The Coming King Series

Everyone wants to back a winner.

Take our allegiance and enthusiasm for sports teams, for example.

Year after year may pass, and the local team may have a nucleus of loyal fans, but when they start winning, when they enter the playoffs, when they are vying for the championship, suddenly everyone’s a fan!

The same thing happens in politics, entertainment, publishing, and business.

You may smile, or scoff, but there is a reason so many of us behave that way.

I think it has to do with the universal human need … to worship.

We all long to worship someone or something bigger than ourselves. It is why we make heroes and celebrities out of ordinary people. We are wired for worship.

It is so strong in us, that if we do not find a worthy object of worship,we will settle for all sorts of things, even unworthy things.

That is why what we do here each weekend is so important. Because there is inexpressible delight and wholenessand fulfillment to be found in worshiping the one who revealed Himself as the Son of Man, the Sinner’s Friend, the Anointed One, the Coming King.

Some of you recognize in those titles the themes of our worship these past few weeks, as we have shared a series of messages and worship experiences

called “Who Do You Say I Am?”

They are based on a movie called Son of God, a dramatic portrayal of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christas well as His message and mission.

We have been watching the depiction of various Bible passages as the creators of the Son of God movie rendered them; and then we’ve been going to our Bibles to study and apply that part of Jesus’ story to our lives.

So today we will look at the portrayal of Jesus as the Coming King, the one who was promised by the prophet Zechariah when he wrote,

“Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious,lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” —Zechariah 9:9, NIV

It is a prophecy that was fulfilled by Jesus as He rode into Jerusalem, a reference to the Coming King, the promised Messiah, that virtually everyone in the crowd that day would have recognized, a very public and pointed claim to be the one they had all awaited.

PLAY video clip from The Son of God, “The Triumphal Entry.”

That incident, which has come to be called the Triumphal Entry, is celebrated in churches around the world every Palm Sunday—the week before Easter.

It depicts another answer to the question Jesus once asked His closest friends and followers, “Who do you say I am?”

It reveals Jesus as the Coming King, the one spoken of by the prophet Jeremiah, who wrote:

“‘The days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch,a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety.This is the name by which he will be called: The LORD Our Righteous Savior’” —Jeremiah 23:5–6, NIV

The people of Jesus’ day, of course, did not fully understand the nature of Jesus’ kingdom and the scope of His salvation,but they clearly welcomed the rabbi from Nazareth as a king that day, and He accepted their worship, though He knew how quickly it would evaporate.

And in that fact is a great truth:

Jesus will rule as king where He is received as king.

That day, many who had known Him a long time and others who had to ask who He was received Him as king, though they had much to learn about Him and His kingdom.

And so it is today.

Whether you have known Him a long time or are still asking who this Jesus is, He will rule as king where He is received as king.

Of course, you may not fully understand what that means, or what it looks like for you. So let’s turn to the Bible for a little clarification.

If you want to recognize Jesus as the king who was promised, receive Him as king and serve Him as king, then first let me suggest you …

1. Do what Jesus says.

Let’s look together at Luke, chapter 19. We will begin reading in verse 29:

“As he [Jesus] approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, 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?” say, “The Lord needs it.”’