THE KING AND HIS SUBJECTS PALM SUNDAY M.I. FOLLOWERS OF JESUS ARE COMMANDED TO MODEL HIS QUALITIES; ESPECIALLY THOSE OF HUMILITY, OBEDIENCE, AND SERVICE. I. SERVING THE KING (ISAIAH 50:4-9) Jesus never forgot that his service was for the glory of God the Father. We should never forget our service is done for Jesus. A. GOD EMPOWERS HIS SERVANTS (4) B. GOD S SERVANTS WILL SUFFER (5-6) C. GOD STRENGTHENS HIS SERVANTS (7-9) II. RECOGNIZING THE KING (MATTHEW 21:1-11) Jesus revealed the nature of God to us. A. A HUMBLE KING (1-5) B. A KING TO OBEY (6-7) C. A KING TO WORSHIP (8-11) III. BEING LIKE OUR KING (PHILIPPIANS 2:5-11) We are commanded to be like Jesus. A. IMITATING CHRIST (5) B. A MODEL OF HUMILITY, OBEDIENCE, AND SERVICE (6-8) C. GOD S VIEW OF HUMILITY, OBEDIENCE, AND SERVICE (9-11)
The King and His Subjects Palm Sunday This morning we find ourselves at the last Sunday of Lent. Palm Sunday is a strange combination of themes. It is also referred to as the Triumphal entry of Christ. It describes a spectacular event where the crowds treat Him like a king. He rides into Jerusalem as the King of the Jews; the Promised Jewish Messiah. People are all around Him; throwing down their cloaks and laying down palm branches before Him as He and His entourage make their way from the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem. They treat Him as if He is a conquering king returning home to His people. So in one sense, Palm Sunday is a day in which we celebrate the kingship of Jesus and His kingly entrance into Jerusalem during the Passover season. However, Palm Sunday is also known as Passion Sunday. It marks the start of Holy Week; which will carry us through Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Black Saturday. During this week, we will be reminded about all that Jesus suffered; betrayal, humiliation, torture, suffering, and public execution. During this week we are invited to identify the cause of that suffering as the sin in our lives. Thirdly, even though we celebrate Jesus entry into Jerusalem as a triumphant King, Jesus doesn t ride into town on a bigger than life white horse; He rides into Jerusalem on a donkey and as a mild, humble, and loving King. In fact He is entering Jerusalem to become the King of Salvation. He will come to rescue His people through His suffering and death. This will be a supernatural war between sin and righteousness. Jesus will have to fight and win this war through His death and resurrection. He will be the King Who suffers on behalf of His people. However, we must also remind ourselves that there will be a day in which He comes as the Conquering and Triumphant King riding a bigger than life white horse. This Sunday and Holy week should fill us with mixed emotions; brokenness as we realize that we are the cause of Jesus suffering, thankfulness that Jesus won our salvation through His suffering and death, expectation that Jesus will come again to destroy evil once and for all, and imitation of our Lord and Savior Jesus attitudes since we are His followers. The one thing that stands in the way of our imitating Christ is our pride. Pride is the thing that causes us to be blind and to remain blind. A lion thought to himself one day, I am the king of the jungle and I have mastery of the entire animal kingdom. One day he decided to make sure all the other animals knew he was the king. He was so confident that he bypassed the smaller animals and went straight to the bear. Who is the king of the jungle? the lion asked. The bear replied, Why you are, of course. The lion gave a might roar of approval. Next he asked the tiger, Who is the king of the jungle? The tiger quickly responded, Everyone knows that you are; mighty lion. pg. 2
Next on his list was the elephant. He went up to the elephant and said, Who is the king of the jungle? Immediately the elephant grabbed the lion with his trunk, whirled him around in the air five or six times and slammed him into a tree. Then he pounded him onto the ground several times, dunked him under the water, and finally dumped him out on the beach. The lion; beaten, bruised, and battered struggled to his feet. He looked at the elephant and said, Look, just because you don t know the answer is no reason for you to get mean about it! Obviously the lion still didn t get it. We are Christians who wear the Name of Christ. The main idea of this morning s texts is this. FOLLOWERS OF JESUS ARE COMMANDED TO MODEL HIS QUALITIES; ESPECIALLY THOSE OF HUMILITY, OBEDIENCE, AND SERVICE. In other words, Jesus is the King of His Kingdom. Since we have been granted royal citizenship into His Kingdom, He expects us to follow Him in words, thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors. What is important to God ought to be important to us. Jesus provides us with a very graphic example of what He expects of us. SERVING THE KING (ISAIAH 50:4-9) In Isaiah 50:4-9, the prophet recorded what the Messiah would look like as He went about life serving the King. JESUS NEVER FORGOT THAT