The King

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

 THE KING

Matt 21:6-11

6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt, placed their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them. 8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Hosanna in the highest!" 10 When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, "Who is this?" 11 The crowds answered, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee."

NIV

How could Jesus sit on both the donkey and its colt at the same time? The Greek is unclear in making that type of assertion. Although all the translations include the word him or he as sitting upon them, that phrase or word is not actually in the Greek text. Some scholars conjecture the donkey to represent the Jews while the colt represents the gentiles which would indicate Jesus is taking Lordship over both. Although this might seem possible, it may well be as far-fetched as Jesus riding on two animals at once. The response of the people with their palms or branches of trees, was a typical action taken to acknowledge a newly named king.

2 Kings 9:12-13

Jehu said, "Here is what he told me: 'This is what the LORD says: I anoint you king over Israel.'" 13 They hurried and took their cloaks and spread them under him on the bare steps. Then they blew the trumpet and shouted, "Jehu is king!"

NIV

We are not sure the people knew Jesus was the Son of God, but rather a great prophet in the line of David who was coming to set up his kingdom in the name of the Lord. They were tired of the hard handed control of both Herod and the Sanhedrin. Jesus was their salvation, even though they thought in the physical it was meant as the spiritual, which in hindsight we know, but at the time, the people did not have that kind of foresight. The reason we celebrate Jesus is he comes to set up his kingdom in our hearts and minds. But we celebrate him as a risen Savior, not as Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.  We might even wave palm branches on Easter Sunday. Yet why do we do that? Is it to mimic the actions of those people lining the path Jesus took to enter Jerusalem? If that is the case, then perhaps we have the wrong motives. They were not heralding the Son of God coming to be the sacrifice for their sins, but we are heralding the risen Savior who comes to establish his kingdom in our hearts. If he is our king then he should be our sovereign king. So then how can we serve our “self”and serve our king? Yet do we not try to do so all too often? We live so much of wanting to do what we want to do when we want to do it. It is that age old war that wages within us. We say we do what we do not want to do, but in reality it seems we actually do want to do it, otherwise we would not do it. The things we should do we do not do, but yet maybe that is because we truly do not want to do them, being self-serving rather the Jesus serving. So then let us acknowledge our king, the King of kings.