As I am preparing for our upcoming youth camp in which we look at the beauty of the upside-down kingdom that Jesus presents, I am drawn to the passage in Matthew 21:1-11 where we see this picture of Jesus entering the city of Jerusalem. Many bibles label this section of scripture as “The Triumphal Entry”, pointing to the concept of a king entering into a city after returning from a victorious battle. But here we see a much different picture, a king who is “humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.”
In this picture, we see a King who is not headed to a palace to be waited upon by his servants, but one who instead came “not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). We see a picture of a King who is not lifted up to a throne in order to rule over Jerusalem, but one who instead is on his way to be lifted up on a cross for all to look on and be saved as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness (John 3:14). We see a picture of a King who is not returning victorious from battle, but one who instead is heading to battle death and sin and Satan and be victorious over every single one of those enemies for all of eternity! In other words, we see several different aspects of an upside-down kingdom in this passage that Jesus presents to us as followers of Him.
So are we willing to follow in his footsteps? Are we willing to humble ourselves as Jesus humbled himself by laying our lives down for those who hate us? Are we willing to instead of seeking honor, will we serve the least of those around us whom may not seem worthy of receiving our service? I want to be like Jesus, but I have to regularly ask myself, am I really willing to live like He did?
In Christ Alone,
Caleb Hecox