HIS SERVICE WAS FOR THE GLORY OF GOD THE FATHER. WE SHOULD NEVER FORGET OUR SERVICE IS DONE FOR JESUS. I know as we talk about God it becomes confusing because God exists in Three Persons; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus being God in the Flesh is portrayed as submitting to and obeying the will of God the Father. But it is also correct to portray Jesus as the King of the Kingdom of God. The Holy Spirit is also God and we need to remember the God we worship is One God; existing in Three Persons. GOD EMPOWERS HIS SERVANTS (4) In verse 4, we get some understanding of how God empowers His servants. As we examine this verse, I would like to remind us that this is how God inspired the Old Testament prophets and the New Testament Apostles. There are a lot of people who claim to be modern day prophets but I wonder how readily all the people who claim to hear the Word of God would speak it out if the penalty for false or mistaken prophecy was in the Old Testament; namely that they would be put to death. In the Old Testament, if a person claimed to be a prophet and misspoke, that person was taken and publicly executed. I m shocked as I listen to people who say things like, God spoke to me, or God showed me His will for this or that. The real problem in the modern day church is that people are not held accountable for their so-called speaking for God or for holding on to false doctrine. We live in a culture where anybody can say what they want and they are entitled to their own opinions, and they can go around spouting off their own opinions as if they have the authority of God behind them. pg. 3
Even in the case of New Testament prophets, they were required to submit their perceived messages from God to the community of prophets to test their message. But there is no such humility in the modern day church. People go around teaching what they think is truth and really have no remorse for the lives they ruin. Jesus was clearly in the mold of an Old Testament prophet, and yet much more. In the Bible, when we come across such phrases as; Thus says the LORD, It is written, and when Jesus says, I say unto you, they are all of equal weight. They carry the full power and authority of God. So when a true prophet says, Thus says the LORD, we can be sure the words he or she speaks, comes directly from God. When Jesus says, It is written, He is stating that the Holy Spirit inspired the Bible and what He is quoting is the written Word of God. In other words, the Bible carries the full power and authority of God. When Jesus says, I say unto You, He is claiming to speak with the power and authority of God. He is God. In His human form, God The Father was intentional about letting people know that the Words of Jesus were on the same level as His. Listen to what God the Father spoke about Jesus at the Transfiguration event: 5 This is my beloved Son, and I am fully pleased with him. Listen to him (Matthew 17:5 / NLT). Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit and He spoke the Word of God. In fact the Apostle John described Jesus as the Living Word of God. I want to caution all of us about going around and claiming to speak for God. Listen to the warning James, the brother of Jesus leaves us with: 1Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged by God with greater strictness (James 3:1 / NLT). GOD S SERVANTS WILL SUFFER (5-6) I think we ought to take verses 5-6 very seriously because God s servants will suffer. These verses are clearly a description of Jesus salvation work. He was publicly humiliated, tortured, was spit in the face; and offered no resistance. By the time He was crucified, He was already beaten and tortured half to death, and a bloody mess. He knew He was suffering by divine appointment. Jesus had God s mission in sight; not His own personal agenda. The interesting thing I have noticed about false teachers who claim to have a word from God is that are not very humble and in addition to having an inflated view of themselves, they are not very willing to suffer and shut up. They are not content going astray alone, they are intent at leading others astray as well. Jesus made this point clear as did the Apostles in their writings. The Old Testament clearly made this point as well. The false teacher Korah who challenged Moses leadership was not content to die alone. Listen to how God judged them: pg. 4
