One of my favorite pieces of writing from C.S. Lewis is from the book, “The Silver Chair.” If you now anything about the Narnia series of books, they have an allegorical aspect to them that brings out a lot of biblical ideas and themes. One of these is that Aslan, the Great Lion of Narnia, is a representation of Jesus. If you didn’t figure that out from the first two books, it’s in the third that it subtle pushes you to wake up to the fact. But it’s in the fourth book that I think one of Aslan’s greatest conversations happen.
As is the case in all the majority of the books, children from our world are brought into Narnia. Eustace from the third book is brought, and one of his classmates as well, a girl named Jill. This is the first time Jill has seen Narnia, so she is very nervous, and then the only person she knows, Eustace, literally is flown off a mountain. So she stands alone on a mountain top and now she is thirsty. It’s at this point that she meets a lion by the stream.
“Are you not thirsty?” said the Lion.
“I am dying of thirst,” said Jill.
“Then drink,” said the Lion.
“May I — could I — would you mind going away while I do?” said Jill.
The Lion answered this only by a look and a very low growl. And as Jill gazed at its motionless bulk, she realized that she might as well have asked the whole mountain to move aside for her convenience.
The delicious rippling noise of the stream was driving her nearly frantic.
“Will you promise not to — do anything to me, if I do come?” said Jill.
“I make no promise,” said the Lion.
Jill was so thirsty now that, without noticing it, she had come a step nearer.
“Do you eat girls?” she said.
“I have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings and emperors, cities and realms,” said the Lion. It didn’t say this as if it were boasting, nor as if it were sorry, nor as if it were angry. It just said it.
“I daren’t come and drink,” said Jill.
“Then you will die of thirst,” said the Lion.
“Oh dear!” said Jill, coming another step nearer. “I suppose I must go and look for another stream then.”
“There is no other stream,” said the Lion.
This conversation shows the power and unnerving feeling his sends into someone. We as the reader might know that his is Aslan, whom we’ve read about before, but Jill doesn’t. This is merely a giant talking lion that might or might not eat her. Yet when Jill finally goes to drink, the lion doesn’t eat her, but rather gives her a quest to fulfill. This is one of my favorite parts of the Narnia series, because it captures an understanding of who Jesus is. He is a King that is greater than any. He is fearsome and makes no room for others to change him, like Jill wanting the Lion to walk away so she could drink.
Lewis captures an aspect of Jesus that we tend to miss. That Jesus is King, and we cannot hope to push him aside for our own purposes. And so for the next three weeks we are going to explore Jesus as King.
Today is Palm Sunday. We refer to it as Palm Sunday because in Jesus’ final entry into Jerusalem, this side of the cross, the people laid palm leaves down in front of him. But this entry into Jerusalem carries with it ancient weight. Weight that reverberates through the cross, and the resurrection. In the next three weeks we’re going to explore this weight that reverberates, by looking at the past, the present, and the future within the biblical story of Jesus’ triumphal entry, his resurrection, and his coming again.
We start this exploration through Matthew chapter 21, starting in verse 1. Let’s read together.
“As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, 'Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.’
“4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: 5 ‘Say to Daughter Zion, “See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”’
“6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. 8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.
“9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David!’ ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ‘Hosanna in the highest heaven!’ 10 When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, ‘Who is this?’ 11 The crowds answered, ‘This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.’”
This story, like most of Jesus’ last week on this side of the cross, is told throughout all four Gospels. Each of the Gospels relays basically the same events in the same order. Jesus is headed towards Jerusalem. He tells his disciples to go get him a young donkey, on which no one has ridden. Their cloaks make his saddle, and people place before Jesus cloaks and palm leaves as he enters Jerusalem. This is done to the excited outbursts of the people, welcoming Jesus, who they believe will over through the Roman government and establish Israel as it was in the days of King David. This story is consistent through all of the Gospels writers. But there are a few details that each emphasize, and others either leave out or pick up on.
One of these details comes in the Matthew passage we just read. In the other three Gospel accounts of this moment, we’re told that Jesus road on a colt, which is simply a young donkey. The purpose of this is to have Jesus fulfill the prophecy of Zechariah that the Messiah, the king of Jerusalem that was to come, would ride into Jerusalem on a young donkey. There’s a lot of imagery here of humbleness that is attached to such an entrance. Yet, Matthew picks up on something the others don’t. Jesus doesn’t just ride in on a donkey’s colt, that colt is accompanied by an older donkey, it’s mother. The main explanation that is given for this, is the fact that colts, especially those who had never been ridden, were not used to having someone on them, and so what people would do is have an experienced donkey, usually the mother of the colt, lead the younger donkey with the rider. This was to calm the colt, and to keep it from throwing the rider.
But there’s more going on. First, it’s Jesus who calls for both the donkey and colt, and second, Matthew references it. For Matthew this is important, because he is writing to a Jewish audience. An audience that picks up on subtle details like this. Mark, Luke, and John don’t pick up on this detail because it isn’t important for the overall fulfillment of prophecy. Plus, the audience they were writing to wouldn’t notice that there was an extra donkey, but Matthew and his audience would.
