As I was beginning to prepare for this weeks sermon on the secrets of the Kingdom I realized that we have not met the King yet. Therefore, this week we are going to step away from the Kingdom teaching so that I might introduce you to the King.
Since this is Palm Sunday, I think we should start with the procession of Jesus entering Jerusalem. This has been a journey of about three and a half years, from his first miracle to his last week before being crucified. We catch a glimpse of this magnificent parade in John 12:12-15. “The next day, the news that Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem swept through the city. A large crowd of Passover visitors took 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!” Jesus found a young donkey and rode on it, fulfilling the prophecy that said: “Don’t be afraid, people of Jerusalem.
Look, your King is coming, riding on a donkey’s colt.”
In ancient times, palm branches symbolized goodness and victory. When a conquering king retuned from battle often a carpet of palm leaves were laid before him much as we do a red carpet today. Moreover, most battles were actually fought on the back of donkeys instead of horses due to the rocky terrain. They recognized him as the King of Israel. Within in a week these same people would scream for his crucifixion. What led to this turn of events? To answer that question we must first understand our King and his purpose in coming.
1) Our King came to turn religion upside down.
Let’s begin with his first miracle. Jesus is at a wedding party along with his mother and a few of his followers. Wedding parties could sometimes last for days. It was customary for the host to serve the expensive wine first and finish with the cheap stuff. However, the party had lasted too long and all the wine was gone. This was a major problem. Being out of wine would mean that the bridegroom had failed to plan properly and that the master of ceremonies, the wedding planner, was about to be embarrassed.
For some reason this was a problem for Mary, the mother of Jesus. Her involvement is not revealed. Perhaps this wedding was for a family member or the master of ceremonies was a friend. Whatever the reason she felt a responsibility to look to her son for a solution.
First Jesus was reluctant. “Not my problem” is what He told her. But out of respect for her dilemma He decided to get involved.
Let’s read John 2: 6-10 “Standing nearby were six stone water jars, used for Jewish ceremonial washing. Each could hold twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus told the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” When the jars had been filled, he said, “Now dip some out, and take it to the master of ceremonies.” So the servants followed his instructions.
When the master of ceremonies tasted the water that was now wine, not knowing where it had come from (though, of course, the servants knew), he called the bridegroom over. “A host always serves the best wine first,” he said. “Then, when everyone has had a lot to drink, he brings out the less expensive wine. But you have kept the best until now!”
This is a rather familiar story. One we have heard countless times. Jesus had just produced somewhere between 120 to 180 gallons of the best wine ever made. Don’t you find it strange that Jesus would produce enough wine to keep the buzz going for a few more days?
However, Jesus did not do this for the party. Jesus made a statement. He made a statement by the vessels he chooses. Let’s go back to verse 6 “Standing nearby were six stone water jars, used for Jewish ceremonial washing. Each could hold twenty to thirty gallons.”
These jars were there for one purpose and that was to supply the water necessary for the ritual cleansing of hands during this party. These jars could not be contaminated in any way or the water inside would also be contaminated. Jesus basically took that which was declared clean and contaminated it with wine making it unclean. Then He went even farther and had those at the party drink this unclean wine.
This was not some prank or practical joke on the part of Jesus. This was the beginning of his ministry. The wine was the best. Neither the bridegroom nor the master of ceremony knew where it came from. Only the servants knew. Jesus chooses the lowliest to witness his first message of the Gospel. That message was something new and better had arrived. No longer would ritual cleanliness be necessary. He would provide an easier way.
He would continue to shake the very foundations of the Jewish Law. Directly after this encounter He went to the temple and confronted the money changers. The Pharisees and the Sadducees would rise up against him.
They challenged him about the very subject of ceremonial hand washing. Jesus challenged them to look at the reality of God’s Law. “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote,
‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship is a farce,
for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’” (Matt 15:7-9)
He described them as actors, pretenders. He began to attack their man-made ideas and in doing so created a confrontation that would lead him to the cross.
2) Our King came to free us from the Sabbath
Jesus healed on the Sabbath. He made mud on the Sabbath to heal a blind man and they yelled “Work! He’s working on the Sabbath!” Jesus and his disciples were walking through some fields of grain on a Sabbath day and began to break off heads of grain to eat. The Pharisees yelled “Work! He’s working on the Sabbath.”
When I was growing up there were a list of things that you could not do on Sunday. You would never dare to do laundry or cut your grass. All the stores and restaurants were closed. Only emergency workers worked on Sunday. However, in those days crime wasn’t as rampant. Children respected their parents and elders more. Family units were stronger. Church attendance was higher. “Why was this?” we might ask. Jesus gave us the answer. It’s the same answer He gave to the Pharisees.