31He had hardly finished speaking the words when the ground suddenly split open beneath them. 32The earth opened up and swallowed the men, along with their households and the followers who were standing with them, and everything they owned. 33So they went down alive into the grave, along with their belongings. The earth closed over them, and they all vanished. 34All of the people of Israel fled as they heard their screams, fearing that the earth would swallow them, too. 35Then fire blazed forth from the LORD and burned up the 250 men who were offering incense (Numbers 16:31-35 / NLT). Listen carefully, it really does matter who you follow because following false teachers will lead to death. And let me remind us all that authentic teachers are humble and are willing to suffer quietly and will allow God to speak for them. GOD STRENGTHENS HIS SERVANTS (7-9) And the reason they are able to do this is described in the next few verses. Verses 7-9 state that God strengthens His servants. Please note carefully the character and attitude of God s servants. In verse 7 we can see that we don t need to get all crazy and defend ourselves when people insult us, lie about us, our do things underhandedly. God knows what is being done in secret and under the table. I can tell you personally, I really don t worry about what people say about me. I am clear that God called me and I will continue to carry out my duties as faithfully as I can. I don t worry about what people try to do in secret. I know God hears and sees it all. In verse 8 the servant is filled with courage because he is certain God will not only see but act on his behalf. And in verse 9 we see that God does not let go unpunished those that would try to do harm to His servants. I want you to get a feel how God sees and hears everything and why I don t worry about what people try to do in secret with secret agendas. Listen to this great story involving the Old Testament prophet Elisha: 8When the king of Aram was at war with Israel, he would confer with his officers and say, We will mobilize our forces at such and such a place. 9But immediately Elisha, the man of God, would warn the king of Israel, Do not go near that place, for the Arameans are planning to mobilize their troops there. 10So the king of Israel would send word to the place indicated by the man of God, warning the people there to be on their guard. This happened several times. 11The king of Aram became very upset over this. He called in his officers and demanded, Which of you is the traitor? Who has been informing the king of Israel of my plans? 12 It s not us, my lord, one of the officers replied. Elisha, the prophet in Israel, tells the king of Israel even the words you speak in the privacy of your bedroom! 13The king commanded, Go and find out where Elisha is, and we will send troops to seize him. pg. 5
And the report came back: Elisha is at Dothan. 14So one night the king of Aram sent a great army with many chariots and horses to surround the city. 15When the servant of the man of God got up early the next morning and went outside, there were troops, horses, and chariots everywhere. Ah, my lord, what will we do now? he cried out to Elisha. 16 Don t be afraid! Elisha told him. For there are more on our side than on theirs! 17Then Elisha prayed, O LORD, open his eyes and let him see! The LORD opened his servant s eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire. 18As the Aramean army advanced toward them, Elisha prayed, O LORD, please make them blind. And the LORD did as Elisha asked. 19Then Elisha went out and told them, You have come the wrong way! This isn t the right city! Follow me, and I will take you to the man you are looking for. And he led them to Samaria. 20As soon as they had entered Samaria, Elisha prayed, O LORD, now open their eyes and let them see. And the LORD did, and they discovered that they were in Samaria II Kings 6:8-20 / NLT). Jesus never complained and He knew His destiny was in Jerusalem; where betrayal, humiliation, torture, and death awaited Him. And yet He humbly focused on accomplishing His mission. JESUS NEVER FORGOT THAT HIS SERVICE WAS FOR THE GLORY OF GOD THE FATHER. WE SHOULD NEVER FORGET OUR SERVICE IS DONE FOR JESUS. RECOGNIZING THE KING (MATTHEW 21:1-11) The Gospel reading this morning comes from Matthew 21:1-11 and it describes the recognition of Jesus as King. But in this whole event what comes through the loudest is that JESUS REVEALED THE NATURE OF GOD TO US. The event is one of the things we celebrate on Palm Sunday. This is Jesus Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. We often forget that Jesus is God in the flesh and if we want to know what God is like, we can look at Jesus. Listen to this exchange between Jesus and the Apostles Thomas and Philip: 6Jesus told him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. 7If you had known who I am, then you would have known who my Father is. From now on you know him and have seen him! 8Philip said, Lord, show us the Father and we will be satisfied. 9Jesus replied, Philip, don t you even yet know who I am, even after all the time I have been with you? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father!... (John 14:6-9 / NLT). A HUMBLE KING (1-5) So as we look at the way in which Jesus comports Himself, we can gain an understanding of what God is like and what He expects of us. Verses 1-5 describe Jesus as a humble king. The key verses in this section are verses 4-5. The phrase pg. 6
