Zechariah 9:9 “See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

Candidates for office make a lot of promises about what they are going to do for you. Sometimes they would have to be king to be able to do all the things they say they are going to do. Mostly their term begins, and then it ends, and things stay about the same, at least in my experience.

When Jesus comes as King, he comes with no small promise in hand. He has salvation. He isn’t promising to rescue us from a bad economy, stagnant job growth, low wages, high taxes, global warming, Islamic terrorists, or a crazy dictator in North Korea. He brings salvation from our own sins. Have you slept with someone you shouldn’t? He forgives that. Ever lied to stay out of trouble? He pardons that, too. Have your actions ever broken up a family, cost someone their job, contributed to someone’s delinquency, shattered someone’s faith, separated close friends, or gravely disappointed your parents? Forgiven, forgiven, forgiven, forgiven, forgiven, forgiven.

You realize that this isn’t some insignificant political trick like preventing thermonuclear war or keeping the polar ice caps from melting. This is huge. By bringing salvation from sin, Jesus has just presented us with the cure for death, not just until the next time we get sick, but forever.

Put that on your average politician’s resume–the salvation of the world–and his head would swell as big as a small planet. But is that the kind of person we see riding into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday? The prophet says he is “righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey.” The Hebrew says something more like “lowly” or “humble” and riding on a donkey. Maybe “humility” is such an unbelievable trait after everything we have read about this King that even the translators have trouble translating it that way.

But it all fits the picture. Jesus was infinitely better than the prostitutes, the tax collectors, the lepers, and the other outcasts of his day. But he was not too high and mighty to attend their dinners, spend time teaching them, or heal their sick. Jesus was more than the rightful King of Israel. He was Lord and Master of the Universe, the most powerful man in the world. He had the ability to control the weather and modify the laws of physics. But he doesn’t enter Jerusalem on a white horse or in a golden chariot, the First Century equivalent of a limousine in a motorcade. He rides a donkey, the average man’s vehicle, the First Century Ford or Chevy compact sedan. This is not a King who is full of himself.

This makes him a King we can approach with confidence. Have you ever met someone famous and felt a little awkward, or intimidated, to be in the presence of such an important person? You’ve seen people become speechless when they met a favorite sports star, entertainer, or politician. You won’t find anyone any higher than Jesus, but you won’t find anyone easier to approach. Bring your requests, your sin and guilt, your desperate situations and deepest needs, and give it to him. He’s happy to hear you for as long as you want to talk, happy to help you with whatever issues you have, because he is humble and gentle even though he is truly a King.