Easter Devotional

Monday

Scripture Reading

John 12:12-19 (ESV)

12 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” 14 And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,

15 “Fear not, daughter of Zion;
   behold, your king is coming,
   sitting on a donkey’s colt!”

16 His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. 17 The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. 18 The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.”

Reflection Questions

  • What might be strange about a king riding in on a donkey? What would you expect to happen to a king who rode a donkey into battle?
  • The crowd had a variety of expectations about what Jesus was going to do for them and their nation. What expectations do you have for Jesus in your life? What do you think it would look like for Jesus to show up in your life with His love and power?
  • Are the expectations that you have for Jesus in alignment with what He has promised in the gospel? How so or how not?

Prayer

  • Pray that God would reveal to you where your expectations do not align with Jesus’s agenda.
  • Pray that God would align the expectations of your heart with the Jesus’s agenda.