A New Kind Of King Series

A Study of the Book of Luke

Sermon # 54

“A New Kind of King!”

Luke 19:28-38

“On December 4, 1977 in Bangui, capital of the Central African Empire the world press witnessed the coronation of his Imperial Majesty, Bokossa I. The price tag for that single event, designed and choreographed by a French designer… , was $25 million.

At 10:10 A.M. that morning the blare of the

Of trumpets and the roll of drums announced the approach of His Majesty. The procession began with eight of Bokassa’s twenty-nine official children parading down the royal carpet to their seats. They were followed by Jean Bedel Bokassa II, the heir to the throne, dressed in a white admiral’s uniform with gold braid. He was seated on a red pillow to the left of the throne. Catherine followed, the favorite of Bokassa’s nine wives. She was wearing a $ 73,000 gown made by Lanvin of Paris, strewn with pearls she had picked out herself.

The emperor arrived in an imperial coach bedecked with gold eagles and drawn by six-matched Anglo-Norman horses. When the Marine band blared, “The Sacred March of His Majesty, Emperor Bokassa I,” His Highness strode forth, cloaked in a thirty-two-pound robe decorated with 785,000 scattered pearls and gold embroidery. White gloves covered his hands, pearl slippers his feet. On his brow he wore a gold crown of laurel wreaths like those worn by Roman consuls of old, a symbol of the favor of the gods. As the “Sacred March” came to a conclusion, Bokassa seated himself on his $2.5 million eagle throne, took his gold laurel wreath off, and as Napoleon 173 years before had done, took his $ 2.5 million crown, which was topped with an 80-carat diamond, and placed it upon his head. At 10:43 A.M., December 4, 1977 the twentieth century saw a new emperor. Mercifully, Bokassa’s reign was not as imposing as his coronation.” Just two years later, he was removed by a coup. Bokassa did his best to establish an enduring kingdom but failed miserably. Kings and rulers down through the centuries have tried. [R. Kent Hughes. Luke: That You Might Know. Vol II. (Wheaton:Illinois, Crossway Books, 1998) pp. 237-238.] This morning I want to speak to you about a new kind of king.

In the previous text (Luke 19:11-27) Jesus has established himself as the king who had to go into a far country before returning in power. He has shown that the nature of his kingdom is to be different from that expected by the religious establishment. He has shown that the members of his kingdom are those who are faithful to him rather than who thought they had it made.

Though Luke does not tell us so, Matthew, Mark and John give information that leads up to Jesus presenting himself as the Messiah in the triumphant entry into Jerusalem. Jesus has performed a number of spectacular miracles. Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead in Bethany (John 11). And Mary had anointed Jesus with costly ointment in John 12. These works attested to the fact that he was indeed the Savior and king.

There are four things that I want you to realize with me about this new kind of king.

First, As King He Has the Right to Ask Us To Do Things That May Not Make Sense Humanly Speaking. (vv. 28-31)

“When He had said this, He went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. (29) And it came to pass, when He drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mountain called Olivet, that He sent two of His disciples, (30) saying, "Go into the village opposite you, where as you enter you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Loose it and bring it here. (31) And if anyone asks you, "Why are you loosing it?’ thus you shall say to him, "Because the Lord has need of it."

I think that far too often we read the Bible like it was a play, as if all the characters knew the script, they knew how things were going to turn out, but they didn’t. They did not know how it was going to turn out but they did know what Jesus had said to do. He had instructed his disciples that they were to go to a village opposite where they were at present and secure a young colt.

Now suppose Jesus told you to “go down to the Mall. Near the main entrance there will be a brand new Lexus with the key inside it. Bring it back to me. If the security or the owners ask you what you are doing, you just tell them that the Lord has need of it.” How many of you would be comfortable with those instructions?