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
Finally, this King is also poor and gentle, through which a great treasure of
this kingdom is also held out to us. With worldly kings, things transpire this
way: in their poverty, they can help their subjects very little; but this
heavenly King has won for us the heavenly, eternal blessings and benefits with
His poverty; for even though He was rich, yet He became poor, so that He could
make us rich (2 Cor. 8:9). That’s why we obviously have reason to rejoice in
the fact that He willingly gave Himself over into such poverty for our sake.
The evangelist recorded the word gentle, for the Hebrew word used by the
prophet indicates the kind of poor person whose heart is lowly and lamenting, a
heart in which one sees sheer gentleness and compassion.
Christ then made proclamation about this in this story through His deed, for He
sends Himself to the mount of Olives for His entry, to show that He is a meek
and mild King, for in the Holy Scriptures [olive] oil signifies meekness and
mildness. Also, He does not use any pompous prancing steed for His entry;
rather, a donkey, which is a patient, burden-bearing animal. Yes, He also weeps
with heartfeltness over the city of Jerusalem, as He descends from the mount of
Olives in Luke 19:41, so that one indeed can see His sympathetic heart.
This is also a treasure in the kingdom of this King: that in Him we have a
gentle, meek and mild King, Isa. 42:23: He will not scream nor cry out, and no
one will hear His voice in the streets; the bruised reed He will not break and
the glimmering wick He will not extinguish, etc. Even though we ambitiously
apply ourselves from the heart to serve this King in His kingdom, yet sometimes
much decrepitude [frailty] runs along side; there is then the comfort that we
have such a King whose mercy bears with our weakness (Heb. 4:15) and does not
quickly shove us away—instead, He daily improves us.
(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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