St. John 12:12–19
In the name of the Father and of the + Son
and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
When the crowd saw Jesus riding a donkey and
greeted Him as King, they didn’t actually know how right they were. Or they
didn’t know why they were right. They had their reasons for acclaiming Jesus as
King, but I doubt they were the right reasons. We probably find Jesus’ choice
of mount a strange one for a king – a donkey hardly commands awe and respect. But
Jesus was not the first King of Israel to ride a beast of burden. Take that fact
along with the title the crowd gives Jesus: the Son of David, and it is quite
natural to assume that the crowd was actually reminded of another King and Son
of David: Solomon.
In First Kings, chapter 1, we
hear of Solomon’s anointing as king after his father David. Zadok the priest
and Nathan the prophet… went down and had
Solomon ride on King David's mule and brought him to Gihon. There Zadok the
priest took the horn of oil from the tent and anointed Solomon. Then they blew
the trumpet, and all the people said, “Long live King Solomon!” And all the people went up after him, playing on pipes, and
rejoicing with great joy, so that the earth was split by their noise (1 Kings
1:38–40). I don’t think it was a mere
accident that David and his sons rode mules. I don’t think it can simply be
dismissed as a peculiarity of the Israelite people. For the king of Israel to
ride a lowly animal while other kings ride magnificent steeds or are carried on
the backs of slaves, it seems to send a message, and so it should. There was
only ever one true king over Israel and that was the Lord Himself. Originally,
Israel didn’t have an earthly king. The King of Heaven sent judges to lead and
protect His people. But soon they wanted to be like the other nations
surrounding them. They hungered for power and respect, for the glory that comes
with earthly might. And God let them have their way for a time. But perhaps the
sight of David or Solomon riding a mule was just the thing to remind the people
who their true King was.
So
when the crowd saw Jesus riding a donkey, they knew what they were doing by
calling Him the Son of David, the King of Israel. He was a Son of
David like Solomon, riding a beast of burden like Solomon, and yet Jesus is
greater than Solomon. He is not merely anointed with oil but with
the Holy Spirit. He’s not just one more chosen, anointed king
in a long list of chosen, anointed kings, but He is the one true, chosen,
anointed one – the one true final Messiah and King who would reign on His
throne forever. The Palm Sunday crowd got it more right than they knew. This King of
Israel, this Son of David, is also the Blessed One, the One who comes in the
name of the Lord. That means He is the only one true king over
Israel, the Lord Himself.
Now His disciples did not understand these
things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these
things had been written about him and had been done to him. It’s impossible to say what was going on in the minds of all
the people in that crowd. Perhaps there were some believers who really
knew who the Messiah was, what He had come for, and what kind of King He would
be. But
if the disciples were confused, most of the others were probably confused too.
They
were still looking for a new earthly king, a conquering hero, the kind of
leader that can get things done and make Israel great again. But after Jesus’
death and resurrection, after they saw and heard and learned the whole story
from their crucified and risen King, then the disciples remembered and
understood. And then they went back to the Scriptures and saw how
everything that Jesus did had been promised. And they saw that
the promise of the Messiah was not a promise for a popular, mighty earthly king
who brings success, wealth, and earthly security. The promise of the
Messiah, written in Holy Scripture and fulfilled by Jesus, is for a meek and
humble King, a servant who brings forgiveness and heavenly peace.
So the
Gospel writers didn’t quote First Kings and make Jesus just another Solomon.
He is
a different Solomon, the greater Solomon. Instead they
quoted the Prophet Zechariah: Rejoice
greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout
aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your
king is coming to you; righteous and having
salvation is he, humble and mounted on a
donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. This Scripture says why He is King and what He does as King.
This
King is humble, what some might call a loser. He emptied himself, by taking the form of a
servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by
becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. He didn’t stand up for Himself or fight for His rights. But He suffered
because that is how He fought for us and for the world. He took the shame
here so that He could honor us in heaven. This King is righteous
and having salvation. That means He has righteousness and salvation
to give away. He gives His righteousness to sinners in order to save them.
He
forgives them, paying their debts, covering them with His precious blood.
When
the angry crowd on Friday shouted, “His blood
be on us and on our children!” they meant that they would take the blame
for His death. Ironically, their statement is true but in reverse for
believers. We cry out, “His blood be
on us and on our children to cleanse and forgive!” His blood does
just that. It was poured out for the sins of the world and it is poured
into our mouths for the forgiveness of our sins. What a strange
King we have. What a humble, loving, and generous King. Instead of
ordering His subjects to lay down their lives for Him, He laid down His
life in order to turn His enemies into friends and to make His subjects His
brothers and sisters.
This
kind of King isn’t going to win any popular elections or be named most handsome
man of the year. He isn’t going to get the kind of results
that you can see with your eyes or measure in your bank account. If all you really
want is a happy life with no conflict, then He’s probably not the King for you.
After
all, during His life in this sinful world He was a man of sorrows and conflict
followed Him everywhere He went. He really doesn’t look like a very good
king. When
Pilate asked Him, “Are you the King of
the Jews?” Jesus gave less than satisfactory answers – certainly not the
kind of answers you would hope to hear from your leader. In Matthew’s
Gospel He said, “You have said so.”
This
“King of the Jews” claim wasn’t His idea, at least not in the way that most
people meant it. In John’s Gospel Jesus gives a longer
explanation: “My kingdom is not of this world. If my
kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might
not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus
answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I
was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the
truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” He is not a king of money, power, or fame. He is the King of
Love by sacrificing Himself for us. He is the King of Truth by the Word that He
speaks. He
is the King of Peace by declaring our sins forgiven.
Jesus’
kingdom is not of this world. So also Israel’s hope was not supposed to be
in earthly glory like the other nations. They were called
to hope in the Lord and trust in Him alone. Our hope is not
for this life either. However pleasant or miserable your life is
here, the kingdom to come is where we put our hope. We are called to hope
in the Truth that our Lord speaks and to trust His Word even in the darkest
moments. That’s
what it means to live by faith and not be sight. We are pilgrims,
sojourners in this world, looking forward to the kingdom where we hold
citizenship and have a place in the King’s own palace. In this world, the
church is a foreign embassy. When we gather as the Body of Christ in His
name, we are standing on the sovereign soil of heaven. And when we hear
His Word read, preached, and declared, we are ushered into the presence of the
King to receive His blessing. He bids us come to His royal Table and
graciously serves us Himself: “This is My body and this is My blood. Take,
eat, and drink.” And so at each banquet we still sing the Palm
Sunday song to our King: Blessed is He
that cometh in the name of the Lord. Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest.
In the Holy + Name
of Jesus. Amen.
