From Mom's Collection -
Behold Your King Cometh...
Matthew 21:5-11 Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass. And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon. And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way. And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest. And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.
Characteristic of many of the mighty rulers of history have been their pride and arrogance, their ostentatious display of power and riches. As a consequence they were generally more feared than loved by the rank and file of their subjects.
In sharp contrast to such sovereigns of the world stands the Ruler of them all, the King of kings and Lord of lords. Palm Sunday [as it is called] was the day He chose to permit the people to hail Him and proclaim Him the Son of David, their King. But with His entry into Jerusalem, there was no pomp and circumstance; only the acclaim of the people and the children, who in their enthusiasm spread their garments [and tree branches] before Him.
Riding the humblest of animals, He moved on in majestic humility, accepting the homage and praise of the festival throng. All through the following week this blending of majesty and humility was constantly in evidence. Consistently He mingled with the common people. At night He retired to a modest home in Bethany. But with majestic indignation and righteous vehemence, He cleansed the temple of those who were making it a den of thieves.
In Gethsemane He accepted His Father's will as an obedient child. But moments later, when He confronted those who had come to arrest Him, a flash of His majesty, revealed in His calm words and perhaps His authoritative voice and general bearing, caused them all to fall back in confusion.
Appearing a bound prisoner before both the high priest and the Roman Governor, He maintained a majestic calm and silence more eloquent than words. When He spoke, He confounded His judges and the court. When the day on which He died was drawing to a close, the Centurion, presiding at the crucifixion, declared, "Truly this was the Son of God."
- Original author unknown.
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This item from my mom's collection does not tell who wrote it. Like many other items it was cut from some publication many years ago.
I thought that the contrast between the majesty and the humility of Jesus was very interesting to consider. It is true that most rulers and powerful men expect to be acknowledged for who they are, or believe themselves to be. Jesus Christ knew He was God in the flesh and yet He did not demand the honor and worship that was rightfully His from any of those who refused to give it to Him. There were little glimpses of His power - enough to convince the Roman Centurion - and yet how very small they were when we consider the immensity of His available power.
Also, there were undoubtedly those of His followers and perhaps those who exalted Him when He rode into Jerusalem that day, who believed that He was going to restore Israel at that time (Acts 1:6) or that He was the forerunner of one that would. They literally believed that Jesus was going to make Israel great again. They believed that the kingdom was going to be brought back and that Rome would be defeated and driven from the land. But, that wasn't God's plan at all. It wasn't what Jesus came to do.
Of all the people who ever had the power to take a kingdom by force (Matthew
11:12), Jesus Christ had that power. Yet He did not use it. He is
the Messiah of Israel and He will someday restore them to their kingdom,
but He came then to be the Savior of the world, and as such He could not
be sidetracked by lesser goals or unworthy methods.He laid aside the majesty that He rightly deserved and chose not to show the immensity of His power, but rather He walked in humility and submitted, even unto the death of the cross, so that He could save us. It is impossible to appreciate that fact with our human minds as they are now.
Greatness was not His objective then - not for Himself, and not for Israel. Death was His objective, and it must be found through a path that required humility. Philippians 2:7-8 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
The power of His resurrection must and is always found through humility - through the fellowship of His sufferings and being conformed to His death. Philippians 3:10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
Would to God that more people would catch a vision of making Jesus Christ great again in their own personal lives, in their families, and in their churches. This is the only way that any nation can ever be great. If the King of kings and Lord of lords would lay aside His majesty and greatness to save us we certainly ought to be able to lay aside mere human greatness and follow His steps in humility. In fact, there is no other path to true greatness.
Is Jesus Christ your Lord and King? If so, are you following His example of humility? Are you dying to self that you might do His will? Do you count all things as loss and dung that you might win Him? Philippians 3:8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
Back in Philippians 2 if we continue reading there we find this: vs. 9-11 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Because Jesus Christ, the Son of God, made Himself of no reputation, became a servant, submitted to the limitations of a human body, humbled Himself, and obeyed all the way to death -- because of all that -- God has highly exalted Him and will cause every knee to bow to Him and every tongue to confess to Him.
Are we willing to follow Him all the way, to the extent of His purposeful humility and death, in order to be sons of God and heirs of God through Him? Galatians 4:7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
This is the example we have the great King!
1 Peter 2:21-25 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.
Graphics and photos by Mary Stephens.
Posted April 2019. CA.