King Jesus

Darrin Brown

Passion Week • Sermon • Submitted 2 years ago

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Introduction

Sometimes we don’t realize the significance of certain moments in life until we give it some time.

It could be days, months, years, and then we realize how significant that moment really was.

It could be your wedding day, your children being born… a graduation… joining the military…

Looking back now, I can see that those are the moments that changed my life.

As we remember that first Palm Sunday, that was a very significant moment in the life and the ministry of Jesus… it’s in all 4 gospels.

It’s the beginning of passion week where Jesus made HIS triumphal entry into Jerusalem.

We tend to see Palm Sunday as a pure, unblemished celebration of Jesus entering Jerusalem. I remember as a kid in church, we would march down the aisle, waving palms branches, representing the people who worshiped Jesus on that first Palm Sunday.

If we had been there, we would have joined those voices shouting “Hosanna, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”.

On that grand moment, a week before the passover, there were crowds of people… religious and political leaders, followers of Jesus, pilgrims from other places to celebrate Passover but also to see Jesus.

Jerusalem’s population doubled for the Passover plus Jesus was drawing the big crowds.

All the miracles that were taking place, lives were being changed, people were being resurrected from the grave. Those who listened to Jesus teach the people about the Kingdom of God hung on to every word Jesus spoke.

This is the peak of Jesus’ earthly ministry and the crowds were getting hyped.

The people were ready to make Jesus their King because was meeting their needs… their humanitarian needs, the medical needs, the leadership needs, and so the people were ready to receive Jesus as their king.

Luke 19:28-40 (NIV) 28 After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, 30 “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.

31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it.’” 32 Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 They replied, “The Lord needs it.” 35 They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. 36 As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road.

37 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: 38 “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” 40 “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

PRAY

People came to worship Jesus. Luke mentioned that the crowd were disciples of Jesus but we see a divers group of people from all over the known world, representing different people groups with different motives and different agendas.

We see the crowd…

the masses of people, some were followers of Jesus but some were curious about Jesus.

And then we see the Pharisees…

The religious leaders who were threatened by Jesus. They saw the people that they had power over were looking to Jesus instead. They were jealous and desperately wanted Jesus dead.

The people were diverse, but so were their motives. Many of their motives were impure, and self-serving and because of that, they missed the significance of the moment.

This was not just another worship service, this was the moment where Jesus revealed HIMSELF to the people as their King. But, we see that they missed the moment where they could surrender completely… where they could lay everything down and put their complete faith in the righteous and humble King Jesus.

But, the people were reluctant because they were stuck in their own hang ups and reluctant to surrender everything to King Jesus.

Let’s look at the 2 groups highlighted in this passage and then close with the reason for their reluctancy in surrendering to King Jesus.

THE CROWD was curious about Jesus.

After hearing about the miracles Jesus performed. According to John’s gospel (12:9), many came to the village of Bethany to see Lazarus who was raised from the dead by the power of Jesus.

When somebody raises the dead it’s hard not to draw a crowd. Anybody can draw a crowd…

Just look at the cyber celebrities on YouTube or Tic Tok. These people produce stupid pointless videos and millions watch. It’s easy to draw a crowd especially with the internet. People will show up just to be entertained… just as long as their immediate need are met.

Crowds show up to see something specular and Jesus showed them the super-spectacular.

The crowds had little to no commitment to Jesus. They were only interested in themselves… their immediate need and that’s why the crowd wanted to make Jesus their King.

John 12:12-13 (NIV) 12 The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 13 They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Blessed is the king of Israel!”

The crowd shouting Hosanna and waving palm branches as Jesus passed by.

The were crying out “Hosanna!” is an Aramaic phrase meaning “Save us now!”

The crowd was declaring Psalm 118:26 “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” .

Then the crowd shouts “Hail to the King of Israel!” The crowds looked to Jesus by greeting HIM as a national liberator.

Palms were a symbol of Jewish nationalism focusing on Israel’s national hopes as Jesus enters the city. Crowd saw Jesus as their ticket to freedom from Roman terrine.

In another account, the crowds responded to Jesus in John 6, after Jesus miraculously fed the 5000, the crowd wanted Jesus to be their king.

If Jesus is our king then we can eat bread and fish and be satisfied… our needs will be taken care of and we don’t have to work for it.

Jesus knows our intentions… HE knows what we need… that’s why Jesus was focused on the cross.

This same jubilant crowd who lined the streets in Jerusalem, waiving palm branches, shouting, praising God and honoring Jesus as King… but Only Days later they were shouting Crucify Him…

Jesus is still our King… BUT we cannot respond like the crowd and try to make Jesus king on our terms.

