Sunday, January 09, 2011

[Matt's Messages] "King Jesus"

“King Jesus”
Certain of Jesus:  The Gospel of Luke
January 9, 2011
Luke 19:28-44


Last week, Jesus told a parable about a man of noble birth who went off to a distant country to become a king.

And the main point of that parable was for us to be ready for Jesus’ return by investing our lives in His kingdom until He comes with His kingdom.  There will be accountability, so we need to be busy taking risks for the kingdom.

And a secondary point of that parable was that there were some people who didn’t want that nobleman to be their king, and they experienced his judgment upon his return.  They were killed right in front of him.  Because they did not want him as king.

Our last point last week was “Want Jesus As Your King.”

Well, in the very next verse, our first verse today, verse 28.

Jesus demonstrates that He is the King.

“King Jesus”

Jesus is a king, the king, and king like no one else.

King Jesus.

This next section is what we often call “The Triumphal Entry.”

It is when Jesus came riding into Jerusalem as King Jesus.

Luke has only used the word “king” twice so far in his gospel.

But now, starting in Luke 19, he will use the word king 9 more times in quick succession.

Jesus is entering Jerusalem as King Jesus.

And everyone is going to have to deal with it.

This entry of King Jesus into Jerusalem is something new, something different.

It’s a change in Jesus’ method of operation.

Up till now, Jesus has not staged anything.  He hasn’t done any presentations.  No big demonstrations.

No, “Watch this!”  No, “Gather around, here I go!”

No, up till this time, Jesus has been almost unwilling to be public, even though His was a very public ministry.

He was often telling people to keep quiet about Him!

And He moved away from publicity.

But that changes right here, right now. 

Right here, right now, Jesus strides right up onto centerstage and refuses to get down.

The tensions between Jesus and the Jewish religious leaders have reached a boiling point.

And Jesus–instead of backing down and heading north and letting things just settle down some–Jesus marches into town and sets up shop at the temple.

Jesus orchestrates the triumphal entry and then forces the issue with the powers-that-be.

This is new.

And it was the beginning of the end (which we know was the really the beginning of everything!).

King Jesus.
Jesus is King

#1. CONTROLLING HIS DESTINY.

I’ve read this passage many many times, but what jumped out at me this time was how prepared Jesus was and how much He had prepared.

V.28 reminds us that Jesus was headed towards Jerusalem.  This is on purpose.  Ever  since chapter 9, Jesus has been on an intentional mission to reach Jerusalem and do whatever He must do there. V.28

“After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.  As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives [that’s going to be an important place for us to see], he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, ‘Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here.  If anyone asks you, 'Why are you untying it?' tell him, 'The Lord needs it.'’”

Now, why all of this detail?

I used to think that it was to show Jesus’ omniscience.  Oooh.  He knew that there would be a donkey colt there. And He knew that that they might ask why it is being taken. Oooh!  He knew.

Maybe.

Maybe that’s part of what’s going on here.

But this week, as I was reading it, it struck me that Luke is showing us how in charge Jesus is over His situation.

Jesus is intentional.  He is doing things on purpose.  He is making the preparations and making sure that the preparations are prepared.

Jesus is in control of His destiny. V.32

“Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them.  As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them [just as he had told them], ‘Why are you untying the colt?’  They replied, ‘The Lord needs it.’”

And that was good enough for them.

King Jesus.  Controlling His Destiny.

Now, why is that important?

It’s important because Jesus didn’t end up dead by mistake or bad choices or because of someone else’s choices against Him.  Not ultimately.

Ultimately, Jesus died because Jesus chose it.

Jesus chose this path.

The path to Jerusalem.

The path through Bethphage and Bethany.  The path that had this colt on it.

An untamed, never ridden colt.

Jesus chose that.

Here we see King Jesus controlling His destiny.

Kent Hughes put it this way:

“We must keep ever before us that on the day Christ rode humbly into Jerusalem, the Jerusalem then dominated by Roman pomp and splendor, he was absolutely in control. He was in control the entire length of the Passion Week. The wheel of history did not crush him as Albert Schweitzer argued in The Quest for the Historical Jesus –Jesus was turning the wheel.”

