MY LITTLE readers doubtless know that a king is one of the great ones of the earth, and that he is one who rules over many people. And maybe you also know that when a king is wise and good his people love him and are pleased to do him honor. It he leaves his palace to visit another city or country, he is attended with all the pomp and luxury and elegance that the heart of man can devise, or money procure. No apparel too gorgeous, no horses too fine, no procession too enthusiastic for an earthly king; no carpet too soft for his feet to tread upon as he passes from the royal carriage to the mansion which he is about to enter!
But what has this to do with our picture, perhaps someone asks. Let us look at it and see if it has anything to do with a king. Did you ever see a more patient, gentle, meek looking creature than this little donkey; or, as the Bible describes it, “an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.” They are little beasts of burden, and as patient and gentle as the picture shows them to be. They will carry great, heavy loads strapped on their backs, and will climb mountains with these loads, and make no murmuring about it. I once saw a place—a narrow trail on a steep mountain side—where a poor donkey was pushed off by his load extending too far out at the side, and he went rolling over and over into the abyss below and was killed.
But I wanted to ask you, who would ever think of a king, with kingly power, riding upon such a creature as one of these? Ah! let me tell you, the greatest King that earth has ever seen—Jesus, the King of the Jews—chose just such a little animal upon which to ride into Jerusalem—a colt upon which “never man sat.” You will see what happened in connection with the triumphal entry of this greatest of Kings into Jerusalem, if you read the first eleven verses of Mark 11, and from verse 29 to verse 39 of Luke 19. You will see that Jesus rode upon the colt, but the mother of the colt was there also, as we learn from the Prophet Zechariah, and from the Gospel of Matthew. There was nothing of pomp or glory in thus entering the city of the great King; but honor was shown to the One who rode upon the colt. Multitudes of people followed Him, and they spread their garments where He would pass, and cut down branches of trees and made thus a green carpet for the King to pass over. And they rejoiced and praised God with a loud voice saying, “Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord.” And when He reached Jerusalem, “all the city was moved.”
But why did this great King, who is coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, by and by, choose to go into Jerusalem in such a lowly way, when He was here upon earth? I will tell you. He came as the meek and lowly One, knowing that He would be rejected and cast out. And although He presented Himself as the King of the Jews, He was not received by them. Instead of crowning Him King, they crowned Him with thorns and put Him to death. But He will come again to earth, and at His second coming, He will wear a crown of glory and He will wield a scepter of power. All will then own Him King. “All kings shall fall down before Him; all nations shall serve Him.”
And where will you be then, dear children? Ah! if you have believed on Jesus as the One who has suffered for your sins, and know Him as your Saviour, you will come with Him, when He comes to reign; and you will reign with Him over the earth. That will be glorious and blessed beyond even what you can think.
When you look at the little donkeys, you can think how meek and lowly Jesus was when here upon earth; and you, too, as His little followers, should seek ever to be meek and lowly.
ML 10/02/1904