YOUR MAJESTY -> JOHN 12:12-19
[ENTER DRESSED AS KING, PLAY “GOD SAVE THE QUEEN YOUTH FALLS FOR YOU TO STEPON FOR STAGE, ETC.]
-good morning everyone and welcome to Palm Sunday.
-this is one of those holidays we celebrate every year, people bring palm branches to church, but do we see what it means anymore? I think in our reenactments with a dozen people we’ve lost the grandeur.
-this was a huge event, something that likely involved thousands and thousands of people. So let’s read it together, don’t feel like you have to read along, try to close your eyes and imagine what’s going on here.
**John 12:12-19 -> 12The next day, the news that Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem swept through the city. A large crowd of Passover visitors 13took palm branches and went down the road to meet Him. They shouted, “Praise God! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hail to the King of Israel!” 14Jesus found a young donkey and rode on it, fulfilling the prophecy that said: 15“Don’t be afraid, people of Jerusalem. Look, your King is coming, riding on a donkey’s colt.” [that’s Zech 9:9 for those wondering]. 16His disciples didn’t understand at the time that this was a fulfillment of prophecy. But after Jesus entered into His glory, they remembered what had happened and realized that these things had been written about Him. 17Many in the crowd had seen Jesus call Lazarus from the tomb, raising him from the dead, and they were telling others about it. 18That was the reason so many went out to meet Him—because they had heard about this miraculous sign. 19 Then the Pharisees said to each other, “There’s nothing we can do. Look, everyone has gone after Him!” (NLT)
-to help explain this a little better, has everyone heard the story of Lazarus? A guy Jesus knows who dies, Jesus raises him from the dead, big deal. Well, Lazarus lived in Bethany which to explain in today’s terms was kind of like a suburb of Jerusalem, so everyone in Jerusalem probably heard about it. And it only happened a few months before this. So why everyone is so excited is the Person who raised someone back from the dead mere weeks ago was back in town. It’s like Jesus raising someone from the dead in Noblesville back in December coming back to visit. Everyone would know.
-now, the reason for the verse at the end with the Pharisees is from Lazarus as well. After doing this miracle the Pharisees realized they were pretty much done unless they could get rid of Jesus. That’s the reason Jesus left Jerusalem. So not only is Jesus coming back, but because His following has now grown so huge, the Pharisees realize their plan to get rid of Him when He came back won’t be as easy as they thought.
-that kind of clear things up, make it a little more real, make a little more sense?
-so this is where we are, this is what has happened. But why? Well, first because Jesus is showing He’s royalty
1. JESUS IS ROYALTY
-you had to figure out there was something with this outfit, right?
-this is a concept I think Americans have a hard time understanding. There is no king here, our leader is elected, they’re in no way “special” in the terms that we think of royalty. The only royalty associated with America was the King of England fighting against the colonists.
-see, I grew up different. Even though Canada has no king we are still very closely tied with England and we still value the relationship with the Queen, although it dies a little more every year.
-but Elizabeth Windsor is special because she is royalty. British people understand they are subject to the queen and they are devoutly loyal to her. I remember talking with someone here about two ladies who were becoming American citizens and they really struggled with this. The main thing holding them back was they would be severing their ties to the Queen, to the monarchy of England.
-and Elizabeth Windsor is treated differently because she is royalty. I’ve been to Buckingham Palace, nice place. I could live there if I had to. The Queen has never worn the same pair of gloves twice, why? She’s the queen, she gets whatever she wants. As royalty she is treated like royalty.
-in this passage, we finally have Jesus being treated like royalty. Think about it, He is the Son of God and He has spent the last thirty-three years of His life as a peasant carpenter. He spent the last three years doing ministry, walking around, eating grain on the side of the road, sleeping outside or at someone’s house if they were nice enough.
-all this time, He is never treated royally. Even just riding in a donkey, this is only one of two times where we know of Him riding on an animal, the other is in Mary’s womb. Everywhere else He went in life, no carriage, no donkey, no servants, He walked like an average person.
