April-May, 1933
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
151
makes clear in verse 3 that the Lord prom ised to return the colt, thus revealing that He already knew' of the coming rejection of His claims. 2. The obedience of the disciples (4-6). The disciples went as Jesus commanded and found exactly as He had said. The kingdom of God has come to any one who is thus ready to obey whatever the Lord commands. These disciples had no ques tions as to how Jesus knew about the colt, no objections concerning the owner of the colt, and no hesitancy in going. II. T he C laim A cknowledged (7-10). 1. By actions (7, 8). The disciples placed their garments upon the colt, and “many spread their garments in the way, and others cut down branches off the trees, and strawed them in the way.” Thus they showed that they would do Him royal honor. God had made Him King, and He would remember this fact, so He would come in all lowliness and meekness. He would rule for God and by God, and ruling thus He would be meek and lowly. 2. By words (9, 10). The people heralded the coming of the King, the Son of David, to establish the Messianic kingdom, for which they long had waited, and of which all the prophets spoke. They recognized Him as the Prince of Peace riding on the colt of an ass in fulfillment of prophecies such as Zechariah 9:9 and Psalm 118:24-26. Had they under stood all the prophets had spoken, they would have known of His certain rejection and His cruel death before He could reign upon David’s throne. They cried, “Hosanna ; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. . . . Ho sanna in the highest.” “Hosanna,” or “save now,” was a prayer rather than an accla mation. “Blessed . . . name of the Lord,” even as the prophets had promised. “Ho sanna in the highest,” meant “may the sal vation prepared on high be present on the earth.” , Among the people, emotions were deeply stirred and feeling ran high. But we may learn here that emotion, however deep, and feeling, however high, can never take the place of simple faith. Had these people been devoid of emotion and feeling, but possessed with faith even as a grain of mustard seed, they would not so soon have turned upon Jesus with the cry, “Crucify him, crucify him.” Soon He must tell them, upon their rejection of Him, “Ye shall see me no more until” ye shall once again shout these words of acclamation in faith (cf. Matt 23:37-39). Geikie says, “Every Jew, moreover, ex pected from the words of the prophets that Messiah would enter Jerusalem upon an ass. No act could be more perfectly in keep ing with the conception of a king of Israel, and no word could express more plainly that the king proclaimed himself as Mes siah.” Until now, He had forbidden His disciples to proclaim His Messiahship, but now the hour had come, and He openly, definitely, presented Himself to the nation as their King, and did so by this dramatic fulfillment of prophecy. We should not overlook the fact that He accepted their acknowledgment of who and what He was ; He would have been less than an hon est Man if this were not true. III. T he C laim E xercised (15-17). 1. In what He did (15,16). At the beginning of His ministry, Jesus had rebuked the practice of carrying on in the temple such business as these verses describe (cf. John 2). The animals were bought and sold for the convenience of
worshipers from a distance. Only certain animals could be offered, and to avoid the necessity of bringing them long distances, there were those who bought and sold at the very place of offering. This was also true of incense, oil, and so forth. Also, because only the shekel of the sanctuary could be used for offering, there were the money changers, exchanging Greek and Roman money for shekels. All of this gave opportunity for a species of graft at the expense of the people, and for the priests who controlled the concessions. Carrying vessels, such as pails and so forth, for the animals through the precincts of the tem ple converted its courts into common pub lic streets. 2. In what He said (17). Jesus accused the people of turning the house of prayer into a den of thieves ; of turning communion with God into com merce with men; of turning the place for God’s glory into a place for man’s material gain. They turned the spiritual into the material, and the unseen into the seen. The same danger presents itself today. IV. T he C laim R ejected (18). 1. The wish to destroy Him. The Lord’s actions and words con demned the scribes .and priests for the un holy traffic. But more than this, His words revealed that they were leading the people astray from God instead of to God. Ra ther than turn from their evil ways, they would destroy Him who had just given proof of His Messiahship. We wonder that men with such unanswerable proof before them could act as they did, but the same thing occurs when modernists with like proof before them continue to deny the Lord’s claims. 2. The dread of defeat. Their purpose was wholly selfish. They had nothing from or for God, and they had brought the nation to its then perilous and ruined condition. They feared Him be cause of what they had unlawfully done, and they^ knew only judgment would be their lot if He actually sat upon the throne to rule. Their fear was intensified by the fact that the crowd at this time was on the side of Jesus, ready to receive Him for what He_ claimed to be. Shrewdly, they turned their attention to the crowd, working upon it in such fashion that, because of the absence of real faith, it was soon ready to shout, “Crucify him.” Thus the whole na tion, chief priests, scribes, elders, and com mon people, unitedly rejected the grace the Lord had brought and the glory He would bring to them. Memory Verse: “It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High” (Psa. 92:1). Approach: Jesus went to Jerusalem. All along the way He stopped to help peo ple. All of the sick people, all of the poor people, all of the people who needed help P raisin g Jesus M ark 11:1-10
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When they had al most reached Jeru salem, J e s u s sent two of His disciples ahead to a little town. There they were to
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