Which King is He?
Matthew 20:17 – 21:17 NIV
A Parade of Opportunity and Opportunists
From The Scriptures
1. Matthew 20:17-19
The Divine opportunity
Jesus explains His opportunity – the reason He came to earth was to be a perfect sacrifice for all
They still did not understand and this is the third time it had been put to them
2. Matthew 20:20-23
The worldly opportunity of religious leadership
The mother of James & John seeks opportunity for her son’s to obtain great honor and position as Jesus is about to come into his kingship.
3. Matthew 20:24-28
The opportunity to be the greatest
To be great is to be willing to be least the servant of all to the point of death – that is greatness worthy of honor
4. Matthew 20:29
The opportunity to have what you have asked for
The two blind men were given an open question by Jesus – they could have asked for anything – they asked for something physical instead of something eternal – they could have asked to have their sins forgiven or asked for eternal life but they only saw what they did not have in this world
5. Matthew 21:1- 11
The opportunity for a New Jewish Kingdom
The people were caught up in the celebrity of Jesus as a King in the manner of King David
But Jesus did not intend to rule just over Jerusalem but over the whole world and over every soul that would recognize Him as Savior
This King is not just a Jewish King He is the King of Kings that Isaiah spoke of.
The ruling religious class was envious and afraid by Jesus popularity with the crowds
6. The opportunity to correct religion with the spirit of truth
Jesus cleans the Temple of those who would use worship as an opportunity to profit financially
Merchants were cheating pilgrims who needed to buy animals for sacrifice
They were intentionally ripping people off to line their own pockets
My house shall be a house of prayer
What opportunity do you seek from Jesus?
Observations From the Movie Jesus Christ Superstar:
The crowds wanted to make Jesus King just like King David had been. They sang Hosanna to the son of David. They were a collection of diverse interests - Jewish Nationalists - Spiritually hungry souls - the oppressed, the sick, the persecuted, the neglected, the lost and the innocent (children) as well as the angry Zealots
They wanted war, and Jesus even had a Zealot in his inner circle - Judas Iscariot. These folks wanted bloodshed and revenge for friends and loved ones who had been killed during the years of the Roman occupation.
Jesus was their opportunity to carry out their vengeance against Rome. Jesus had a huge following that they hoped to turn against the government.
Even Hollywood uses Jesus as an opportunity to cash in.
I’m not sure if you had ever seen all these opportunists lined up like this before.
This observation brought me to some hard questions.
Do I use Jesus for my own selfish opportunities? Do I find it convenient to cheer with Him one day then deny him the next?
What kind of a King do I try to make of him?
Do we follow Jesus out of love and appreciation or do we like so many others have a self interest to use Jesus to satisfy some ulterior motive some selfish opportunity?
Jesus wants to be your king but not just of your financial prosperity, not just for your health, not simply to keep your marriage together or your career on track.
Jesus wants to be King of your heart.
Jesus wants to give you the golden opportunity to have the Kingdom of God but in order for that to happen you must trust Jesus with your soul and your sin so that He can take your sin and destroy it altogether in one self sacrificing act of love.
We have a great opportunity this Easter as we are invited to discover power and greatness through repentance and service to Jesus Christ.
Who knows when you will get another opportunity like this? – Amen.
