Monday Meditation: 12.1.2025
The King Who Carries Our Burdens
Scripture: Matthew 21:1-11
“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.’” (Matt 21:5)
This Monday, we find ourselves standing at the threshold of Advent. It is a season of waiting, of lighting candles against the encroaching darkness, and of longing. Like the "distressed and harassed" crowds of first-century Jerusalem, we too await the coming of a great King.
The Gospel reading for today might seem out of place.
We are preparing for the manger, yet Matthew points us toward the cross. But this Triumphal Entry is fitting for the first week of Advent because it defines exactly who we are waiting for.
We are not waiting for a tyrant.
We are waiting for a King who will deliver us from the turmoils and vicissitudes of life in this upside-down, sin-tarnished world.
We are waiting for a Ruler who is not rash, heavy-handed, or quick to rage at our failures, but one who is gentle and lowly in heart.
A Different Kind of King
When earthly leaders want to project power, they choose symbols of strength. Jesus chose a donkey.
Calvin notes that this choice was deliberate and necessary:
“He had two things to do at the same time,—as he had to exhibit some proof of his kingdom, and to show that it does not resemble earthly kingdoms, and does not consist of the fading riches of this world, it was altogether necessary for him to take this method.”
Jesus had to show us that His Kingdom operates on a different frequency than the rest of the world.
It is not built on the "fading riches" of force or prestige.
As Severus of Antioch preached centuries ago:
“Now there was never any king, simultaneously just, a redeemer, gentle and seated on a donkey, who came to Jerusalem, unless this is he who alone is King of kings, God and Redeemer, Jesus.”
The Beast of Burden
There is a detail in the Gospels that often goes unnoticed: the colt Jesus rode had never been ridden before. Any equestrian knows that an unbroken animal is unpredictable. It should have kicked; it should have bucked.
I often wonder: what was it like for this creature? What was it about Jesus’ presence that kept it calm?
I surmise it was Jesus’ own humility and self-identification with this creature. As its Creator, He approached it with a gentleness that quieted its instinct to flee or fight.
In that moment, the donkey and the Rider were of one mind.
Jesus, like the colt, came to be a "beast of burden."
He came to carry away our burdens, to bear our sorrows, and to shoulder the weight of a broken world.
The Cup of Judgment
While the donkey carried Jesus into the city, a greater burden awaited the Lord. It wasn't just the physical weight of the cross; it was the spiritual weight of the judgment of Almighty God.
In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus would face a burden so crushing that He wondered, for a moment of intense prayer and human fear, if the cup could pass from Him. He feared not the nails or the thorns, but the awful cup of rejection and judgment. Yet, as Remigius wrote, "In all His good actions, He sought not His own but His Father’s glory."
In His humility, He counted us before Himself. He stayed on the donkey. He stayed on the path to the Cross. He gave His life so that we might know we never have to bear our burdens alone.
O Save!
Today, the crowds in our text shout, "Hosanna!" It is a Hebrew cry that means, "O, Save!"
As we begin this Advent journey, let that be our cry as well. We cry out to the Risen Lord to come again to us. We ask Him to ride into the chaos of our lives, not with the violence of a warhorse, but with the steady, gentle strength of the Savior who carries us.
Prayer:
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God and Humble King, You are gentle and lowly in heart. Come to us in our waiting and our longing. We are tired of the burdens we carry; help us to cast them upon You. Come to us with Your saving might yet again. Amen.
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