He Comes With Peace

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

HE COMES WITH PEACE

Matt 21:1-7

21:1 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away."  4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: 5 "Say to the Daughter of Zion, 'See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.'"   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.

NIV

And so it begins, the end of what has been a wonderful time watching Jesus and listening to his teaching. However, so it begins, the beginning of something horrible to watch, and hear about. Still, so it begins, the wonderful events that will result in the forgiveness of our sin and our resurrection onto eternal life. But first, we have to travel this road with Jesus to see all this unfold as Matthew describes it for us. First, we watch as Jesus reaches Bethphage on the Mount of Olives. Bethphage is just a very short way from Bethany where Mary, Martha, and Lazarus lived and although Mathew leaves this out, John records this is the same time Jesus being on his way back to Judea stops there in Bethany and raises Lazarus from the grave. From John’s account, it looks like Jesus stayed there with them about six days and this is when Mary poured all that perfume on Jesus’s feet and wiped them with her hair. Now the time had come, and he leaves them and heads to Bethphage where he instructs his disciples to go into the village ahead of them. We cannot be sure, but the way it reads in Greek, it could be that they were coming into Bethphage, and this is the town Jesus told them to go ahead and find the donkey and the colt. It would be from there that he would ride further down the Mount of Olives into and across the Kidron Valley, and then up into Jerusalem. Having stood on that Mount of Olives and looked across the valley and clearly gazed upon Jerusalem, we understand this journey would not have taken that long as it was no more than a mile or so, that even walking at three miles an hour this trip would not have taken long. There are two truths for us today. The first is that Jesus again shows us his foreknowledge, his omniscience, knowing the prophecy, but also knowing that is what will happen for this is the reason he came in the first place. He knows exactly where the donkey and colt are and that the owners will allow his disciples to simply take them because the master needs them. Second, the donkey is extremely important as whenever a king would enter a city he would either ride upon a large horse, declaring his victory, and taking charge or authority over the city, or he would ride upon a donkey, declaring he was coming in peace. Because so many thought and hoped that Jesus was going to overthrow the Roman authority in the city and set up the kingdom of God, he still rode in on a donkey showing he was not the conquering king, although that is exactly who he was. Jesus was and in the conquering King for he conquered death there in Jerusalem. But he also established peace between God and man, as we are no longer enemies of God, but enjoy the peace of God in our lives because we are in Christ, and He is in us. So, the donkey is the right choice to demonstrate that Jesus comes in and with peace or to establish peace. It is also true that we should react to the coming of our Lord into our lives with singing and shouting, and we will soon see. But in the meantime, Jesus is coming with peace.