Jesus is a very different kind of king. When Solomon was crowned king, he rode to his anointing on his father David’s mule (1 Kings 1:38-39). This symbolized Solomon’s succession to his father’s throne. Frequently when new kings took over, they did so by refitting or reclaiming the symbols, possessions, wives and residences of their predecessors – as if to clearly establish who was now king and who was not.
Is it possible to be in the family of David but to be a king in an entirely different way? Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a cold that has never had a rider. He is coming into a kingship that has no predecessor. As we sing in the Advent hymn “Prepare the Royal Highway”:
His is no earthly kingdom;
he comes from heaven above,
His rule is peace and freedom
and justice, truth and love.
(ELW #264)
By riding a colt with no previous rider, Jesus is revealing (perhaps too subtly) that what he brings is very different from what previous rules have offered.
This message is excerpted from “The meaning of ‘Hosanna’” by Julia Seymour in the March/April 2022 Gather magazine. Today is Christ the King Sunday. Today we commemorate Justus Falckner, 1723; Jehu Jones, 1852 and William Passavant, 1894, all pastors in North America.
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