Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who grafted us into His royal family. Amen.

The text for today’s meditation is Jeremiah 31:31–34

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. ¹⁰ I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. ¹¹ As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit. ¹² Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; today I declare that I will restore to you double.

On May 15^th, 1928 Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse debuted in a screen test short film titled Plane Crazy. The short film actually failed to impress the audiences. Imagine that, the most recognizable character in the world not impressing audiences. Talk about a humble beginning and only a beginning it was. You may not know this but Mickey was not his original name; actually his name started out as Mortimer until Walt’s wife Lillian convinced him to change it to Mickey. Mortimer made a comeback as a rival of Mickey’s in 1936. Walt was not to be discouraged and released Steamboat Willie which was the first cartoon to introduce comical sound and a fully post produced soundtrack which was a big hit with audiences. Now that is the beginning I expected for Mickey Mouse but the humble beginning of a failed screen test is the truth.

From this beginning Walt Disney created many animated classics and on October 25, 1971 Walt’s dream was realized when Walt Disney World opened featuring the Magic Kingdom; unfortunately, Walt passed away before it opened. Walt Disney World became a new beginning as three more parks were added over the years, EPCOT, MGM Studios, and Animal Kingdom not to mention all the other parks worldwide, Disneyland, Disneyland Paris, Shanghai Disney Resort, Hong Kong Disneyland, Tokyo Disney Resort, Aulani Disney Resort, Disney Cruise Lines, and the television network abc. From a humble beginning the Walt Disney Company reigns supreme in the entertainment business. Zechariah too is only a beginning but his is not in the entertainment industry.

Only a beginning, Zechariah was part of a beginning, He and his colleague Haggai helped to rebuild the temple after the Babylonian captivity. They brought the scattered people together again. He prophesies a beginning as well when he prophesies about the coming of the King of Zion. The kings beginning is also humble riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey. Zechariah prophesied that the King of Zion would not ride in on a white steed as did other rulers and conquerors, no; He would ride in humility into the city. Zechariah foretold the mighty crowds that would rejoice and shout; they were sure to be impressed.

He prophesies a righteous king and our text says having salvation. Saved in battle, victorious is a better translation for having salvation; God aids Jesus in all His battles, performing miracles, wilderness temptation, everything. The help He needs He receives and therefore is saved and victorious in battle.

Only a beginning, today is a beginning for our Holy Week celebration. Today we rejoice with the people that our king has come. The only difference is we know He is king over all the earth. We know He is the creator of all the earth and He reigns supreme in heaven and on earth. We aren’t looking for or expecting an earthly king that will conquer the Romans, put them in their place, and restore Israel to power. No, we know our king is coming as the Lamb of God, humble, in the form of a servant, obedient to His Father, presenting Himself as the sacrifice for all the world; they didn’t know He was the ruler of all even though Zechariah prophesied it in verse 10, "his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth." We know this but the Israelites did not they were blinded by their desire for an earthly king. The disciples didn’t even know it even though Jesus told them. This is the beginning of the end of sin and death. This is the beginning of the Passover where Jesus gives the disciples the new command to love one another as He has loved them. Jesus is not only celebrating the Passover but as the Lamb of God, He is the Passover sacrifice for all.

Only a beginning, a beginning for Christ’s redeeming work. He willingly presents himself to be humiliated, beaten, scourged, spat upon, hung like a criminal, and die. But again that is only the beginning you see, His death is not the victory, no, Jesus’ death is the payment for your sins, the penalty for your sin is death. But instead of your death He died for you. His death is only the beginning of Christ’s redeeming work; He proclaims victory over sin and death when He rises from the tomb. His death is the beginning His return on the last day is the end.

Only a beginning, a beginning for our ultimate celebration of Christ’s passion. As we journey through life, we can celebrate Christ’s passion every day. We have the confidence that He sacrificed Himself once and for all and no more sacrifices are needed. Blood had to be shed, but not just any blood, no, it had to be the Son of God’s blood in order to pay the price for all men. Our life here on earth is a beginning and death is not the end. Our journey takes us to eternal life with Jesus Christ. Death is not the end because when Jesus conquered death and rose from the dead He promises He will do the same for us when He returns. If you are fortunate to still be alive when He returns you are already justified and saved and will live with Him forever.

This is only a beginning, a humble servant riding a donkey yet He has always reigned supreme in all the heavens and the earth; there was no time that He failed. Jesus Christ is the mighty ruler and it is through faith in Him and His saving act that we will be carried through to the end, eternal life with Him where we will celebrate the marriage feast, the final celebration.

Amen.