Sermon Notes
Series: Why Did Jesus Come?
Sermon: #5-Jesus Came to Reign
Scripture: Luke 19: 28-40
1. In the Triumphal Entry, Jesus Declares H______________ that He Is King, v. 28-31
Jesus has great authority...over every part of who we are. … He reigns over all things.
The people expected that the M____________ would indeed be king!
Jesus was not declaring that His kingdom would be one of brutality toward others, humiliation of others, or P___________ for oneself.
H_____________ was a part of Jesus’ entire life. (Philippians 2: 5-8)
Jesus is declaring to be King... with humility, always being the E____________ for those who follow Him.
2. As King, Jesus Deserves our O_____________, v. 32-35
These two disciples went where Jesus told them to G___, and did what Jesus told them to D____.
Jesus said it simply, "If you love me, you will O_________ what I command" (John 14: 15).
Jesus has been given all authority in heaven and on E____________.
3. As King, Jesus Deserves our P_____________, v. 36-40
“spread their cloaks,” — It’s a way of showing H___________ to that person.
“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord”
"... rebuke your disciples!" - literally carries the idea of taxing citizens, and it’s meant to be like a penalty, or a fine, so that you will S_________ doing a certain behavior.
If the disciples stopped, Jesus says that S__________ would suddenly begin to sing and shout praises to Him.
Is humility part of your life today?
Are you struggling with obedience in some area of life?
Do you open up your heart and worship Jesus for Who He is?
Series: Why Did Jesus Come?
Sermon: #5: To Rule As King
Scripture: Luke 19: 28-40
1. In the Triumphal Entry, Jesus Declares Humbly that He Is King, v. 28-31
28After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, 30"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. 31If anyone asks you, ’Why are you untying it?’ tell him, ’The Lord needs it.’ "
It was the custom of Roman generals to hold a Triumph, or March of Victory, when they returned to Rome after defeating a country. They would ride in on white horses. Chariots or elephants would carry the treasures they brought back. Toward the end of the parade, the important prisoners of war would come. The commanders were made sort of like "king for a day." They were treated like royalty on that day.
So, as Jesus sets this in motion, He is declaring both victory and royalty.
On Wednesday nights for the past few months, we have been going through the book of Mark--reading one verse at a time, or a few verses-- then, I ask a bunch of questions to help get people talking about what the verses mean, and what they say to us, and how we are to live them out. We are actually only up to chapter 3, but we’ve already seen that Mark shares events that happened to Jesus, and words Jesus said (parables and teachings). And even that early in the gospel, Mark reminds us that Jesus has great authority. He teaches with authority. He has authority over diseases, as we see Him heal many people. He has authority over demons, as He casts them out of people. And we’ll see a little later that He has authority over nature, as He calms a storm, and even over death as He gives life back to a girl who had passed away. And spiritually, Jesus declared that He had the authority to forgive sins on the earth.
That pretty much hits every aspect of life, doesn’t it? Jesus has authority over every part of who we are. He is victorious over everything that we could possibly face. He rules--He reigns over all things.
This shouldn’t come as a surprise to us. When the angel, Gabriel, came to Mary, he said to her, "You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus; He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end." (Luke 1: 31-33) To Joseph, the angel that came to him in a dream, said, "…you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." And just one of the many Old Testament prophecies about Jesus is found in Micah 5:2, "But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel."
Jesus is ruler over Judah, the people of Israel, doctrinal teaching, nature, disease, demons, even death. Jesus is ruler over everything. Jesus is King!
And the people expected that the Messiah would indeed be king! But Jesus does something different. When the Roman commanders came into the city during their March of Victory, they did so out of pride. It was a way to boast of their accomplishments in battle. It was, also, a way to humiliate their prisoners as they marched them through the streets. And in one final act of boasting of themselves, and in humiliating their enemies, they would execute any royalty that they had captured.
Jesus was not declaring that His kingdom would be one of brutality toward others, humiliation of others, or pride for oneself. No. Jesus taught us to love our enemies. If an enemy slaps us on one cheek, we’re to turn the other one. And the one who will be exalted is the one who humbles himself. Jesus shows this by how He declares Himself to be King--not on a powerful white horse, galloping into the city, declaring victory by force.
30"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.
Luke just says, ’colt,’ and in Biblical language, it could refer to either the offspring of a horse or donkey, but Matthew gave us a little more information by saying they would find a donkey tied there, with her colt beside her (Mt. 21: 2).
That’s a whole lot different than riding in on a white horse, isn’t it? Anybody could ride in on a donkey. That wasn’t all that special. It was an act of humility.
Humility was a part of Jesus’ entire life. He was born in a small village, in a stable. His earthly father was a man of trade. His mother, a young woman. Nothing spectacular happened during his young life. Oh, there’s the time at the Temple when He astonished the religious leaders with His knowledge and understanding, but not that many people knew about that. Up to the time He was 30, nothing propelled Him into the limelight of politics, or wealth, or fame, or power. He seemed to live those years humbly. Even when He began teaching and healing, there’s no record that He asked for payment or for people to give Him anything in return for His work.
A lot of the ministries that we hear on the radio or see on TV will ask for donations from people, so they can keep the ministry going. And some have made some pretty nice incomes or fortunes. Jesus didn’t do that. He lived humbly. He taught humility. In Philippians 2, Paul writes about it this way:
5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
8And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross! (Phil 2:5-8, NIV)
So, though Jesus is declaring to be King, which He is, He does so with humility, always being the example for those who follow Him.
As we go on through this passage, we see a couple of things that we need to do, since Jesus is King.
2. As King, Jesus Deserves our Obedience, v. 32-35
32Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. 33As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, "Why are you untying the colt?"
34They replied, "The Lord needs it." 35They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it.
