1 Streetsville United Church Sunday, March 24, 2013 Rev. John Tapscott HERE IS YOUR KING John 19:14 A couple of weeks ago the world was abuzz with the news. No, not just about the new Pope. Princess Kate apparently let it slip that the new royal baby will be a girl. That s great of, course, but as most expectant parents say, they don t much care whether it s a boy or a girl, as long as the child arrives safe and healthy, and mother is OK, too. Nature has a way of balancing out the genders. And when humans try to upset that balance there will be big problems in the long run, and maybe even in the short run, too. The practice that some cultures have of aborting female babies simply because they are female is truly despicable. But back to the royal baby. The law has been changed so that gender no longer matters as far as succession to the throne goes. William and Kate s first-born child will be the first in line to the throne after William, no matter whether it s a boy or girl. I think we all agree that this is a good change, and assures that from now on the monarchy should be, at least in the long run, pretty much equally balanced between kings and queens. Today is Palm Sunday. The theme of Palm Sunday is Kingship. On the first Palm Sunday Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. People along the roadside shouted, Blessed is the king who comes in the Name of the Lord. But what kind of king were they getting? Well perhaps not the kind of king they expected. The first hint of that was the way Jesus rode into Jerusalem. A conquering king would come riding on a white horse; a king coming in peace would ride on a donkey. Jesus was no military king, bent on driving out the Romans as the crowd hoped. And by the end of the week, whatever vision the people had for Jesus Kingship had been completely turned upside down. In fact, by then to call him a king was not to hail him but to mock him. We read in John 19 of Jesus before Pilate. Pilate had him flogged. The soldiers put a painful crown of thorns on his head and dressed him in a purple robe. They said, Hail King of the Jews and struck him on the face. Pilate tried to release him, telling the religious leaders, I find no case against him. But they replied, according to our law he ought to die because he claimed to be the Son of God. Pilate became afraid and asked Jesus where he was from. Jesus, knowing that Pilate wouldn t understand, gave him no answer. Once more Pilate tried to release him but then the leaders brought a political charge against Jesus. He claimed to be a king, they said, and everyone who claims to be a king sets himself against Caesar. And Pilate, if you let him go you are no friend of Caesar s. Pilate didn t understand the religious charge against Jesus. But he understood the political charge. Setting oneself up as a king opposed to Caesar was serious business. And Pilate needed to remain a friend of Caesar for the sake of his career. So Pilate brought Jesus out. Pilate sat on the judgement seat. He said to the Jews, Here
2 is your King. The Jewish leaders said, Away with him. Crucify him! Pilate asked them, Shall I crucify your king? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar. This showed how much they wanted to get rid of Jesus. For if the Jews stood for anything it was the kingship and supremacy of God over against Caesar. But here they were throwing away their bedrock belief. And Pilate gave in. He handed him over to be crucified. And yet we know the rest of the story. Jesus who was crucified, was raised from the dead by God. He is not only a King, but the King. He is the King of Kings, ruler of the kings of the earth. Here is your King we proclaim to the world. And for Christians Jesus is king in a very personal way. He is your king and my king. He is the One to whom we give ultimate obedience. He is our leader, our model, as all kings were to be for their people. But what kind of king was entering Jerusalem on Palm Sunday? What kind of king is Jesus now? Let s look at some of his actions during the last week in Jerusalem. Here is your King. First, here is your king serving. John 13 tells us that on the night before Jesus death, Jesus and the disciples gathered in the Upper Room for Passover. John writes, After supper Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. Now in ancient times it was a real blessing to receive a refreshing foot wash at the end of the day, but it was also a lowly task. Each day it fell the lowest household slave to wash peoples feet, feet covered with a day s worth of dust and dirt and sweat, feet swollen red with cracks and callouses. And Jesus did it. The Son of God stooped down and washed his disciples smelly and unattractive feet. And mind you, the feet of every disciple, including the feet of Peter who would deny him; the feet of Thomas who would doubt him, the feet of ambitious James and John who lobbied for positions in Jesus Kingdom. And even the feet of Judas, the one who would soon betray him. No one s feet were excluded from the washing. In fact, Peter resisted Jesus washing of his feet. But when Jesus insisted, Peter said, Not only my feet but my hands and my head, too! Peter knew that he needed not just his feet washed. He needed to be washed clean entirely by Jesus and his grace. Don t we all? Haven t all Christian believers been all washed by Jesus grace, our sins cleansed by his blood? But the point is that King Jesus was serving in the lowliest way. Imagine the President of a giant corporation coming down from his office on high and cleaning the toilets on every floor of the building. Wouldn t you be shocked if you watched the President back out of a stall with the cleaning tools and a plunger his hand? You would be, but it might also inspire you to be the best servant and employee you can possibly be. Jesus said of his action, So if I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another s feet. For I have set you an example, that you should also do as I have done to you. Jesus is our King. We are his subjects. In Jesus Kingdom, in his church, we wash one another s feet. Perhaps not literally. But we do serve one another. No one is too high or too low to serve. No task is too high or too
