When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, ‘Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, just say this, “The Lord needs them.” And he will send them immediately.’ This took place to fulfil what had been spoken through the prophet, saying, ‘Tell the daughter of Zion, Look, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’
The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!’ When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, ‘Who is this?’ The crowds were saying, ‘This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.’
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About a week and a half ago, I
was having a relatively calm day in the church office when chaos broke
loose. I received a call from the day
care telling me that Caleb's lips and hands had turned blue, and they'd like
for me to come take a look at him. So I,
filled with medical knowledge and ready to offer a qualified opinion, something
along the lines of 'Yes, that is blue', raced over to the daycare, terrified
and shaking in fear.
By the time I reached the day
care, his color had returned. I was both
grateful for this and terrified of the uncertainty. I called the doctor's office, and they
recommended I take him to the ER. So off
to TC Thompson we raced, one hand on the steering wheel, the other on
Caleb. You can guess as to whether I
spent more time looking forwards or backwards on that frantic drive downtown.
Once there, we waited. And waited.
I was filled with anxiety, while Caleb simply wanted to play. Rachel soon arrived, and we were both filled
with fear and uncertainty. Caleb only
had energy. Our child was banging on the
windows of the room, flirting with all the nurses. He was the kid everyone looks at and wonders
why he was there at all.
It wasn't too long before the
doctor walked into the room, and an amazing thing happens when the doctor
enters the room. The doctor's authority
immediately begins to allay your fears.
Your anxiety slowly slips away, because your child is suddenly in the
hands of an expert. If anything is
wrong, here is someone you can trust who can fix this. You place your trust in the doctor's
authority, even if you've never met him or her, and all is made well. We were immediately relieved.
Caleb is fine. They did all the tests and concluded that
everything is probably fine, that it was probably a one-time event with an
unknown cause, and that we need not worry.
Easier said than done, but there is no need for concern.
Today, we're going to talk about
authority. It's what we recognize when a
doctor walks into a room. They carry
that authority with them, and we react to it—emotionally, physically,
mentally. We trust them. We let them lead.
There are different types of
authority in the world. Today, we’re
going to talk about kingly authority.
Now, a king is someone who comes
to rule over you. A king is someone with
power, someone accustomed to being in control, someone accustomed to everyone
else deferring to them. A king isn’t
someone who necessarily spends a lot of time with the people, trying to figure
out what they want. A king is someone
who tells the people what they want. A
king rules over.
Now, people in that day were used
to being ruled over. The Roman empire
had come with their war horses and chariots and dominated the land. There was no question about who was in charge
in Rome—they had come to announce their reign, and they did so with power and
authority. The people were not to
protest, or they would be risking their very lives. The emperor demanded their allegiance, and
the people gave it, though not willingly.
So the people were looking
forward to a Messiah, but they expected this Messiah to come in the same manner
by which the Roman emperor came. They
expected a display of might and power, a king that would liberate the people
from their bondage. This king would rule
over them, but it would be their king.
So when Jesus shows up, riding a
donkey to signify his reign of peace, the people have a very clear set of
expectations. Jesus, however, has expectations,
too.
When Jesus is carried into
Jerusalem, he is making a bold claim.
Remember, the Roman empire very much has Jerusalem under its thumb, and
it doesn’t have any plans on giving away the keys to the city. But Jesus enters boldly anyway, making a
counterclaim to the people and to their hearts.
Jesus has come to institute his kingdom here on earth, but rather than
do so on a warhorse with an army behind him, his kingdom looks differently than
what the people expected. Jesus is not
just another ruler that has come to dominate over the people. Jesus doesn’t want the people to offer their
allegiance out of fear—Jesus has come to love the people, and he wants the
people to offer their hearts in return, to love him, to love God.
And unlike other rulers, Jesus is
willing to be vulnerable, to pour himself out, in the hopes of winning the
hearts of the people.
Other rulers, those who rule by
strength and might, will never show vulnerability. But your place in their kingdom is to be
under them. In Jesus’ kingdom, your
place is beside him, with him. Christ
has come to share his power, his love and his righteousness. Christ has come to institute a reign of
peace.
Notice what happens when Jesus
arrives—the whole city is in turmoil. Know
when else the city was in turmoil? How
about Matthew 2:3, when Jesus was born.
Or 27:51, when Jesus dies. And
again in 28:2-4, when he is raised from the dead. When Jesus arrives, the city is stirred
up. His kingdom is at hand, and the
powers of the world will resist it.
The question is, how will you
respond to Jesus’ bold claim on your heart?
How will you reply to the king who has come to rule?
Will you deny him Lordship,
preferring instead to be king in your own realm, preferring your own kingship
and authority to his? Plenty of people
choose this option—they like to think they are in charge. They like to believe that there is no
authority over them. This works pretty
well until things fall apart, as they always do.
Will you acknowledge his reign
but prefer to keep him at a safe distance, afraid of what might happen if you
offer him your whole life? This is another
option, and it’s not as far from the first as some like to think. It’s pretty easy to choose this route—these are
the people lining the parade route, waving their palms and cheering for Jesus,
but whose hearts are twisted and far from God when Friday comes and Jesus is
crucified. These are the people that
like the idea of a Savior, but who ultimately aren’t interested in what it
means to live within God’s kingdom. Satan
stands at a safe distance during Palm Sunday, watching the emotions of the
crowd, knowing the emotion will fade and with it, their allegiance.
Or will you choose the third
option, the one that God longs for us to choose? Will you choose to let Jesus reign in your
life? Will you let him be king? Will you recognize what kind of king he wants
to be—a king who doesn’t want your blind allegiance, but who wants your
heartfelt devotion? Will you see the one
who comes and is willing to be vulnerable, willing to ascend the cross and die
for your sins? Will you recognize the
price that he pays for your freedom, and will you return your life in
gratitude?
Jesus comes for the lost, for
each and every one of us. He rides into
the city on Palm Sunday, into the city that is waiting to crucify him, waiting
to punish him. He rides in not with the power
of the world at his back but with the power of the kingdom of God, power that
is not used to rule over and dominate but rather to free and to love. Christ rides with this power, and the city is
in turmoil, quaking in uncertainty.
Palm Sunday is just a
beginning. It is the beginning of his
reign, a reign that will pass through death and hell, a reign that will last
forever in heaven. The amazing fact is
that Christ comes for you in your sin and invites you to reign with him. He invites you to take part in building his
kingdom. It is a kingdom not like any in
this world, the kingdoms that are built with human hands and strength and will
fade away in time. God’s kingdom knows
no end, and Christ boldly rides into Jerusalem to announce the reign of peace
that comes with his kingdom.
Will you join him? Will you join with Christ in his project of
renewing and redeeming the world? After
your loud hosannas have ended and there is no evidence of the parade, will you
still worship him? Or, as your passion
fades, will you drift from your true king and find a smaller king, a king of
this world, and let that reign until you see how foolish it is?
Let us pray
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