Jesus The King: Paying The Bill!

SERMON OUTLINE:

Jesus Declared as King:

• Matthew chapter 2 verse 2:

• "Where is he born to be KING of the Jews".

• Matthew chapter 4 verse 23:

• "Jesus went throughout Galilee...preaching the good news of the KINGDOM,

• Matthew chapter 21 verse 5:

• "Your KING is coming to you riding on a donkey".

• Matthew chapter 27 verse 11:

• "the governor asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" "Yes, it is as you say," replied Jesus".

• Matthew chapter 27 verse 37:

• "This is Jesus, the KING of the Jews".

Jesus Demonstrates his Kingship:

• It is the only miracle recorded solely by Matthew

• It is the only miracle Jesus performed to meet His own needs

• It is the only miracle Jesus performed using money

• It is the only miracle Jesus performed using one fish

• It is the only miracle which does not have the results recorded

SERMON BODY

Ill:

• Video clip – You tube – ‘Stop and hear the music’:

• http://youtu.be/hnOPu0_YWhw

• On January 12, 2007 at 7:51am in the morning;

• An experiment began … sponsored by the Washington Post newspaper.

• A young musician takes his position against a wall in the metro station;

• Of the Washington DC., subway.

• He is wearing jeans; a long-sleeved shirt, and a Washington National’s baseball cap.

• He opens his violin case … removes the instrument;

• He throws a few dollars into the case from his pocket as “seed money” … and begins playing.

• He plays for the next 43 minutes … and during that time

• He performs six classical pieces – flawlessly !!

• During that 43 minutes;

• 1,097 people passed by, tossing in a total of $32.17 into his violin case.

• Of that 1,097 people;

• Only seven paused longer than sixty seconds to listen to this performance;

• Of those seven who lingered … only one recognized the violinist!

• The name of the violinist was Joshua Bell:

• Three days prior – he had filled Boston’s Symphony Hall;

• Where just “adequate” tickets sold for $100 apiece.

• And two weeks later,

• He would play for a standing-room-only audience in Bethesda, Maryland.

• Joshua Bell’s talents & artistry commands an average of $1,000 per minute;

• When performing this day in the subway;

• He barely earned enough to pay for a pair of cheap shoes.

• Now – you can’t fault the instrument;

• He was playing a Stradivarius worth 3.5 million dollars!

• You can’t fault the performance …

• He flawlessly played some of Johann Sebastian Bach’s best work!

• Yet … scarcely anyone noticed the presence of such artistry in this context:

• Flanked by a kiosk on one side and a shoe-shine stand on the other

• Most of those passer-by’s cynically wrote off this entertainer;

• As some typical, needy, dime-a-dozen musician,

• Who needed a few more cents to support his habit …or… to pay for a place to sleep.

• Little did they know that among them was a genius;

• And if they gave him some time he would greatly enrich their lives!

• TRANSITION:

• If you had lived 2,000 years ago, and if you encountered Jesus and the disciples,

• There would have been nothing to mark him out as being different,

• From the other twelve men.

• No halo on his head,

• No glow of light shining above or around him,

• He would have looked exactly the same,

• As any other Jewish man from that region of Galilee.

ill:

• If he was part of an identity parade to spot the Son of God,

• We would all probably fail to pick him out.

• Even his cousin John the Baptist (John chapter 1 verses 33-34)

• Failed to recognise him without God sending “the Spirit like a dove to land on him”.

• There was nothing that would have marked Jesus out as being different;

• And nothing to mark him out as being a King:

• But that is of course who he was and is!

Jesus Declared the King:

• Matthew in his gospel portrays Jesus a king;

• A quick scan through his gospel portrays that.

(a). Matthew chapter 2 verse 2:

• The Magi / wise men come looking for a baby,

• They ask the question "Where is he born to be KING of the Jews".

• Herod was king because he purchased the position off the Romans;

• But this baby will be born king – it is his kingdom by rights!

(b). Matthew chapter 4 verse 23:

"Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues,

preaching the good news of the KINGDOM, and healing every