Say to the Daughter of Zion, comes from the prophet Isaiah. And the rest of verse 5 comes from Zachariah. These two prophecies were given to help the nation of Israel identify their Messiah. In those days, a conquering king would have ridden into Jerusalem on a bigger than life white horse accompanied by his armed soldiers; for all to see his great display of power and authority. But Jesus showed us the heart of God. God does not wish to have followers that have to beaten into submission. God demonstrated His love for us in Jesus and He is looking for followers that follow Him out of love. Jesus came riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. This was a sign that He was a loving and approachable King. He was there to serve and not to be served. Jesus could have ridden into Jerusalem on a supernatural white horse with thousands of angels accompanying Him. In fact the next time He comes, Jesus will come this way. Listen to the description of His next Triumphal Entry: 11Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. And the one sitting on the horse was named Faithful and True. For he judges fairly and then goes to war. 12His eyes were bright like flames of fire, and on his head were many crowns. A name was written on him, and only he knew what it meant. 13He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and his title was the Word of God. 14The armies of heaven, dressed in pure white linen, followed him on white horses. 15From his mouth came a sharp sword, and with it he struck down the nations. He ruled them with an iron rod, and he trod the winepress of the fierce wrath of almighty God. 16On his robe and thigh was written this title: King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 18:11-16 / NLT). At any time, Jesus could have chosen to take charge, manifest Himself as King and wipe out His enemies. But Jesus knew that He was sent to redeem us from our bondage to sin, Satan, fear, and death. Jesus came to die in our place. It is truly the sign of a great leader; that he or she would suffer and die for those who follow them. We don t see that type of leadership in our world today. Leaders are more about serving themselves rather than serving those they lead. It was love and humility that kept Jesus on His way to the cross. A KING TO OBEY (6-7) Jesus is a King to be obeyed as described in verses 6-7. This time there were no questions or confusion on the part of the Disciples. They did just as Jesus commanded. They procured the prearranged donkey, put their cloaks on it, Jesus sat on the donkey, and made His way to Jerusalem. Now would be a good time to describe the context of this event. Every adult Jewish male was required to go to Jerusalem every year at Passover. The city was filled well beyond capacity. It was estimated that 250,000 lambs were brought into the city for sacrifice. Based on the fact that 10 people shared a lamb for dinner, it is estimated there were about 2 ½ million people in Jerusalem. Jews from all over the world were there. It was crazy busy with all the hustle and bustle of preparing for the holiday. This would be the perfect time for the Jewish Messiah to make His appearance. pg. 7
A KING TO WORSHIP (8-11) And so in verses 8-11 we observe Jesus as a King to be worshiped. Look at verse 10. Jesus entrance into Jerusalem caused a big stir. That word for stir means to cause someone to quake with fear. It is of the same root word we get earthquake from. Jesus appearance figuratively caused the earth to quake in Jerusalem. As Jesus approached Jerusalem, people threw their cloaks on the ground and cut palm branches and waved them and spread them on the ground in front of Jesus. They may have been singing this song anyway for the holiday, but it is clear from this passage that they are applying it directly to Jesus. In other words, they are cheering Him on as the Messiah. They were shouting and cheering. Hosanna means save us now. They were asking Jesus to save them now. Of course they were asking Jesus to save them from the Romans but Jesus was going to save them from their sin. Let me quickly make an aside comment here at the risk of losing the mood. People and crowds are fickle. The next crowd Jesus will run into is the crowd that will shout out, Crucify Him! Jesus was giving them a gift for eternity and all they could think of was receiving political freedom. God fed them manna in the wilderness; heaven baked homemade bread; and all they could think of was the meat they used to eat back in slavery. Let s get back to the event. Jesus is approaching Jerusalem and the crowds are worshiping Him and praising Him. I want us to really understand what we were created for. We were created to present Jesus to everyone we meet. Do you think the donkey was ever confused as to Whom the crowd was cheering for? Yet many Christians want to draw more attention to themselves than to Jesus and Christianity becomes more about them than it does about serving Jesus and serving others. They have less insight than the donkey that carried Jesus into Jerusalem. Jesus revealed the nature of God to be humble, gentle, loving, and willing to do whatever it takes