35 They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. 36 As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road.
“When a king comes, something great and magnificent is expected. But there is nothing of that here; ‘See, he comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey.’ When Christ would appear in his glory, it is in his gentleness, not in his majesty. His temper is very mild. He is meek to suffer the greatest injuries and indignities for Zion’s cause. He is easy of access, easy to be entreated. His government is mild and gentle, and his laws not written in the blood of his subjects, but in his own. His yoke is easy. As an evidence of this, his appearance is very humble, sitting on a donkey, a creature made not for show, but service, not for battles, but for burdens; slow in its motions, but sure, and safe and constant. Zion’s king comes riding, not on a prancing horse, which the timorous petitioner dares not come near, or a running horse, which the slow-footed petitioner cannot keep pace with, but on a quiet donkey, that the poorest of his subjects may not be discouraged in their access to him.” Matthew Henry
Placing their cloaks on the colt for Jesus to ride upon and spreading their clothing on the road before Him as He went along, this great crowd of people sought to honor their Lord to the best of their capacity. Clothing would have been a very valuable possession to these subjects seeking to honor Christ as their King – going out of their way to prove their devotion to Him. Behind their deed of obedience was the reality of Jesus - our God -our Savior - which spoke volumes to those attending and which continues to speak to us now. As our King of Kings and Lord of Lords, we too must lay all at His feet. I am reminded of Jesus’ words to us:
23 Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. 25 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? Luke 9:23-25 (NIV)
Interestingly, it is only in the denial of self and the living for Christ that one discovers the abundance that Jesus offers His followers in the here and now:
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10 (NIV)
Denial of self, of course, wars against our flesh. It simply does not make sense that to live you must die, that to get you must give, that we are to love our enemies and pray for our persecutors – turning the other cheek, walking the extra mile. Yet our obedience to this call demonstrates our faith in and devotion to our Lord.
“We may be certain that whatever God has made prominent in His Word, He intended to be conspicuous in our lives.” Charles Spurgeon
If we could ever seal it in our thoughts that every soul, apart from Christ, including ourselves of course, is poor, pitiful, blind and naked and in desperate need of mercy and grace - mercy and grace would certainly flow more freely from among us! Not one of us is above falling. This is why the body of Christ (the Church) so desperately needs each other for encouragement, exhortation, accountability and prayer. God never intended for us to live as islands. Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, in whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwelt in bodily form, being our Supreme example –condescended to come down from heaven to us gentle, mild, humble, easy to be entreated, easy to access, loving, selfless and constant. How much more so should we, His servants and disciples, through the power of His Spirit, display His splendor to those He places in our sphere?
They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor. Isaiah 61:3 (NIV)
“Jesus is the One who shows us the paradoxical route to meaning in a chaotic and hostile world. It’s the paradox of the gospel: Strength is found in weakness. Control is found in dependency. Power is found in surrender...God uses the frustrations of this life and the hurt of relationships to compel us to look beyond what we can control to the God who controls all things in order to woo us to himself. As we move from control to surrender, we move from chasing the wind under the sun to embracing God above it.” Dan Allender, Breaking the Idols of You