John 12:12-19 - Daily Devotion - 20 August 2026 St Barnabas Anglican Church Fairfield & Bossley Park 12 The next day the great crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 They took palm branches and went out to meet Him, shouting:“Hosanna!”"Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”“Blessed is the King of Israel!” 14 Finding a young donkey, Jesus sat on it, as it is written:15 “Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion.See, your King is coming,seated on the colt of a donkey.” 16 At first His disciples did not understand these things, but after Jesus was glorified they remembered what had been done to Him, and they realized that these very things had also been written about Him. 17 Meanwhile, many people continued to testify that they had been with Jesus when He called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead. 18 That is also why the crowd went out to meet Him, because they heard that He had performed this sign. 19 Then the Pharisees said to one another, “You can see that this is doing you no good. Look how the whole world has gone after Him!” REFLECTIONSWritten by Grace Ip Have you ever looked back on a season of your life and thought, "Now it makes sense"? At the time, you couldn't understand why God allowed things to unfold the way they did. Yet, with the benefit of hindsight, you can often see His wisdom and faithfulness more clearly. I think back to a time when I started a new job and, not long after, wanted to quit. I questioned whether I'd made the right decision and kept asking God for a sign. Looking back now, I'm so glad I stayed. Among the many things God was doing, He brought a beautiful friendship into my life that I would never have known otherwise. At the time, I couldn't understand why God had me there. Now I can see that He was doing far more than I realised, working in ways I never expected. The disciples experienced something similar. They had just witnessed one of Jesus' greatest miracles—raising Lazarus from the dead! Crowds gathered because of it, welcoming Jesus with palm branches and cries of "Hosanna!" and "Blessed is the King of Israel!" As Jesus made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, He rode on a young donkey, just as Zechariah had foretold. You might expect that, by now, the disciples finally understood what kind of King Jesus had come to be. But John records something surprising in verse 16: "At first His disciples did not understand these things." Only after Jesus was glorified did they look back and realise it had all unfolded according to God's Word, making sense in light of the cross and resurrection. Perhaps you can relate. Maybe it's an unanswered prayer, a hurting relationship, or a season that feels directionless. Like the disciples, our perspective is often limited; we may not see clearly what God is doing in the present. John reminds us that understanding doesn't always come immediately. Sometimes God calls us to trust Him before we fully understand what He is doing. In Christ's life, death and resurrection, God showed that He always keeps His promises. Because of that, His faithfulness gives us every reason to trust Him in the present. So when the path ahead seems uncertain, we can hold onto the hope that God is always at work, even when we cannot yet see the bigger picture. ABOUT THE AUTHORGrace is a member of our Bossley Park Morning congregation.
