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November 10, 2024; Day 1 of Week 33
- 2024/11/10
- 再生時間： 8 分
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あらすじ・解説
Daily Dose of Hope November 10, 2024 Day 1 of Week 33 Scripture: 2 Kings 15-16; Matthew 21 Welcome back to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional and podcast that complements the New Hope Church Bible reading plan. Welcome to week 33! By this point, we have covered over half of the Bible. Keep up the good work!!! In our 2 Kings chapters for today, we get a slightly different perspective of the Judean kings than yesterday’s readings in 2 Chronicles. For instance, in 2 Kings 15, the king is called Azzariah, not Uzziah as in 2 Chronicles. I did a little research on this. It could have been an error in the original text or his given name may have been different from his throne name. Regardless, he was a man who started well and ended poorly. Jotham, his son, seemed to learn from his father’s mistakes and does what is right in the Lord’s eyes. Overall, he ended well, even though he didn’t totally clean out the pagan idols in the high places. Not totally getting rid of the pagan temples and altars will not end well for Judah in the years to come. At the same time, we get a picture that things aren’t going so well in Israel, in the Northern Kingdom. King after king is evil. King after king, there was warfare and bloodshed. We are getting very close to the end of the Northern Kingdom. Chapter 16 in 2 Kings takes a bit of a turn. King Ahaz, while he ruled in Judah, decided to follow the ways of the kings of Israel. He not only worships the Baals, but he engages in child sacrifice and he desecrates the temple. He does what is utterly detestable in the eyes of God. And so God allows him to be conquered by the pagan kings around him. Judah may last a little longer than Israel but sin and evil are also finding their way to the Southern Kingdom. Our New Testament passage is Matthew 21. Today, we are looking at what we know as the Palm Sunday passage. Jesus has sent the disciples ahead to fetch a donkey and its colt. Let’s start by talking about these animals. Some of us may think it’s strange that Jesus rode on a donkey rather than a horse but that would have been normal at the time. Horses were only used for battle. What’s more, in the Old Testament, new kings would come riding in on the donkey or mule of the previous king. We see this in 1 Kings 1 when King David puts his son Solomon on his own mule, the trumpet is sounded, the people rejoice and shout, and then the priest and the prophet Nathan anoint him as king of Israel. The mule is like the presidential limo, a sign of power and prestige that says this is the new leader. What is interesting in this case is that Matthew is very clear–Jesus is not riding on a previous king’s colt or donkey. He is riding on a colt that has never been ridden before. This is a sign that God is doing a new thing. Jesus is king but a different kind of king. We also see Jesus being given a royal welcoming. The people are laying cloaks and branches down for him. This is the kind of welcome that the emperor or a high official of the Roman government would have received. Think of it kind of like the red carpet being rolled out, a sign that a very important leader, the new king, has arrived. For the Jews in the crowd, they would have also know that this a fulfillment of prophecy–Zech. 9:9, Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. All the signs point to the fact that this Jesus is the king! In addition, the people are running ahead and shouting “Hosanna to the son of David, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” Hosanna means “pray, save us.” They are expressing that this is the messiah, the anointed one, the one they have been waiting for that God has sent to save them. These words are based on Psalm 118:22-26, The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the LORD has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes. The LORD has done it this very day; let us rejoice today and be glad LORD, save us! LORD, grant us success! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD. From the house of the LORD we bless you. Surely, this is the messiah who has come to sit on the throne of David, just as God promised 600 years before. You see, it’s all coming together for them. There is joy and celebration. God has sent King Jesus to save us all. But the enthusiasm is short-lived. Human beings get distracted and disillusioned fairly quickly (2000 years ago and today!) They realize that while there is something clearly royal about Jesus, he is the promised figure, it’s not in a way they expected or wanted. They think Messiah has entered the royal city to stage a royal takeover, to save them from the Romans. And we know what happens...he has actually entered to royal city to suffer and die. Yes, Jesus is Messiah and Savior. But he wasn’t a ...