-and here He’s finally being called King too! People are acknowledging Him and who He is finally after all this time. Inthe Scriptures, outside of His little circle, people didn’t call Him King. The exceptions, His birth, the wise men bowed down and gave Him kingly gifts, and His death, Pilate puts a sign on the cross naming Jesus as the King of the Jews.
-in fact, the only reason Pilate does that is because of a conversation with Jesus on Good Friday.
**John 18:37 -> 37“You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to Me.” (NIV)
-Jesus says He’s a King, and it must be hard to have that conversation knowing you’re about to be betrayed by everyone who lined up just five days ago to acknowledge you as royalty.
-that’s part of being royalty, people want to see you!
-the last time the Queen came to Canada, I was home visiting my family. I was supposed to go to downtown Toronto and get some stuff for friends in Louisiana. They didn’t get anything, because everyone was downtown! The queen was there.
-there’s an old story of when the Queen came to Canada in the 80’s there was a teacher who wanted to see her, so she fought to the front of the crowd and started running alongside the car to keep up. On Monday at school, one of her second graders said they saw her by the Queen. A little embarrassed, the teacher asked if she was there, the girl said, “No, we saw you running after the car on the news.”
-it’s funny, but to some people that’s how important the royal family is. The only thing that comes close here, and it shows our priorities a little, is the Colts winning the Superbowl. Did any of you go downtown for the welcome home parade? I watched on the news, lost of people, I’m sure if they had them, they’d be waving palm branches. New Testament confetti.
-this is Palm Sunday. Royalty is entering Jerusalem for the first time in hundreds of years, and the people are excited about it.
-finally people are recognizing Christ for the King He is.
-and here’s the other part of royalty that’s hard to understand. It isn’t earned. There are odd occasions where your country is taken over by another so now their king is your king, or even stranger is internal war that leads to a different family being king, but for the most part, you are born royalty.
-Queen Elizabeth is Queen for no other reason than she was the eldest daughter of King George VI, and right now, Prince Charles is the Heir Apparent, meaning he’s next in line, for no other reason than He was born into the family. He may lose his heirship to the throne, abdicate it through marriage, etc., but no matter what he’s still royalty.
-Jesus is King because of who He was born to, who His Father is. On the non-religious, completely political side, Jesus was a part of the family of King David on both His mother and Joseph’s side. So even just on paper, excluding Him being the Son of God, He was royalty in a long lost sense. The Gospels of Matthew and Luke open with those lists of family to show how Jesus was connected to those families.
-but then there’s another line. Who is the only other person “birthed” by God? Adam, and Eve. Adam was made of dust and God breathed life into Him. And Jesus is referred to as the Son of Adam, or the Son of Man many times in Scriptures.
**I Cor. 15:45 -> 45The Scriptures tell us, “The first man, Adam, became a living person.” But the last Adam—that is, Christ—is a life-giving Spirit. (NLT)
-even just a few months ago we sang Hark The Herald Angels Sing which states that Christ is the Second Adam from above/reinstate us in Thy love
-so twice over Jesus was born of royalty, but there’s an obvious third one, He was born of a virgin, Mary,
**Matt. 1:18 -> 18This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. (NLT)
-you can’t get any closer to the royal family line of God than that!
-so this entire day is about Jesus, for one short day in His whole life, was given the royal treatment He deserved, He was finally recognized for who He was, our King.
-but He did this to show us something:
2. WE ARE ROYALTY
-you and me, we’re royal. You and me, we are kings and queens. We really are.
-we are adopted into the family of God through Christ. If we accept Christ as our Savior, we are a part of God’s family.
**Gal. 4:6-7 -> 6Since you are God’s children, God sent the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, and the Spirit cries out, “Father.” 7So now you are not a slave; you are God’s child, and God will give you the blessing He promised, because you are His child. (NCV)
-you and I, we are children of God. As God’s children, we are a part of His family. As a part of His family, we are a part of royalty.