to win our love. Further Jesus made it clear that God will not suffer fools nor tolerate pride. The Bible says more than once that God gives grace to the humble but stands against the proud. I certainly don t ever want to find myself on the wrong side of that equation. There is no getting around this. JESUS REVEALED THE NATURE OF GOD TO US. BEING LIKE OUR KING (PHILIPPIANS 2:5-11) I think that we can see and accept that Jesus is God in the flesh; therefore our King. When we look at the loving, humble, and perfect nature of Him, Who wouldn t want to give their life to Jesus in faith? He is like no other god. And if we choose to follow Him as King, then the next logical step is found in Philippians 2:5-11; being like our king. In other words WE ARE COMMANDED TO BE LIKE JESUS. Jesus said the demonstration of our love for Him will play out in our obedience to Him. And let me quickly point this out. It s obeying Him in all things; not just the things we decide to obey. C. S. Lewis used to say that his dog never quite obeyed him. It was just that from time to time the dog s will agreed with his will. I think that we are like C. S. Lewis dog in our relationship with God. It seems that we never quite get the idea of obeying God. It just so happens that our will agrees with His from time to time. pg. 8
IMITATING CHRIST (5) In verse 5 we are commanded to imitate Christ. Jesus perfectly obeyed God with love and humility. Jesus was truly an obedient Servant. As we go through this section, the Apostle Paul invites us to check our attitudes. Remember, our wills are to be conformed to the will of God. His will is not meant to be conformed to our will. Some of us do get confused as to who is serving who. A MODEL OF HUMILITY, OBEDIENCE, AND SERVICE (6-8) Jesus gave us the perfect model of humility, obedience, and service. Jesus existed from eternity past. He ruled in heaven with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. Jesus was God the Son from the beginning. He was worshiped and enjoyed perfect fellowship. However, seeing the hopeless estate we humans found ourselves in, He willingly chose to set all His God-privileges behind, leave heaven, come down to earth, and be born of the virgin Mary. He took the form of a Servant and fulfilled all the Servant prophecies in Isaiah. Who did Jesus come to serve? He came to serve His creation. We as human beings have worked our way into a horrible state of sin and lostness. Jesus came to die in our place. The wages of sin is death. Jesus came to pay that penalty. He never forgot that He came to serve His creation and the only way to do that was through a humiliating and horrible death. He obeyed the Father and accomplished His mission. So today, if we are willing to humble ourselves and give ourselves to Jesus in faith, we will be saved. GOD S VIEW OF HUMILITY, OBEDIENCE, AND SERVICE (9-11) I would like us to look at verses 9-11 as God s view of humility, obedience, and service. Because Jesus was humble and obedient, and because He gave His life in the service of those He created; God exalted Him to the highest place. There will come a time when Jesus once again enters human history on a white horse with an angelic army. At that time there will be no choice. Every knee will bow; in heaven, on earth, and under the earth. And every tongue will confess Jesus Christ is Lord. There will be no argument, stubbornness, or arrogance. Everyone will acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord. And it will all be done to the glory of God the Father. I think the lesson we are to take away from this is that since Jesus is our King, we ought to follow in His footsteps of humility, obedience, and service. WE ARE COMMANDED TO BE LIKE JESUS. There are great things waiting for those who would be humble, obedient, and lovingly serve others. There are some very bad things waiting for the proud, the stubborn, and the arrogant. We have a choice to make; will we choose to follow in Jesus footsteps? FOLLOWERS OF JESUS ARE COMMANDED TO MODEL HIS QUALITIES; ESPECIALLY THOSE OF HUMILITY, OBEDIENCE, AND SERVICE. I think many of us get confused along the way because we treat Christianity as if it were some magical charm that gets us what we want out of life and insulates us from suffering. The author of Hebrews said that Jesus learned obedience through suffering. If Jesus being God could only learn obedience through suffering; what pg. 9
makes us think we could learn it any other way? I know people today want to be entertained in church. But there are no shortcuts to Christianity and Jesus did not come to die so we could be gods of our own lives. We are here to follow Christ. Listen to what Jesus said it would take for us to follow Him: 23 If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me (Luke 9:23 / NRSV). Jesus led His Kingly procession to the cross. Jesus denied Himself, laid down His life, and suffered for the Kingdom of God. Does that describe our attitude or expectation of where God is leading us? pg. 10