The Wise Messiah-King
(Jeremiah 23:5-6)
1. This past year was quite a year for Kokomo. Hillary Clinton and Barrack Obama visited our town. Crowds gathered to see them. Some were supporters, others were undecided, and others wanted to see such famous people.
2. Although these visits brought enthusiasm and excitement to our community, they pale in long-term significance compared to Palm Sunday when hundreds of Jesus’ followers hailed Him as King. Two thousand years later, we still celebrate this event. Hence the traditional palm branches.
3. A little boy was sick on Palm Sunday and stayed home from church with his mother. His father returned from church holding a palm branch. The little boy was curious and asked, "Why do you have that palm branch, dad?" "You see, when Jesus came into town, everyone waved Palm Branches to honor him, so we got Palm Branches today." The little boy replied, " Aw nuts! The one Sunday I miss is the Sunday that Jesus shows up!" [sermon central]
4. Palm Sunday was both a time when Jesus’ followers recognized Him as King, and also serves as a preview of the time when Jesus comes to earth to reign.
Main Idea: Jesus Christ is not only the Messiah King of Israel, He is the Savior of the all who believe and the source of the believer’s righteousness before God.
I. The NATURE of the Coming Messiah (5)
A. BRANCH of David
Isaiah 11:1, "A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
On Palm Sunday, the text in Matthew says, "The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Hosanna in the highest!" (Matthew 24:9)
B. RIGHTEOUS
Righteous leaders + population = blessing. Almost all of our nation’s financial meltdown can be traced to serious character flaws
• corporate executives taking advantage of situations to enrich themselves,
• the government nudging banks to make risky loans to borrowers,
• borrowers who reached for the extravagant & wanted to live beyond their means.
• The Messiah will be a builder: He will be righteous.
C. Wise KING
Have you ever met a truly talented, gifted, and maybe even trained individual who had no sense? Someone who keeps making the same mistakes, over and over?
Leadership is a grave responsibility, because his decisions are multiplied.
The Messiah will reign as a wise king.
In the meantime, He has given us His Word -- especially books like Proverbs-- to make us wise. Are we showing up for our briefings?
D. Enactor of JUSTICE
Isaiah 11:4-5 "He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked."
Jesus Christ is not only the Messiah King of Israel, He is the Savior of the all who believe and the source of the believer’s righteousness before God.
II. The RESULTS of Messiah’s Comings (6)
A. Judah SAVED
B. Israel in SAFETY
• "The Millennium." The OT leaves us with the expectation of a Messianic era on the earth. Revelation lets us know the time frame, 1,000 years. But here is a description of that time"
Isaiah 11:6,9, "The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea."
C. The LORD
The Messiah would be more than a mere man, more than a good King. He would be Yahweh incarnate, God in the flesh. This is not just His Name, it is Who He is. And His lifespan will not be that of mortal man, but He will reign forever.
D. Our RIGHTEOUSNESS
Romans 3:22, "This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe."
2 Corinthians 5:21, " God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."
We have a play on words here: King Zedekiah’s name (Sidqiyyahu) meant The LORD is My Righteousness (saddiq = righteousness, yahu or iah = Yah[weh], plus "my"), whereas the Messiah would be, "Yahweh Sidqenu," "The LORD is Our Righteousness [Yahweh + tzaddiq, "The LORD our righteousness" -- note that "my" is changed to "our").
Whereas Zedekiah did not live up to his name (and did not receive God’s righteousness), the Messiah would not only be righteous, but He will actually provide righteousness for His subjects! Phoenetically, the "s" is pronounounced like a "tiz" and the "q" sounds like a "k." So the "LORD our Righetousness" would sound like, "Yahweh Tizkenu."
Jesus Christ is not only the Messiah King of Israel, He is the Savior of the all who believe and the source of the believer’s righteousness before God.
III. Results Combine The Messiah’s TWO Comings
A. Palm SUNDAY
The Palm Sunday crowd represents we, in the minority, who have chosen to follow Jesus Christ. They were many, but not most. Palm Sunday was predicted by Zechariah:
Zechariah 9:9, " Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey."
But Zechariah (12:8-13:9) also prophesied that the Messiah would not rule until the nation of Israel repents. The Jewish leaders and the overwhelming majority of the Jews did not receive Jesus as their King. Thus Jesus morns and predicts a time when they will receive Him:
Matthew 23:37-39, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ’Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’
B. The NEW Covenant
The ritual of the Old Covenant was the Passover. Jesus took a small segment of that ritual and made it the ritual of the New Covenant.
In both cases, the ritual actually came before the covenant. Passover occurred 50 days before the Law of Moses was given and accepted. Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper on a Thursday night, within a day of when the blood of the covenant would be shed.
We experience the New Covenant now, although certain aspects of the covenant will be more fully realized in the future.
How do we become New Covenant participators? By faith.
C. Jesus’ Two Comings: The LAMB and the LION
It has been a while since I have taught what I call, "Basic Christian Facts." One of those facts pertains to Jesus two comings…
D. His followers are to be LOYAL to their King
Jeremy was a Christian. He had been saved at the age of 16, baptized, and was a faithful church member. When Jeremy chose a career, he did not pray about it or ask God for direction. He did what seemed obvious to him. When he dated, he was not careful to date only godly Christian women. When he went away to college, he did not seek out Campus Crusade or Intervarsity or Navigators. As a matter of fact, he even stopped going to church.
He fell away from the Lord, and ended up marrying a woman, Susan, because she was now expecting. But God was gracious, and he began to head back to church and Susan came to know the Lord. But they did not consult God about how to use their money, what careers to seek, what house to buy, or how to raise their kids. They just sort of did what everyone else did, including a number of their Christian friends.
Were these people bad people, compared to others? Not necessarily. But were they truly loyal to the King? Was God number one in their lives?
E. Our STATUS
We are citizens of a Kingdom that is breaking forth but not fully established. Our church is whether we will let Him rule in our lives.
Jesus Christ is not only the Messiah King of Israel, He is the Savior of the all who believe and the source of the believer’s righteousness before God.