-you know it’s a good day at when you find out you’re a king or queen, right?
-and as royalty, we have all the rights and privileges that go along with being royalty. If I were to go to England right now and try to enter Buckingham palace, I would get shot. Why? I’m not a member of the royal family. But little Prince William, he doesn’t need permission to go there, he doesn’t need to fill out paperwork or make an appointment because he’s royalty, he belongs to that family, he has the rights that come with being royalty.
-you and I are royal through Christ’s death. Jesus said we would do greater things than He did. Because we are His children and heirs to the Kingdom of God we have access to eternal life, to the Spirit of God in our lives, we have the ability to talk to God the Father directly through prayer where as before we would have had to go through an intermediary. We have the rights as God’s children to everything He has for us.
**Heb. 9:16-17 -> 16Like a will that takes effect when someone dies, the new covenant was put into action at Jesus’ death. 17His death marked the transition from the old plan to the new one, canceling the old obligations and accompanying sins, and summoning the heirs [that would be us] to receive the eternal inheritance that was promised them. He brought together God and His people in this new way. (MSG)
-we are brought together with God. What an amazing idea, that we are together with God, in His family, a part of His royalty. I love it.
-and here’s the amazing part, if you have that relationship with Jesus, you are royal whether you feel it or not, whether you’re having a good day or not, whether you even understand it or not.
[TAKE OUT 100 DOLLAR BILL] This is a hundred dollar bill, who wants it? Why? Well, it’s a lot of money. But what if I crinkle it up and make it all wrinkly. Who wants it now? Why? It’s still worth a hundred dollars. I bet I can step on it, here, I’ll even spit on it, you can’t get much grosser than that, but who still wants it? Because it’s still worth a hundred dollars. I wish I could give it to one of you, but I’m a youth pastor, so we’re going to put that right back in here.
-you see, you’re worth to God is not dependant on how you feel, what you’ve done, what you think, if you have made that commitment to Jesus Christ, then you are God’s child and you are royalty no matter what.
**I John 3:1 -> 1How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. (NIV)
-which brings us to:
3. LOST ROYALTY
-has anyone ever seen that classic film, one of the greats, “King Ralph”? Basically, the royal family in England poses for a photo and they all get electrocuted so the high lords of England search all the records to find the next living heir apparent to the throne, and they find a guy in America name Ralph, played by John Goodman. And of course, he doesn’t know how to act as the king of England and all sorts of hilarity ensues.
-and although it was a funny movie and all that other stuff, it is true and it is going on right now. This entire world is full of people who are heirs to the throne of God, this royalty that we share is at their fingertips, and they know nothing about it.
-the verse at every sports event:
**John 3:16 -> 16God loved the world [the who? the world] so much that He gave His One and only Son so that whoever believes in Him may not be lost, but have eternal life. (NCV)
-God loves the whole world. We are all children of God, we are all deeply loved by God, but a lot of people don’t know it.
-I have no idea where you are with God, if you don’t know Him at all, guess what, He still loves you and He still wants you to be His child, to be a part of His royal family. There are people here who would be more than happy to talk to you about what this means after the service.
-but for everyone else, there are tons of people you know who have no idea they can be a part of this royalty. But you know what, next week is the highest church attendance day of the year. Why? Almost everyone goes to church on Easter. So here’s what you can do. Invite someone to church next week, they’re more likely to come than on any other day of the year. And when I say invite them, I don’t mean just give them a little card, even though they are nice. Invite them. Sit with them so they know someone. Meet them for breakfast before or even go out to lunch after so you can talk to them about what they thought.
-we are fortunate and blessed enough to be a part of a royal family, and don’t ever forget that. God loves you so much you are His and you are extremely special because of it, just as special as Jesus was the day He rode into Jerusalem, that’s what your entrance to heaven will be like, but also, there are many others who have that royal reception waiting for them, and they have no idea, that is, until someone explains it to them.