We cannot try to make Jesus king if all of our needs are met, if life is easy, if everyone loves me.

Jesus will always be our King so trust Jesus, completely… surrender everything to HIM.

Even when the miracle doesn’t come…

When others give up on their faith…

Even when people fail us… when when those we love are no longer with us…

When those we admired as men or women of great faith are no longer serving King Jesus.

Jesus is our King and we are to be of HIS Kingdom.

The crowd saw Jesus through the issues of the day but Jesus sees HIS Kingdom in us as we live in this world.

Jesus came to become the perfect lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

Don’t stay in the curious crowd... surrender all to King Jesus no matter what this world has… Jesus has so much greater, Jesus is better, Jesus is the forever King.

The crowd wanted the goodies but...

The religious leaders wanted control.

They were all about power... authority… they were all about control… they saw Jesus as a threat to their power.

The Pharisees told Jesus how to control the crowd. Rebuke them, tell them they are out of line…

Luke 19:39 (NIV) 39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”

These people always had control over the people using their religious authority. When Jesus showed up and their control was quickly slipping away.

King Jesus was not about controlling, manipulating, or guilting anyone. Jesus showed the people the Love of the Father.

As we are in the presence of King Jesus our natural response is worship. That’s why Jesus rejected the Pharisees request. Luke 19:40 (NIV) 40 “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

It’s not about controlling the people, it’s about the people encountering the freedom of the presence of King Jesus.

The crowds were becoming more and more bold And the Pharisees were becoming more and more paranoid. They even wanted to Kill Lazarus.

As the crowd was publicly worshipping Jesus, the leaders were so threatened by Jesus that they forgot the purpose.

They no longer ministered to the people. They became irrelevant. It became all about them.

The ironic thing is that King Jesus had complete power and authority and yet totally surrenders HIS life for the love of HIS Father and the love for humankind.

Learn from the Pharisees and be careful that we don’t become irrelevant because of our religious traditions, spiritual habits, or our personal preferences when it comes to church life. We must relate to real people the way Jesus did.

Our job isn’t to control people, Our job is to show off the love of Jesus so people can respond to the presence of King Jesus in genuine worship and complete surrender.

Jesus being present with the people is what brought real transformation. When people encounter the real presence of King Jesus, their lives will be forever changed.

Jesus never worried about how people responded… He just spoke the truth in love. We freely make our own decisions in life, Jesus never manipulated anyone.

Jesus went to the cross for us so we can freely bow down, worship the King, and surrender our all to our King Jesus.

King Jesus came to bring us Real Peace

After the high point in HIS ministry, the triumphal entry into Jerusalem… Jesus began to weep over the city.

Luke 19:41-44 (NIV) 41 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 42 and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43 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. 44 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.”

Jesus, knowing the hearts of the people and knowing the significance of that very first Palm Sunday.

Jesus saw a people who were caught up in the hype and the moment came and went. The King of Kings literally showed up yet the people just responded as if it were just another church service. They came and waved their palms, shouted their Hosanna’s, and went home unchanged.

Jesus wept for Jerusalem because HE knew the tragic future ahead and their lives were not firmly established on King Jesus. Their foundation was still shaky.

Jesus said “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes.”

Today, church, looking back at the significance of this moment, we can repent and surrender and receive that real peace that only King Jesus can give us.

Jesus is our prince of peace. No matter what we face… no matter what our future holds… we can now walk in confidence, fully relying on HIS peace… abiding in the presence of the King of Kings when we surrender ALL to HIM.

Who is king Jesus? The significance of this moment was described in the OT…

Zechariah 9:9 (ESV) “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

King Jesus is not like any earthly king… this king is humble and giving us salvation.

King Jesus isn’t some distant deity, looking down at us from a distance… unapproachable.

No, Jesus is this King so rejoice, delight in HIM, and never stop worshipping King Jesus every day.

TAKE AWAY:

The people were reluctant to surrender everything to King Jesus but the good news is, Jesus is still present with us.

Don’t just sit back like the crowd and be curious about Jesus.

Respond to King Jesus, without reluctancy but jump right in, and trust HIM with everything.

Don’t sit back and expect to be served…

Don’t serve Jesus only on your terms…

throw your terms and conditions out the window.

Don’t be like the religious leaders who were unwilling to give up control.

Since King Jesus is still present with us today, surrender everything to the King.

Our hopes and dream… our expectations and preferences… our luxuries… our time… our passions… our talents… our finances.