And it’s this little detail that connects Jesus, not just to a king coming into a city, but an Eternal King, coming to fulfill his own words.
In the Greek translation of the Old Testament known as the Septuagint, which Matthew draws his translations from, Habakuk 3:2 states, “O Lord, I have heard thy report, and was afraid: I considered thy works, and was amazed: thou shalt be known between the two living creatures, thou shalt be acknowledged when the years draw nigh; thou shalt be manifested when the time is come; when my soul is troubled, thou wilt in wrath remember mercy (https://www.biblestudytools.com/lxx/ambacum/3.html).”
Did you notice that God is known or experienced with the imagery of two creatures?
In addition to this, God in the Old Testament is seen many times as having his throne upon two creatures. 2 Samuel 6:2 reads, “2 He and all his men went to Baalah in Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name, the name of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim on the ark.”
Psalm 18:10 reads, “He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind.”
Isaiah 37:16, has Hezekiah pray, “Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.”
But noticing the two donkey’s, Matthew is recognizing Jesus as the king, not just fulfilling the blatant prophecy of riding into Jerusalem on a young donkey, but how Jesus’ words of having two animals be what brings him into the city, reveals just who Jesus is. Jesus’ isn’t just a guy who is intentionally fulfilling prophecy where he can, no he is claiming divinity in every action he takes.
For us reading through the story, we just see a couple of animals. But Matthew, who is steeped in the allusions of the Scriptures, understands Jesus’ words of divinity. How Jesus isn’t just being practical, but intentional about connecting back to how God is described throughout Jewish history.
This isn’t just another Messiah coming to overthrow earthly governments. No, this is God come down. This is the Creator of the Universe descending upon his creation. This is the enthroned, all-powerful Ancient of Days, Yahweh riding into the city in which he anointed kings and brought up and down nations. And he is riding, not on the backs of fantastical beings like cherubim, but on a lowly donkey. A symbol throughout Ancient Near East that spoke of humility.
Jesus is coming in with fanfare that is deserving of his kingly position, but with the sole purpose of dying for humanity.
Scholar Bernard Batto writes, “Matthew is painting a picture of Jesus sitting on a throne carried by two humble animals which displays his humility and divinity.”
This makes perfect sense in Matthew, because every step of the way through Matthew’s Gospel, the writer draws our attention to this dual work of Jesus. From the opening chapter to the final one, Matthew shows us detail after detail of Jesus’ godhood and his humility. Jesus is the God who comes down, and he is the God who walks the path that leads to the cross.
The triumphal entry isn’t triumphal because Jesus comes to the city of Jerusalem to overthrow the Roman government and establish Israel’s monarchy. If that was why it was triumphal, then it was a failure. No, it was triumphal, because the God who brought the nation of Israel into being, was on his way to deal with the most important need of humanity, which is sin.
The Bible tells us that through the one man Adam, all humanity entered into the bondage of sin. Sin is the rebellion of a person against the created order of God. It is taking life, we are not justified in taking it, that’s murder. Its worshiping self or made up gods, instead of the God who made us, that’s idolatry. It’s disrespecting our parents and those in authority. It’s desiring what is not ours, that’s coveting. And the list goes on and on. It’s looking at God and saying, “You’re not God, I am."
And we’re in bondage to this sin, and it will carry us to a place where we will live in eternity of our own godhood, a place where no love, no joy, no compassion lives. This is called the Lake of Fire. Yet God cares for his creation, so much so, that he comes to us. Entering into Jerusalem on a donkey, showing his divinity and humility together. He makes his way to the cross to be crucified, and in doing so paying for our sin and breaking the bondage of it. All we need to do is accept Jesus’ work on our behalf. The one man Adam brought sin into the world, and it is the God-man Jesus who breaks the power of sin in our lives.
Jesus calls us to repent of sin. That means we recognize that we do sin, that we cannot fix it ourselves, and we need him. Then we accept his free gift of salvation, the wiping away sin and its power in our lives. Our lives are now his life, and we follow him by doing as he commands. Not because it saves, us, but because that’s what we were created to do. To walk in his life and so gaining our own.
Jesus is the King, not just because he rode in to Jerusalem to fulfill a prophecy, but because he is the King and Creator of the universe. There is no one more powerful and no one more humble. He is the one, as C.S. Lewis puts it, “[that has] swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings and emperors, cities and realms…”
So let us bow before and rejoice in front of Jesus, the King from ancient past, who comes to break the bondage of humanity.
My challenge this week is to read the four Triumphal Entry accounts. Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-11, Luke 19:28-44, John 12:12-19. Read through them, asking God, to show you his divine power in his humility as he goes to the cross. That we may better follow him in that humility as we experiencing his divine work in our lives.
Let us be a people who are called to experience Jesus’ divine goodness and humbleness and who are to follow as our King leads. Amen.
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