3 low. King Jesus came and humbled himself, taking the form of a servant. So here is your King serving. Secondly, here is your King forgiving. Luke 23: 33, 34, When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. Then Jesus said, Father, forgive them for they know not what they are doing. Well no, they didn t know they were crucifying the Son of God. But they were crucifying an innocent man. We never know the full consequences of our sin. Sin spoils our fellowship with God and with others. Sin s consequences are temporal, meaning for this world, and they are eternal. The wages of sin is death, says Paul, eternal, final separation from Holy God, who cannot look upon sin. Sin is serious business, and if you want to see how serious, look upon the Crucified King of Glory and those who crucified him. And yet Jesus prayed, Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing. Was Jesus asking God to forgive those who drove nails into his hands and feet? Yes, he was. Was he asking the Father to forgive the soldiers who mocked him and placed a crown of thorns on his head? Yes, he was. Was he asking God to forgive the high priest, Pilate, Judas? Yes. Was he asking the Father to forgive all of us? Yes, because the everyday sins of compromise and cowardice and selfishness and greed that put Jesus on the Cross are in all of us. Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing. It s incredible, isn t it, that Jesus would pray for those who mocked and humiliated him and caused him such suffering. But that is the amazing mercy at the heart of God. God does not want sinners to perish, but to be forgiven. And it was because of the death of Christ that all of us can be forgiven. Christ is the God-given substitute who died in our place. And when God raised Jesus from the dead God s forgiveness was poured out for all of us. We only have to accept the gift by putting our faith and trust in Jesus. In Him and through him we are forgiven. We are covered with the robes of righteousness and our sins are covered by his blood. We are put on the road to heaven. The wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord. By faith we are now the King s subjects, ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven. And the King is our model. We follow him. We are ambassadors of reconciliation. We pray for others to accept God s gift of forgiveness. And we forgive others. Paul writes, Be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you. During the Second World War a little girl in Belgium went into her bombed out church to pray. The roof had fallen in, walls were damaged, stained glass was scattered on the floor and the altar was split in two. She knelt before the altar to pray the Lord s Prayer. She got along well until she came to as we forgive. How could she forgive those enemies who had destroyed the church and bombed her city and killed some of her friends? She tried and tried but could not say the words. She tried one more time and when he got to that place, a gentle voice behind her said, As we forgive those who trespass against us and completed the prayer. She turned to see who it was and found that it was the King of Belgium. Look, forgiveness is hard, one of the hardest things you will ever do, perhaps. And yes you have a right to be angry and hurt over things that have been said to you and done to you. But
4 for Jesus sake and for your own sake, forgive them. And you don t have to do it on your own. Today and always we have the King behind us who helps us to say, As we forgive. Here is your King, forgiving. Father, forgive them, for do not know what they are doing. And finally here is your King, trusting in God to the very end. The Good Friday drama started in the Garden when Jesus prayed, Father, if it be your will remove this cup of suffering from me. Yet not my will, but your will be done. And it ended with the King on the Cross crying out as he took his last breath, Father, into your hands I commend my spirit. Even through the pain, the God-forsakenness and the agony Jesus kept on trusting in the Father s love and power. Jesus died, believing that God had something more to do. And God did. On Easter morning, the tomb was empty. The crucifixion became the world s salvation. The devil was defeated. Jesus is the King of Glory. He will come on the clouds to complete God s Kingdom and take his people home. Jesus is King forever. Look, life is not easy. Troubles come to us unexpectedly. Our prayers sometimes seem to go unanswered. There s much we don t understand. Our faith seems to be under attack. But in spite of it all, we do not have to lose heart. Instead, we can keep on trusting God. We can run the race with perseverance. We can be like the King who kept on trusting in God to the very end. For God sees what we cannot see. His plan will be fulfilled and even now is being fulfilled through all that happens to us. The words of the Psalmist are so true, Weeping tarries for the night, but joy comes in the morning. And Paul tells us, We know that in all things God works together for good for those who love Him, who are called according to his purpose. Here is your King, our King, beginning Holy week riding into Jerusalem on a donkey and then trusting God to the very end. And we can trust God to the very end, too. For God not only asks us to have faith he gives us faith and shares with us the King s victory. So on Palm Sunday, we raise our voices together and say, Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord.
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