Here we see King Jesus controlling His destiny.

And here’s why that’s important to us.

It should INCREASE MY FAITH.

Because it reminds me that Jesus is in control.

If Jesus could control his own personal destiny–which was full of so much evil and suffering, then Jesus can easily be in control of my personal destiny.

And that should help me to trust Him with it.

Do things seem out of control in your life right now?

This whole world often seems out of control to me.

How about you?

What are you going through right now that just seems out of control?

Let this little colt in verse 32 bring you encouragement and build your faith.

“Just as he had told them.”

Jesus is in control.

Do you need to hear that this morning?

I do.

Jesus is in control.

Do you believe that?

“I believe, Lord, help my unbelief!”

King Jesus is in control.

He chose that donkey and He chose to ride it into battle.  Into Jerusalem.

And He did that for you and me.  V.35

“They brought [the donkey colt] to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it.  As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road. [And we know from the other gospels that they began to wave palm branches–this is the Royal Treatment!]  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:  ‘Blessed is the [here it is!] king who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ‘Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!’”

King Jesus is coming to town.

Now, we know why He did it on a donkey.

For two reasons.

One was to fulfill prophecy. In Zechariah 9:9, it says, “Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

Jesus was intentionally fulfilling scripture.

And more than that, He was showing that He is a King but one unlike any other.

This is both “in your face” kingship and “humble and gentle” kingship at the same time.

No one could say, “Well, we didn’t know that He was claiming to be king!”  But He comes “gentle and riding a donkey” not on the back of tank or Air Force One.

This is King Jesus but a King like no other.

And His disciple know it.  And they praise God that the King has come bringing the blessings and miracles of the Kingdom with Him.

V.37 “The whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:  ‘Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ‘Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!’”

What does that last phrase remind you of?

I have never seen that before.  Never.

Doesn’t that sound like Luke 2?  We just got done with the Christmas season.

With the angel army singing, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom His favor rests.”

That’s Luke 2:14.  Here is Luke 19:28

“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”  The King has come!

King Jesus.

Jesus is king.

#2.  DESERVING ALL PRAISE.

The Pharisees don’t like this one bit.

And they’re might be scared that the Romans won’t like it either and decide to get out the riot police.  V.39

“Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, rebuke your disciples!’”

This is completely inappropriate and dangerous.  Tell them to stop!

“Okay, yeah, cut it out, guys.  You’re right.  That’s too much. I’m a good teacher, but you shouldn’t be saying ‘King Jesus’ and ‘Glory in the highest’ and all that. Sorry, sorry!”

Is that what He does?  V.40

“‘I tell you,’ he replied, ‘if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.’”

I love that.

Can you imagine?

Jesus says that if the disciples at this moment stopped praising Jesus and praising God for Jesus then the inanimate stones right there would start crying out, “Praise King Jesus!” themselves!

“If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

No, I’ll not tell them to shut up.

I say, “Cry out!”

Or the stones will.

Jesus deserves all praise.

It’s appropriate.

It’s right.

It’s the right thing to do to worship Jesus.

This should lead me to WORSHIP JESUS.

He deserves it.

How are you doing at praising Jesus so far in 2011?

Have you set aside any time this year to just simply praise Jesus for Who He is and What He has done?

We’ve done it here, together.  Have you done it as a family?

Have you done it on your own?

I think that sometimes we are ashamed to worship Jesus publically.

We are sometimes ashamed to praise Jesus with our mouths, with our voices, with a loud whoop and a holler.

We can cheer on the Steelers and lose our voices yelling at the screen (or the ref, right?), but we don’t even raise our voices to praise Jesus.

But Jesus is “all that.”

He is all that and more.

Jesus deserves our praise.

And if we don’t do it, the rocks are going to cry out.

Number Three.

King Jesus.

Jesus is King #3. WEEPING OVER SIN.

Jesus is a king like no one else.

He knows that this praise is temporary and limited.

