This past week was the final week before the season of Advent begins, and this past Sunday was the Feast of Christ the King, which several denominations recognize and honor. In keeping with that day of recognition, the Gospel reading from the Lectionary for this past Sunday highlights an event in the life of Jesus, where for a brief moment He was recognized as King. Let’s take a quick look.
Jesus had been slowly making His way towards Jerusalem, where He knew He would be betrayed, arrested, and then crucified. It was now just a few days before one of the most important and sacred of Jewish holidays, the Passover, and many people were gathering in the city to celebrate. Jesus planned a special entry into the capital city, and He instructed His disciples what to do (vs. 29-34).
The disciples were instructed to go into a village nearby, where they would find a donkey, which they were to untie and bring to Him. They did so, and when the owners asked what they were doing, they told them that Jesus needed them (vs. 33-34). The owners immediately consented and allowed the disciples to take them. What a privilege it was for them to supply the animals used by the Lord at this time! (Matthew’s Gospel records that there was a female donkey and a young colt, Matthew 21:1-3). Is there some belonging of yours that the Lord might wish to use for His ministry? Perhaps your car to bring people to church. Maybe use of your home for a group Bible study. Or maybe your time to help in any number of activities. When told that it was Jesus who needed the use of their donkey, these folks immediately said yes.
The donkey was chosen by God, and his role was announced many years in advance, as prophesied by Zechariah (Zechariah 9:9). She had a good work to do for her Creator, and so do we in God’s plans (Ephesians 2:10). The donkey didn’t put up a fuss when Jesus decided to use her, and neither should we when He wishes to use us for His purposes. The donkey also had to be untied in order to be used. She had to be figuratively set free. We need to be set free from the bondages of our sins to be used by God, as well (John 8:32).
As just mentioned in the previous paragraph, centuries earlier the prophet Zechariah prophesied that the Messiah would come to Jerusalem as a humble king, riding on a young donkey. Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah, and is the Son of God, the second Person of the Trinity. He is God and Creator of all, and is certainly King. Briefly, at this moment, the people were acknowledging Him as such, as He rode into Jerusalem. The crowds that gathered were basically saying “Long live the King”. This was just prior to the Passover, and large crowds were in Jerusalem then. The crowds could see Jesus, and here He had a way to proclaim His mission that was unmistakable. The people were wildly cheering, expecting that Jesus would proclaim Himself king, and liberate them from Roman rule. However they were deaf to the words of the prophets, and blind to Jesus’ true mission. This first time Jesus came to earth, He came to die for us, redeeming mankind from their sins. The second time Jesus comes, it will be as the conquering king.
The people were shouting out praises, including shouts of peace (vs. 38). Jesus was to suffer and die in a few days, and by His death He would bring peace between God and mankind, between heaven and earth. Jesus completely defeated Satan, making it possible for all things to be reconciled in heaven and earth.
In the middle of all of the rejoicing, the Pharisees tried to stop the celebration (vs. 39). They did not like Jesus, and rejected His message. They tried to stop the people from calling out Hosanna and praising Him. Jesus told them that if the people were quiet, the stones would cry out (vs. 40). Natural stones would cry out, but not stony hearts, like the Pharisees had. They would not join the praise. All that the Pharisees' stony hearts would do is try to stop the praise. Do we have a stony heart, unwilling to praise God? Their stony hearts would quickly grow so hard that they would end up crucifying their Savior and God in just a few days. We need to make sure our hearts never become that hard to God. Instead, let’s sing our praises to Jesus as the crowds did that day, and willing give ourselves to His use, as that gentle donkey did.
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