THE K I N G ’S BUS I NES S
68
Some day Israel will be sitting in the midst of fiery trials, fearful scenes; Je hovah Jesus will again appear: and Israel like Abraham of old, will rise up and say,' “Blessed is He th a t cometh in the name of the Lord.“ . v. 2.: Find an ass tied. The ass was the beast of burden of the Jews and Was the scorn of the Romans. He comes in ‘ meekness and condescension. His manner of en- COMMENTS FROM tering should for- MANY SOURCES e v e r .! ' emphasize Keith L. Brooks His own teaching, .. ‘‘Blessed are the meek.” So through this age Hé employs humble, disdained, despised means.—U. Thomas. When Jesus présents Himself as the King to reign, He will not come upon a colt but upon a war, horse (Rev. 19). There will be no room for doubt of the fact of His kingship of judgeship. He will not stop to ask endorsement.— Brooks. v. 3. , If any man say. The account leads to the inférence th a t thé owner of the ass was an adherent of Jesus who had perhaps not yet declared himself. The number of such secret disciples was probably large..—Camb. Bible. . v. 5. Thy king cometh,. Jesus, thé King Saviour, was officially offered to Israel first. He was acclaimed by an un thinking multitude, but was soon re jected by official representatives of the nation. Nevertheless His rejection by His own turned td the riches of the Gen tiles;—Sum. Bible. This was the first occasion on which our Lord distinctly put forth His claim to royalty.—Gibson. When if pleases Christ to come and take His kingdom, He will avow Himself King in the midst of .His enemies. He, will show, Himself so evidently as He may be taken notice of by His enemies. —Dickson. That He was and is their King there is no question, but we must bear in mind the Lord’s words to His disciples th a t the time of restoring the Davidic kingdom to*1 Israel Was a ’thing not for .them to know, seeing that the Father, had placed it in His own hands (Acts 1:7). That word alone over throws 1 the idea th a t the earthly king dom1Was due at Christ’sfirstcom ing :— Mauro; Long before this it had pleased God to show something of this—even thé gpod. news of being “visitée!” by her King,1Something also of the Singularly
unassuming character of that visit and the lowliness of equipage ;by which that visit of royalty would be marked. Just so exactly had the Lord Jesus always meant to enter Jerusalem a t this time.— Horn. Com. As the Saviour began so He went on, advancing so far, but not at this time any farther, asserting His kingly rights but not yet acting upon thein. The time fo'r th a t was not yet. What He claimed then is what He wields now—the kingdom only of grace. He asks our, submission but does not éh- force it. He claims our obedience but does hot compél it.—Booth. 'Meek, sit ting upon an ass. He was born King, yet the wise men in Matthew 2 did not find their King, in. circumstances of power and. display. Neither does He ap pear now in purple notwithstanding the explicitness of all th a t He does,-^-Lewis, If lie had entered the city in regal pomp and splendor, it would have con- Véyed an entirély false idea of the king dom that was th en .a t hand, His,man ner of coming strikingly suggested the kingdom of lowliness. He had just taught His disciples that lie had come to give His life a ransom, not to be ministered unto. Thus He shows in the most impressive way1that the kingdom He Was about to establish was not of this world. There was no rivalry with Caesar, yet He was more of a king than any Caesar.—Gibson. V. 9. Cried, Hosanna. Means “Save now.” (Ps. 118:25.) Thus one day His church and probably the literal Israel of the future, will hail Him with tra n s ports of joy . (See Zqcn, 2:10.) .-¡-Meyer. Blessed is He. Jesus Himself did hot join in their joy. He wept whilé 'others shouted. (Lk. 19:41-41.)-—Torrey. Multitudes went before. The entry into Jerusalem must not be regarded as an isolated fact. It was a culminating out burst of feeling. The expectation of the kingdom was’raised to the highest pitch. The prostration of Salome at the feet of Jesus, the request of her sons, the dis pute among the ten, the gathering crowds, the cry of Bartimeus, the tri umphal entry, are all signs of this feel ing. For us it is a parable of the secret kingdom of God.—Carr. , v. IQ. Saying, Who is this? “This is Jesus the Prophét,” thè first impression of rudimentary learners, “a teacher sent from God.” This is the Christ, the fore ordained one, bearing the office, achiev ing the work, described in prophecy, the Redeemer. This is the Son of God (Ps. 2:7; Jri. 6:69; Matt. 26:63; Acts 9:20;
Made with FlippingBook HTML5