1st Reading – Zechariah 9:9-10

Thus says the LORD:
Rejoice heartily, O daughter Zion,
shout for joy, O daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king shall come to you;
a just savior is he,
meek, and riding on an ass,
on a colt, the foal of an ass.
He shall banish the chariot from Ephraim,
and the horse from Jerusalem;
the warrior’s bow shall be banished,
and he shall proclaim peace to the nations.
His dominion shall be from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.

Zechariah was a prophet to the Israelites after their return from the Babylonian exile. He was called by God in 520 BC, the second year of the reign of Darius. He probably lived until very near the time the new Temple was finished.

It is practically impossible for Christians to read this passage and not think of these words as a direct reference to Jesus Christ. Although Matthew and John both integrate this passage into their accounts of Jesus entering Jerusalem before his passion (Matthew 21:5, John 12:15), neither is claiming that Zechariah foresaw “Palm Sunday.” Rather, in light of the events surrounding Jesus, Zechariah’s words were seen to have a level of meaning not previously understood.

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