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The Way of the King

By Todd Lane

Say to Daughter Zion, “See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” —Matthew 21:5 NIV

Growing up, I loved watching wrestling—no, not the legitimate kind but the one you watched at an event called “Wrestlemania” with guys like Hulk Hogan and Macho Man Randy Savage. There was also a cartoon on Saturday mornings that made these characters even more grandiose in my mind! They were arrogant, tough, and brash, with the kind of charisma that demanded attention. These wrestling matches and often all-out brawls played out without a single drop of blood. Amazing. What a show. What a facade.

Like everything the enemy has done to pollute our world, this is a perverted image. While those guys were physically strong, that’s about the only thing that was true to form. Most everything else about their image was manufactured and fake. Their taunting was rehearsed. Their outcomes were predetermined. Their fights were choreographed. All in all, it was a hollow show. I’m sure for most of you, I didn’t need to go into this level of critique to convince you that professional wrestling is a farce! But it provides such a great parallel to how the ways of this world lead only to disappointing disillusionment. Those WWE wrestlers have more in common with Goliath than any other biblical figure, and we all know he was taken down by a lowly shepherd boy. So why does our society continue to celebrate the same traits of arrogance and brashness in our leaders?

God has a different way. The way of our King is gentle. In His sovereignty, He is not demanding or tough. In fact, His lordship is all about giving us a choice to love Him. When God sent His Son to the world, we received the truest human image of God’s intentions. Humanity had Emmanuel—"God with us.”

God didn’t send His Son, Jesus, into the world so that He would condemn us but instead so that we would be saved through Him (John 3:17). Certainly, that salvation is from eternal death and separation from God, but He also saved us from being enslaved by human depravity here on earth. He has given each of us a new image and way by which to live our lives. Jesus spent a lot of time talking about His style, which He described in an overarching theme of gentleness (meekness in Matthew 11:29; servanthood in Mark 10:45; humility in Matthew 25:40; peace in John 14:27). Jesus’ kingly entry into Jerusalem, as described in Matthew 21:5, was prophesied in Zechariah 9:9 as “lowly and riding on a donkey” (NIV).

It doesn’t take much study of history to know that kings, as a general rule, were not at all gentle. In fact, most kings were like those WWE wrestlers—arrogant, tough, and brash. To conquer land and establish kingdoms, that was the way it had to be done. Even Jesus’ disciples expected Him to establish His kingdom by conquering, and Jesus continually had to show them a different way. His way broke from conventional thought, which left the disciples declaring, “This is a hard teaching” (John 6:60 NIV). They didn’t understand! How could gentleness be the way to establish a kingdom? And while it wasn’t a way to establish an earthly kingdom, it was the way to bring the kingdom of heaven to earth. Jesus entered this earthly realm from a spiritual realm and brought with Him kingdom principles that turned the world upside down.

Jesus calls Himself the Good Shepherd (John 10:11), and this kingly image of a shepherd also connects to David, who was picked by God to go from shepherding his father’s herd to shepherding the nation of Israel. We know shepherding requires strength because David said he had to physically fight off a lion and a bear. And after declaring that He is the Good Shepherd, Jesus went on to say it was because a good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. This shepherding sure is a risky business! Still, shepherds are not known to be strong and powerful with the sheep. They do not drive the sheep; they guide them with gentleness. The combination of strength and gentleness displayed by a shepherd is the imagery Jesus modeled for us.

Our human nature is at war with the things of the Spirit. That is why we need the Holy Spirit to fill us to be empowered to walk this life. Jesus said that you will know people by their fruit (see Matthew 7:16), so calling character traits “fruit” is meaningful. The world will know if we are being guided by the Holy Spirit when they see His fruit in our lives, especially because gentleness is in stark contrast to what the world offers. Filled with the Holy Spirit, followers of Jesus have an incredible opportunity to testify of our King. His gentleness is His strength. Let’s show them the way of the King!

Prayer

God, we know we battle against spiritual forces of darkness, but You are greater! We can take courage because You have overcome the world, and we receive your Holy Spirit to guide us into this day. May we bear the fruit of Your kingdom and reflect You, our King, so others will want to know You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

For Further Reflection

1. What does gentleness mean to you? Do you see it as a sign of weakness or strength? Why?
2. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you a way you can be gentler toward someone today.