Matthew 21. 5 “Say
to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey,
and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’” – St. Matthew
How low can you
go – a king (small ‘k’) gentle, and riding on a donkey!? What kind of king is
this? And yet, the crowds cried out: Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the
Name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest! It was short-lived, but it was
effective. Somebody knew something.
At that time, Israel already had a king – actually, she
had several. There was Herod, the Idumean (Edomite); there was Caesar, the emperor;
there was Caiaphas, the High Priest; and there was Pontius Pilate, the procurator.
Israel had many ‘kings’. She even had a God, but her problem was she didn’t
have a Lord. To them, God was apparently busy out there somewhere doing
whatever it is He does, and the rest, well, you know men and their power trips…
And here comes this Galilean
claiming to be a King as well. His credentials are a bit sketchy and He doesn’t
seem to come from the right side of the tracks. No king in Israel ever comes
from Galilee!
The Kingdom of God is not what we think. The Kingdom of
God is where a King comes, whose arrival was announced from antiquity. He doesn’t
show up in the way kings are supposed to show up: He takes His time. He shows
up out of obscurity and poverty. He shows up with only this on His resume’: His
ancestor was king David. But He keeps
talking about a Kingdom like it’s His deal.
Yes, kings are supposed to be through succession, but the
current king is, take your pick: either an ancient enemy, or a pagan despot. The
Priests won’t recognize Him, and He
keeps doing things unbecoming a King: He
seeks the lowest places to hang out in, and the lowest people to hang out with.
And He keeps talking about His Kingdom: The Kingdom of God. Talk about playing
the God-card. What kind of a King is this?
Well, God never plays by our rules. God patiently works within our rules, but He plays by His
own, within ours. And God’s King comes preaching a gospel that only the discerning
will understand: the greatest is the least, and the last will be first. Loving enemies
and rejoicing in persecutions. The more we preach the Truth, the more we will
be hated by those who are threatened by it, and deny its reality.
What kind of a kingdom is that?
God never intended for man to sin, but He was infinitely prepared
for it when it happened. God didn’t freak out and go into ‘damage control’, He
already had His plan in place and when the fullness of time came, He sent his Son, born of a woman, born under
the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to
sonship (Galatians 4.4-5). God knew, God cared, God prepared. That’s what
kind of God He is.
What if sin had never happened? Well, life would
certainly be great, but faith would never have been tested. Does that mean sin
had to come in order for God’s plan to work? No, but sin did come, and God
built His Kingdom as a means for the sinners to repent and to dwell with Him
for all time and eternity.
A gentle King, riding
on a donkey, a daughter’s promise – God, You are so good! Amen!
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