Your king comes in love
“See, your king comes to you.” (Zechariah 9:9c)
Very likely the first thing you think of when you picture a king is a man with a glittering, jeweled crown on his head, dressed in majestic clothes and surrounded by all sorts of servants and other people waiting on his every beck and call.
If we are going to understand what it means that Jesus is our king, we need to wipe out any perception of pomp or royalty. If you read the words after our verse for this week, one of the words which is used to describe Jesus as our king is “lowly.” That is borne out by the fact that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a lowly donkey, not on a big powerful horse or in a gold plated carriage.
We can best understand Jesus as our king when we realize what he was coming for and where he was headed. Jesus was not heading back to his palatial palace to relax. Jesus was coming to Jerusalem for the purpose of securing our salvation by paying for our sins with his death on a cross.
When was last time you heard about a king who volunteered to die to save his subjects? We usually think of kings as sending out their armies to die to serve and protect the king and his kingdom. Jesus, our king, showed the full depth of his humility and love by volunteering to die a criminal’s death to pay for all the wrongs we his subjects have committed. Maybe you have heard someone talk about Jesus’ “innocent suffering and death.” That is a key part of the humility and love of Jesus as our king. He didn’t have to do anything that he did, he wanted to out of his Savior-led love for us.
Of first importance this Holy Week is that we understand and appreciate what Jesus as our king did with his humble service. We have to know with the utmost confidence that our sins are forgiven and that we have a place in heaven with our name written on it.
We also need to look at the humble service of Jesus our king and ask ourselves “How am I imitating the humble service of Jesus my Savior in my life?” Philippians 2:5 reminds us “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.” In contrast to the ideas of the world around us which often encourages being loud, boisterous and proud, Jesus teaches, demonstrates and encourages loving humility as the surest sign of real strength.
May God bless you this Holy Week as you again review and ponder what Jesus, your humble, loving king did for you and then be led by him to imitate that humble, loving service.