Outline

«　WEEK 8　DAY 1　»

　　Matt. 16:16 And Simon Peter answered and said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.

　　21:5 “Say to the daughter of Zion, Behold, your King is coming to you, meek and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, a foal of a beast of burden.”

　　Christ is the title of the Lord according to His office, His mission. The Son of God is His title according to His person. His person is a matter of God’s life, and His mission is a matter of God’s work. He is the Son of God to be the Christ of God.

　　In Matthew 16:16…”Christ,” the anointed One of God, refers to the Lord’s commission, whereas “the Son of the living God,” as the second of the Triune God, refers to His person. His commission is to accomplish God’s eternal purpose through His crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, and second advent, whereas His person embodies the Father and issues in the Spirit for a full expression of the Triune God. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 230)

　　Matthew 21:5 says that the King would come “mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, a foal of a beast of burden.” This signifies the meek and lowly state in which the Lord was willing to present Himself. The Lord did not tell His disciples to get a carriage or a wagon but a donkey and a colt. He did not even choose to ride on a horse but on a little donkey…The donkey was probably the mother, and the colt was probably her offspring. Both the mother and the offspring worked together to bear the King.

　　The donkey and the colt together give us an impression of meekness and humility. If the Lord had been mounted only upon a donkey, the impression of meekness would not have been so striking. Suppose a very small sister stands before us holding a tiny baby in her arms. This would give us a deep impression of smallness, for the tiny baby would strengthen the impression of smallness. The significance of the Lord’s riding on a donkey is not smallness but meekness. The heavenly King came not with haughty splendor but with gentle, humble meekness. This impression of meekness is strengthened by the colt accompanying a donkey to bear the meek King. The Lord Jesus did not ride into Jerusalem proudly on a horse… The Lord Jesus seemed to be telling His disciples, “Take the donkey and the little colt. I will ride upon the beast of burden, but the colt must go along too in order to show My meekness. This will help the people see how meek the heavenly King is.”

　　The presence of the baby donkey testified that the Lord did not care to fight or compete with anyone. Rather, He was humble and meek. I believe that this was the impression the Lord Jesus wanted to convey to the people. Yes, He was the heavenly King, but He had no intention to come as a great King fighting or competing with others. Instead, He came as a meek King who did not fight against anyone or compete with anyone.

　　In Matthew 21:7 we see that the disciples put their garments on the donkey and the colt, and verse 8 says, “Most of the crowd spread their own garments in the road.” Garments signify the human virtues of people’s conduct. The disciples honored the lowly King by putting their garments on the donkey and colt for Him to ride on, and the crowd honored Him by spreading their garments in the road for Him to pass through. The people honored the Lord with their clothing, that is, with whatever they had. No matter how poor a man is, he at least has some clothing with which to cover himself. We need to honor the Lord, the meek King, with whatever we are. No matter what our condition may be, we have something with which to honor Him. I do not believe that the garments put on the donkey and on the road were splendid or beautiful. Nevertheless, the people used what they had. Although we are sinful, pitiful, and even evil, the Lord likes to be honored with what we are. Even sinners can honor the Lord with what they are, if they have a heart to honor Him. (Life-study of Matthew, pp. 630-632)

　　Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 21; Life-study of Matthew, msg. 56