Luke 19:35-40
Bowing the Knee: Choosing the Humble King – Luke 19:35-40
Luke 19:35-40 (NIVUK)
35 They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. 36 As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road. 37 When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: 38 'Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!' 'Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!' 39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, 'Teacher, rebuke your disciples!' 40 'I tell you,' he replied, 'if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.'
Commentary
Revd. Mark Fletcher: And then thirdly, I think the piece of symbolism which Luke makes the biggest deal of is this whole thing about people carpeting the dusty road with their cloaks. So in other Gospels, it makes a big deal of the palm leaves. That’s why we call it Palm Sunday. But actually, Luke doesn’t particularly mention that at all. What he talks about is in verse 36: As Jesus went along, people spread their cloaks on the road. Why do you think that’s significant? What’s the symbolism of spreading cloaks on the road? Why does Luke make such a big deal of that? I mean, I think that a cloak is a sort of a symbol of status. And so the more wealthy and more important you are, the more impressive a cloak you would have. But no matter who a person is in this story, they take that cloak off and they choose to lay it on the dusty road in front of Jesus. I’m struck even that the act of doing that is an act of sort of bowing the knee, isn’t it? That’s the movement that you would have to do in order to lay down your cloak. And so to lay your cloak on the road is an act of loyalty, of bowing the knee, of submission, of choosing the king that you are going to serve. I think that’s why this is about a choice. This is about people saying, this is the kingdom that I choose. This is the king that I serve. And Jesus is our humble king. He comes not to be served, but to serve. But he asks us to do the same, to shed our pride, to make ourselves a part of the kingdom. And so to lay our cloak on the road is vulnerable, to bend the knee, to choose a better kingdom. And they cry out, blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord. And I feel like the question that Luke is asking us is, what about us? What’s the choice that we make, not just in this circumstance, but in our everyday life? Who are we serving? What kingdom are we choosing?