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  (SERVICE FOR THE KING) 4. PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY
  by A.B. Simpson
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"And if any man ask ought of you, say the Lord hath need of them. Tell
ye the daughter of Zion; Behold, they King cometh unto thee, meek and
sitting upon an ass and a colt, the foal of an ass." Matthew xxi. 3, 5.
There were few in these days of our Lord who had not either seen or
heard of a Roman triumphal procession, or witnessed on a smaller scale
the pageants of Herod; and they had heard all over the world of the
majestic and magnificent entrance to the capital of returning consuls,
and generals and emperors after some great victory; how, for days
before, the city was clothed in holiday attire; everything was suspended
but pleasure and pomp and at the appointed time the procession began to
move along the sacred way toward the capital, preceded by great masses
of splendid soldiers in perfect discipline and uniform, followed by long
trains of captives, including kings and princes, and sometimes queens
and beautiful women, walking in chains before the victor, while great
multitudes of cattle for the sacrificial altar followed next behind; and
then came the king or general himself in a gorgeous chariot drawn by
many horses, clothed with every color of splendor, and followed by the
vast train of the people given up to the carnival and revelry, until at
last the pageant reached the steps of the capitol; and then some of
those queens and kings and princesses would be taken aside and executed
there, as the first sacrifice of the cruel, selfish triumph; and then
the cattle were slain and offered in sacrifice to their heathen gods. So
the mighty Caesar or some of his satellites would show himself the king.
That was the human kingdom, that was man’s stairway to a throne, and
it was covered with cruelty and selfishness and blood.

The dear Lord Jesus in this chapter gives us His triumphal procession.
He, too, was marching to a throne and to a kingdom. For thirty-three
years He had been stepping up to it by the slow ascension of suffering
and love. He refused from the devil the kingdoms of the world and the
glory of them in a moment of time, and He would take His kingdom from
His Father only—the pathway of blood, and sorrow and holy ministering
love. And now, after long refusing earthly glories, after refusing the
Galileans His consent to make Him a king, after passing so long through
the pathway of obscurity, at last He puts aside the veil and lets them
see Him in His true royalty and His kingly glory, and He begins to
ascend the throne which for a little while only He will keep, but by and
by He is going to sit upon forever.

Starting first from Jericho, He begins by healing poor Bartimeus, and
then saving Zaccheus. Then He passes on to the home of Bethany, and is
anointed by Mary, and then the next morning He passes on down the slopes
of Olivet. Two of His disciples were sent before Him to prepare the way.
A little ass and its colt upon which no man had ever sat are the
chariots which He uses—sitting upon the lowliest, most commonplace of
burden bearers, one that was used for toil and the meanest drudgery—on
that little beast of burden He sits down, with the garments of his
disciples as His trappings, then the multitude strew the way with palm
branches and the little children cry: "Hosanna to the Son of David;"
until at last the multitude join the procession, for there were three
million of people at this time gathered around Jerusalem; it was the
feast time, and on side hundreds of thousands of them were dwelling in
little tents on the hillsides; and they heard the sounds and flocked
around and joined them, until there was as vast a procession, perhaps,
as ever accompanied Caeser to his throne; and, in the midst, rides the
royal Nazarene, meek and lowly, and sitting upon an ass.

On the way, He pauses just before the descent, and gazes on the city.
There is no light of triumph on His brow today; there is no self-
glorying in that face, as He halts and looks down on the city at His
feet. He gazes a moment, and then there burst from His eyes great floods
of tears, and He weeps and weeps again in the hour of His triumph, and
says, "If thou hadst known the things that belong to thy peace, but now
they are hid from thine eyes." And then He passes into the temple and as
a King claims His place as its Master, driving out the earthliness and
claiming it for His Father and Himself and stands there in the face of
His enemies teaching and healing for whole week, defying them to arrest
Him until His hour has come, a king in every sense--of wisdom, power,
suffering and love. He shows Himself here as a King.

First, we see Him as the King of human hearts. He begins His royal march
at Bethany, and receives first from Mary the offering of her love. Then,
next we see Him as the King of the Jews, the Son of David, claiming the
throne of Jerusalem, which He is yet to restore and possess. Then we see
Him as the King of the Temple, stepping into His own house and saying;
"My house." Three years before He had performed a similar miracle and
said, "My Father’s house." But He calls it "My house" now and He
cleanses it by His word. Then, we see Him as the King of Love, weeping
over sinners, and pardoning them in His mercy and then finally, we see
Him as the conqueror of sin and sorrow and death, with a crown of thorns
on His brow, the Author of redemption, the Prince of our salvation. You
think of Him as your priest, you think of Him as your prophet, but He
wants you to know Him as your King—ruling over you, ruling in you,
conquering for you, and taking you to spread His kingdom abroad through
the world.

Then, the coming of Christ to His kingdom, in this instance is the type
of His coming to the individual heart. His ascension, His descent from
the Mount of Olives, and His entrance to Jerusalem, is the foreshadowing
of that which has come to some of our hearts, and which He wants to have
come to all. O, it is a glorious hour in the soul\

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Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/ab-simpson/service-for-the-king-4-personal-responsibility/
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