Re-entry Christ (Matt 21:1-11)

Some ladies could be heard outside the church a few days ago. I didn’t think much of their background chatter until my wife arrived back from town in the car and going out to help her with the heavy groceries I was asked if we had a key to the church. I informed the ladies that the church wasn’t locked and proceeded to help them to enter in, knowing the way the latch worked. It occurred to me that people have many differing views of how one may enter in to the Kingdom of God, even to the Church. Some see a theatre of coming to the sacramental altar of the historically continuous church, others a lecture room of the word and sacrament, others the presence of the Holy Spirit in Christian fellowship. Some have feared God believing there is no way their unrighteousness could ever darken the door of the church.

Matthew 21 sets a similar story before us as Jesus re-enters the fallen habitation of peace (Jerusalem) for the Passover festival after a long period of being “On the road to Jerusalem.” To one a door is a hindrance to another a door is a way ahead. To us reading history Jesus is completing His journey but to Jesus it may have been about us beginning to unlock ours. Jesus speaks about Himself (John 10) as the door who opens and that those trying to enter another way are thieves and robbers. To some the gates of Jerusalem appear to be a barrier to keep any threats out but to the Son of God fulfilling the prophecies these were gates welcoming the Passover lamb in to the heart of Israel, as it were re-entering into King David’s throne. They cried out, “Hosanna to the son of David,” the promised son to sit on the throne forever. Hosanna means Save now! or Save, we beseech, (Matt. 21:9). This was a customary form of acclamation at the feast of Tabernacles. (Comp. Ps. 118:25.)

The Jewish religious system had crafted a set of rules that left no sinful stone unturned in an attempt to be the chosen people without a prophet, i.e. there had been 400 years without God’s voice in the land. Jesus was entering the den of thieves, Scribes, Pharisees and Priestly leaders who had stolen the children of Israel away from God. The dominant features in this reading though are the donkeys and the command to disciples to go fetch them in some exacting circumstances. The animals are tethered in an adjacent village and Jesus states to tell the owners “the Lord has need.” We presume the apparent need of a steed to carry a king through the city gates. However we know Jesus has just walked for months without need of a beast of burden. 

Apparently it was the custom that an Ass or Donkey carried a king as a sign he was not warring but rather peaceful. The animal is needed to fulfil prophecy of Zechariah 9:9 “lowly and sitting on a donkey, a colt the foal of a donkey.” Here we are reminded of the unborn Jesus who was being carried by Mary on a donkey to the stable in Bethlehem where angels pronounced “Peace on Earth.” Possibly the Father reveals every action and word here for His disciples to do so that God is now carrying the Lamb of His house to the altar as the sacrifice was carried to the priest’s to do their sacrificial duty.

However there is another reason for the inclusion of the donkeys in the story. Jesus is the Lord of Creation and here we have an unbroken (never ever ridden) donkey colt yielding to the master. The colt does not rebel but yields to the Prince of Peace. The donkey colt knows who the master is better than most of us humans. The donkey perhaps represents the lowly human nature bearing Jesus Christ in our lives. The often stubborn donkey is carrying the Lamb of God, the Word of God, the Door of Kingdom of God, the Bread and the Wine of Heaven to a starving people. It’s another Passover of Passovers to save the chosen, a spiritual Exodus from the slavery of worldly and religious rulers, another communion as we know it.

So as Jesus is coming in, we are also coming in. Jesus invites us to enter into Himself that He might enter in to us, his faith, his hope, his love. We do not know any other way but that He is the Way. We do not know any other peace but that He is our peace. We do not live as human beings in the world but have life in His spiritual Kingdom. He asks only that we knock and the door will be opened. Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life. He is our Lord.

God does things differently and it trips up those who think they are wise. You see God knows how we are made up because He made us. We don’t know how we are made up so we are tripped up in our foolishness. One thing we have been given that is the wisdom of love, and that is the Word of God. Jesus is the door to the Kingdom of God and He is open to those who will have faith in Him.

As illogical as it might seem Jesus is the only Way in to the Peace which we all seek and which passes all understanding. You will not get through the door by reading books. You cannot get through the door by good deeds or by obeying rules. You don’t even get through the door of the Kingdom of God because you have been going to church all your life. You only get through the door by inviting Jesus into your Jerusalem, by submitting your branch and crying out as it were, “Hosanna, welcome to the King.”

The ladies unfamiliar with the church door latch had to wait until I opened the door for them. It was never locked as they just imagined it was. Likewise the door to heaven is never locked but by rules and regulations men make it seem so. Seek and you will find, ask and it will be given you, just knock and the door will be opened to you. Jesus Christ belongs in your heart as you belong in His.

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