A Different Kind of King

When we think of kings, we often think of someone grand, wealthy, and powerful. We think of someone important. Someone impressive. Someone we might even want to be.

But the prophet Zechariah describes the Savior as a very different kind of king. He describes someone meek, someone who does not even ride a war horse, but a lowly donkey. And yet, although his appearance does not seem like much, he will banish the implements of war from both the northern and southern kingdom, and his reign will extend over the whole earth.

He is a different kind of king because his is a different kind of kingdom. It is not a kingdom according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. And we, in whom the Spirit of God dwells, are his subjects. Through that kingdom, true life is given to us, both in body and in spirit. We do not live as debtors to the flesh, ruled by our lower instincts. Rather, by the grace of God, we put to death whatever distracts us from what truly matters.

These things are not always obvious to us. As Jesus says, they are hidden from the wise and the learned, but revealed to little ones. And all of us who are in Christ are little ones. We are babes and children before God. We know the Father, not by our own natural power, but because the Son has revealed him to us, and because the Spirit dwells within us.

And while we struggle against the flesh, this struggle is not meant to crush us. Christ shares the yoke with us. He enables us to do what we could not do on our own. He teaches us to become meek and humble of heart, as he is meek and humble of heart. We are called to become like our King.

This is why his yoke is easy and his burden light. Not because discipleship requires nothing from us, but because Christ himself carries it with us. We often imagine service as something exhausting, something beneath us, or something that takes life away from us. But Christ reveals the opposite. It is only in service to God and to our neighbor that we find true rest for our souls.

We were made not for selfish ambition, but for love. We were made to give ourselves away, just as Christ our King loved us and gave himself up for us.

His yoke is truly easy. His burden is truly light.

This is the gracious gift God has given us. He is merciful and compassionate to us. And because we have received his mercy, we are called to live accordingly. That is the measure of his yoke.