Zechariah 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.

This of course is the verse Jesus famously fulfilled on Palm Sunday, but it has some things we need to think about. One is a little detail that some artists get right, but some ignore: the Messiah would ride, not on the adult donkey, but on the colt. That makes it all the more striking, because a colt wouldn’t be “broken,” as cowboys speak of taming a horse to consent to be ridden. There was definitely something miraculous going on in the ability and the willingness of the colt to carry Jesus. The second point that jumps out at me right now is the character of the Messiah. The ESV goes with the traditional, “righteous and having salvation,” but the Japanese and the latest version of the NIV both say “having victory,” or “victorious.” We sometimes forget that every time a person is saved by grace through faith, it is a huge victory over the power of the devil, over sin and death. We need to remember that we’re on the winning team! That said, we must not overlook the “righteous” part of that. We can’t just believe the facts about Jesus and then live however we please. If we are to have His victorious salvation, we’ve got to make Him our Lord, which means living our lives His way. We won’t get it perfectly while we’re on this earth, but that must be our desire and our commitment. When we have that commitment, we indeed walk in His victory, which is salvation. Corrie ten Boom was strong on this point, which is interesting, considering her experience of being in a concentration camp and seeing her sister killed. In theology it’s called Christus Victor, Christ the Victorious One, and some people put it down as simplistic. I’d say that opinion is shortsighted! In all that we go through in this life, we need to hang onto the assurance that in our Savior, we are more than conquerors, (Romans 8:37) just as Jesus said. (John 16:33)

I have certainly experienced Christ’s victory in my own life, even as I can only watch in trusting anticipation for that victory to be manifested in many of the things around me. Whatever happens, I need to remember that “God’s got this,” and refuse to be anxious. This morning is an interdenominational prayer meeting here, and the person who is nominally in charge is dealing with the reality that his wife is expected to die at any time. They are both very strong believers, and there is absolutely no question as to the ultimate outcome, but in the meantime there is this process they have to go through. I will be surprised but not amazed if he actually shows up, and I am to support them both in prayer, that they will have the peace that cannot be explained in purely human terms, that will carry them through to the ultimate victorious salvation God has prepared for them.

Father, thank You for what You’re taking the Shigetas through, and for the marvelous example and inspiration they are to all the believers who know them. May Your victory be manifested indeed, on Your schedule and for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!