored and praised Him, fulfilling prophecy "accidentally".   Zechariah's words were inspired by the Holy Spirit because God knew that's what the crowd would do.  And hey, look at that, He was right! 

His word is truth, indeed.

~ "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!

Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!

Behold, your King is coming to you;

He is just and having salvation,

Lowly and riding on a donkey,

A colt, the foal of a donkey." ~

Zechariah 9:9

~ "some of the Pharisees called to Him,

'Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.'

But He answered and said to them,

'I tell you that if these should keep silent,

the stones would immediately cry out.' " ~

Luke 19:39-40 

~