James Nisbet Commentary - Matthew 21:5 - 21:5

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James Nisbet Commentary - Matthew 21:5 - 21:5


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THE COMING KING

‘Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.’

Mat_21:5

I. The King.—Our Lord is described as ‘thy King.’ We are glad to greet Christ as our Saviour; but are we equally ready to take Him for our King? How is Christ our King? He is King naturally, as God. But His kingly power was also a part of His mediatorial office. He came not only to preach doctrines, be our example, and atone for sin; but He came also to found a kingdom. After His Resurrection, He said, ‘All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth.’ Then, as an exercise of that power, He gave the sacred commission to His Church.

II. To whom He comes.—‘He came unto His own, and His own received Him not.’ The pronoun, however, is capable of wider and of narrower application. ‘Behold, thy King cometh’ may be applicable to humanity. The individual soul must have applied to it and must appropriate the blessings which the Incarnation and Passion of the Redeemer have obtained. He must reign over our thoughts; He must rule our affections. The will—that difficult faculty to surrender—must be given up to Him. The Kingdom of God is not only an external, visible kingdom—the Church; but must also be established in our own heart—‘the Kingdom of God is within you.’

III. In great humility.—‘Meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.’ It is evident that the twin graces of lowliness and meekness were to be signs of His royalty. ‘Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,’ says St. Paul, ‘that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich.’ Pride was the principal of man’s ruin. Through pride Adam fell. The second Adam came in ‘great humility.’ It was a new type of character, a new measure of greatness.

IV. How shall we receive Him?—Not at His coming in the hour of death and in the Day of Judgment, but now. He comes to us spiritually, and He comes to us sacramentally. Of the first our Lord says, ‘If a man love Me, he will keep My words: and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him.’ And of the other Christ saith, ‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come into him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.’

—
The Ven. Chancellor Hutchings.