These two disciples DID what Jesus told them to do.
How many of you, as parents, asked your kids to go get you something--a glass of water, a towel, shoes, or something like that--and you spend the next 5 or 10 minutes dealing with their whining, or pouting, or tantrum, or just plain stubbornness?
When I was between about 8-12 years old, many of our Saturdays during the warmer months was spent "up at the barn." My stepfather had built a barn, which we had helped with. And he was an electrician, a plumber, a little bit of a carpenter, a welder. And because of all that, he collected all kinds of tools and supplies that related to all these different things that he could do. And I hesitate to use the word, ’junk,’ but he had an awful lot of stuff, because he never knew when he might need it. But one of the problems I had was this: My stepfather was the kind of worker who started a job, like putting up a fence, or mixing concrete, or running electrical wires, or fixing some plumbing--and after a few minutes, he would say to me, "I need you to go into the barn and get me ___________." Now, we probably had as much stuff as Lowe’s or Home Depot, but the stuff wasn’t nearly as organized. So, it was like finding a needle in a haystack. I remember one time he asked me to go get him some "channel-locks." I know what they are now, but I’m going through a pile of stuff without a clue as to what I’m looking for. That happened several times. Even if I knew what I was looking for, there was no guarantee that I could find it. But I tried; I went.
These two disciples went where Jesus told them to go, and did what Jesus told them to do. And when they were faced with questions about what they were doing, they said what Jesus told them to say, and everything was fine.
Jesus said it simply, "If you love me, you will obey what I keep command" (John 14: 15).
In the days of kings, and dictators, and emperors, when they gave a command, it was to be obeyed without question. If you resisted, you could be put to death. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused the king’s order to bow to his statue, and were thrown into the fiery furnace, to be put to death. Daniel kept praying to his God, when the king’s order was that you were not allowed to pray to any other god--just the king. He was thrown into the lion’s den to be put to death. The king’s word was law. The king’s word was to be obeyed. Of course, in both of those examples, God intervened. And God has greater authority than earthly kings. And, according to Scripture, Jesus has been given all authority in heaven and on earth. He deserves our obedience.
And what did Jesus ask them to do? Go get this donkey, bring it back, and if anybody asks you any questions, just say this-.You know, much of what Jesus commands us to do can be done in the every day routine of life. Love God, worship Him, learn more about Him. Love people, help them, and tell them about Jesus. If opposition comes, He said the Holy Spirit will tell you what to say. If persecution comes, He says, stand strong, even to the death, because He’s got something great planned for you in heaven.
As King, Jesus deserves our obedience.
3. As King, Jesus Deserves our Praise, v. 36-40
36As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road.
Matthew and Mark mention that branches were also spread before Him. During the March of Victory, people would often throw greenery, branches or flowers to honor the victorious soldiers and leaders. Some athletes are given bouquets of flowers by their fans after their performance. You notice it at the Olympics with ice skaters. It’s a way of showing honor to that person.
When Jehu was declared king in Israel, the people threw their outer garments along the steps for him to walk on. It would be like rolling out the red carpet. Because it was their garments, they were honoring him.
37When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: 38"Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"
When a good king rules, people joyfully praise him. When a bad king rules, people are often sorrowful or angry or bitter.
If you have ever read the Chronicles of Narnia book called, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, or seen the movie, you may remember that, under the rule of the White Witch, it was always winter--cold, snowy, with no relief, not even the joyful time of Christmas to break through the drudgery of winter. But whenever they spoke of Aslan, there was joy and excitement in their voices, because they knew him to be good.
So, the disciples are rejoicing and praising God. They shout out, "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!" When worshipers were coming to Jerusalem to observe the Passover, the standard greeting that people would use to greet them, was, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord." That’s the way Matthew records it, but Matthew adds that the people say, "Hosanna to the Son of David." "Hosanna" means ’save now’, or to make it clearer in English, we might say, "Save us now!" which declares Jesus as the Messiah King.
So, they are shouting His praises, because as King, Jesus deserves our praise.
39Some of the Pharisees [were] in the crowd [they] said to Jesus, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples!"
The word, ’rebuke,’ literally carries the idea of taxing citizens, and it’s meant to be like a penalty, or a fine, so that you will stop doing a certain behavior. If you get caught speeding, you can get a ticket with a big fine, and the idea is to get you to stop speeding.
The Pharisees are telling Jesus to verbally punish the disciples for praising Him, so they’ll stop it.
A lot of times, when Jesus healed someone, He told them not to tell anyone. And when He cast out demons, He ordered them not to speak of who He really was, because the time wasn’t right for Him to be revealed as the Messiah. And, even though the people may have had the wrong idea about the kind of Messiah that God was planning to send all along, it was the right time for Jesus to be praised as the Messiah. And so He tells the Pharisees something they didn’t want to hear:
40"I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."
If the disciples stopped, Jesus says that the dead, lifeless hunks of rock would suddenly begin to sing and shout praises to Him.
When I was in high school, I auditioned for All-State Chorus a couple of years, and made it. One of the songs I remember us learning was called, "Ain’t Got Time to Die." It was a spiritual, and the chorus went like this:
It takes all of my time to praise my Jesus,
All of my time to praise my Lord,
If I don’t praise Him the rocks gonna cry out,
Glory ands honor, glory and honor,
Ain’t got time to die,
Jesus declares Himself to be King, and He does so with humility. As King, Jesus deserves our obedience and our praise. And we don’t just do it without it meaning anything. One of the saddest things to me is to see people in worship who are mumbling through the words of a song, and their hearts aren’t in it. We need to joyfully praise Jesus because He is King. And we need to obey Him, because He is King, and we love Him.
Is humility part of your life today?
Are you struggling with obedience in some area of life?
Do you open up your heart and worship Jesus for Who He is?