This city is actually rejecting Him.  This nation is actually rejecting Jesus.

Some are praising Him now, but the city, the whole, the nation, they are rejecting Him.

And He knows it.  And he weeps.  V.41

“As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, ‘If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you–but now it is hidden from your eyes.  The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side.  They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you.’”

There are only a few times in Scripture where Jesus is described as weeping.

But they are powerful moments.

Can you imagine?

Jesus on the donkey, riding into town, the people praising Him....and Him crying?

And why is He crying?

He is lamenting their decision to reject Him.

He is lamenting their willful ignorance of His true identity.

“If you had only known...”  That doesn’t mean that they couldn’t have known, but they chose not to know, and they will pay for it.

Now that knowledge is hidden from them and they will experience God’s judgment.

The judgment of verse 43 and 44 happened just as He said in just in 40 years.

In the year 70 AD, the Romans built an embankment and encircled them and dashed them to the ground within the walls of Jerusalem.  It was a terrible slaughter and a judgment for having rejected their Messiah.

They had not recognized the time of God’s visitation, the time of God’s coming to you in King Jesus.

And Jesus doesn’t take that in stride.

He weeps over it.

He weeps over sin.

Remember Luke 13:34-35?

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!  Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’"

And He doesn’t mean this day.

He means when that proclamation of blessing comes again when He returns again as triumphant king.

Jesus weeps over sin.

And that should cause me to REPENT OF MY SIN.

If sin does this to our loving Savior...

If sin does this to the one Who deserves all worship...

If sin does this to the one Who is in control of our destinies, then I should forsake sin and repent.

Do you feel the same way?

When I envision our Savior’s tears, they lead me to think about how I caused those tears and to want to break away from them.

Are you caught in a life dominating sin right now?

Turn away from it.  Forsake it.

Repent.

Jesus will help you.

He wants to gather you like a hen gathers her chicks near to Him.

He’ll help you to run away from that sin and live for righteousness.

Turn to Him.

Turn away from sin and turn to Jesus.

If you have never become a forgiven follower of Jesus Christ, I want to invite you right now to turn to Jesus.

Jesus wept over those who rejected Him.

He knew that they should have received Him.  The stones know that everyone should receive Him and bring Him praise!

You don’t have to reject Him.

You can turn from your sins and trust in Jesus right now.
           
Recognize Him as “God’s coming to you” and trust Him as your Lord and Savior.

Your Rescuer.

And Your King.


Messages So Far In this Series:

Certain of Jesus
The Back-Story of Jesus
The Birth of Jesus
Jesus - A Very Special Child
Preparing the Way for Jesus
Jesus Is the Son of God
Jesus in Galilee
Jesus and the Sinners
Jesus Brings Real Joy and Rest
Jesus' Followers Are Different: Part One
Jesus' Followers Are Different: Part Two
Jesus' Followers Are Different: Part Three
Jesus' Followers Are Different: Part Four
Amazing Jesus
Disappointed with Jesus
Loving Jesus Much
Jesus' Real Family
Jesus Is Lord
Who Is Jesus?
Following Jesus
Sent By Jesus
Q&A With Jesus
Sitting at Jesus' Feet
Jesus Teaches Us to Pray 
Jesus Is Stronger Than Satan
More Blessed Than Jesus' Mom
Jesus and the Judgment to Come
Being Real with Jesus
Jesus and Our Stuff
Be Ready for Jesus' Return
Jesus and Tragedies
Set Free By Jesus
Jesus and the Surprising Kingdom
Jesus and Jerusalem
Jesus at the Party
The Cost of Following Jesus
Jesus and the Lost: Part One
Jesus and the Lost: Part Two
Jesus and the Lost: Part Three
Jesus on Money
Sneering at Jesus
Jesus and the Great Chasm
Jesus Said to His Disciples...
Thanking Jesus
Jesus and the Coming Kingdom
Jesus Says, "Keep Praying"
The Proud, the Humble, and Jesus
Jesus Does the Impossible
Why Did Jesus Come?
Investing for Jesus in 2011

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