Scripture: St. Matthew 21:1-9 (NKJV)
1 Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of
Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, "Go into the village
opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her.
Loose them and bring them to Me. 3 And if anyone says anything to you, you
shall say, 'The Lord has need of them,' and immediately he will send them." 4
All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet,
saying: 5 "Tell the daughter of Zion, 'Behold, your King is coming to you,
lowly, and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.'" 6 So the
disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them. 7 They brought the donkey and
the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them. 8 And a very great
multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the
trees and spread them on the road. 9 Then the multitudes who went before and
those who followed cried out, saying: "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is
He who comes in the name of the LORD! Hosanna in the highest!"
Devotion
2. Since Christ's kingdom is an inner, spiritual kingdom, it follows from this
that it is not an earthly, worldly kingdom; that we also do not in this kingdom
primarily hope for temporal goods and welfare from this King.…Christ uses a
donkey and her colt for His entry in order to portray that His kingdom is not
of this world (John 18:36); to show that He did not come to establish an
earthly kingdom; rather, that He is being installed as the King over mount
Zion, that is, the Christian Church (Psa. 2:6). To this also pertains that the
Lord Christ in this His entrance did not wish to ride in through the castle
door (the shortest route from the mount of Olives to the city); instead, He
diligently endeavored to detour so that He would come through the temple gate,
to indicate thereby that He is not coming to conquer the citadel of Zion and to
establish the kind of outward, worldly kingdom like David and Solomon led;
rather, for Him it had to do with the Temple (that is, with His Church and all
the members of it), so that He might establish in their hearts His spiritual
kingdom and distribute heavenly blessings [to them].
This fails to serve the purpose of the Jews, who at that time hoped for the
kind of Messiah and King who would distribute temporal welfare and earthly
goods to them, deliver them from the power of Rome and make them into a great
nation. It also fails to serve the purpose of us, when such Jewish thoughts
also arise in our hearts; for when we in sickness, deprivation, temptation, and
similar crosses cry to our Lord and King for help, and He does not help us
immediately but instead sometimes actually lets us be stuck under the burden of
the affliction until we die, we begin to doubt whether we still are true
members of the grace-kingdom of Christ.…Against this we should note that the
Lord Christ not only demonstrates in John 18:36 with words that His Kingdom is
not of this world, but, He also demonstrates with action and deed by this His
royal entry in which He utilizes no outward pomp, nor disburses any gold or
silver, initiates no worldly kingdom; rather, He demonstrates by every action
and undertaking that He is no worldly king nor leads a worldly kingdom.
(From the Postilla (1613) of Johann Gerhard, Sermon for Advent 1)
The Lutheran Herald is a publication of the Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of
North America. These daily devotions are authored by the bishop, pastors, and
deacons of the diocese. Daily posts are provided by The Reverend Jeffrey A.
Ahonen.
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