“Then Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:27)
We weren’t created for Sunday. Sunday was created for us. We weren’t created to serve Sunday. Sunday was created to serve us. We weren’t created to follow some sort of “can and cannot do” list. Sunday was created for us to take a break and slow down. The Hebrew for Sabbath meant “rest, interruption, cessation, desist.” When God set apart this day and declared it holy it was for our benefit. It was to be a day to rest with our family and enjoy each other. It was to be a day to interrupt our normal routines and find peace. It was to be a day where we ceased striving with the world and spent time with God. It was to be a day where we stopped our actions and sought God’s wisdom for the next week. Jesus declared Sunday to be free from rules and regulations so that Sunday would be enjoyed.
3) Our King came to change the law.
Jesus went as far as to seemingly challenge the Jewish oral law, the written law, and the very edicts of his Heavenly Father. In Matt 5:21-48 we read six times where He makes some very bold statements.
Vs 21 “You have heard that our ancestors were told---- But I say.”
Vs. 27 “You have heard the commandment that says--- But I say.”
Vs 31 “You have heard the law that says------------------But I say.”
Vs 33 “You have heard that our ancestors were told---But I say.”
Vs 38 “You have heard the law that says -----------------But I say.”
Vs 43 “You have heard the law that says------------------But I say.”
Imagine if I was to stand here before you today and declare “You have heard what the Apostle Paul preached, but I say.” Or “You have heard the Ten Commandments, but I say.” Or “You have heard the foundations of Christianity, but I say.” I would hope you would leave. These are the foundations of a cult. This is how Jesus would have been perceived by the religious leaders. Here is how He answered that accusation.
Matthew 5:17 “Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose.”
One must ask “What was the purpose of the law of Moses and the writings of the prophets?” The answer is simple. The law of Moses and the writings of the prophets were established to set apart a particular people for God, to guide them, to warn them, and to lead them in the direction of repentance. Jesus came to accomplish all these goals and did so. And in doing so He set us free from the law and established a New Covenant.
4) Our King came to go to the other side.
Matthew 8:18 “When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he instructed his disciples to cross to the other side of the lake.”
The disciples knew the lake. They knew the land that was on the other side. It was an unclean place filled cemeteries and pig farmers. It was a place any decent Jew wouldn’t want to go. It was dangerous as they soon found out.
Matthew 8:28 When Jesus arrived on the other side of the lake, in the region of the Gadarenes, two men who were possessed by demons met him. They lived in a cemetery and were so violent that no one could go through that area.
This is where Jesus is most comfortable, on the other side. That’s why He went to Samaria to encounter a woman at the well. That’s why He enjoyed the company of sinners and tax collectors.
He was sent for this purpose.
Follow me on a trail through the scripture as we discuss eunuchs. A eunuch is defined as a man or boy deprived of the testes or external genitals. Jesus said that some were born that way and others made that way. Deut 23:1 makes it very clear that they were not allowed to be part of the community of worship. They were outcast on the other side.
However a hope of someone willing to cross to the other side appeared in a prophetic word of Isaiah. Isaiah 56:3-5 “Don’t let foreigners who commit themselves to the Lord say, ‘The Lord will never let me be part of his people.’ And don’t let the eunuchs say, ‘I’m a dried-up tree with no children and no future.’ For this is what the Lord says: I will bless those eunuchs who keep my Sabbath days holy and who choose to do what pleases me and commit their lives to me. I will give them—within the walls of my house—a memorial and a name
far greater than sons and daughters could give. For the name I give them is an everlasting one. It will never disappear!
Now we skip to Acts 8:26-28 “As for Philip, an angel of the Lord said to him, “Go south down the desert road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza.” So he started out, and he met the treasurer of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under the Kandake, the queen of Ethiopia. The eunuch had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and he was now returning. Seated in his carriage, he was reading aloud from the book of the prophet Isaiah.”
Philip walked up to him and asked “What ya’ readin?” The eunuch replied “Isaiah.” Philip asked “Do you understand it?” The eunuch replied “Nope. Can you explain it to me?” Philip answered “Sure. Move over.” Now we pick the story back up. Acts 8:32-36 “The passage of Scripture he had been reading was this “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter. And as a lamb is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth.
He was humiliated and received no justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.”
The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, was the prophet talking about himself or someone else?” So beginning with this same Scripture, Philip told him the Good News about Jesus. As they rode along, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Look! There’s some water! Why can’t I be baptized?”
And he was baptized and went home. Christian history teaches that this eunuch, a group once rejected by God, started the church in Ethiopia.
5) Our King came to surrender.
Remember the excitement of the people when Jesus came riding into town? They praised God. They called upon God to pour his blessings out on Jesus. They hailed him as their king. And why not?
Here was a king that had the power to heal. Here was a king that had control over the demons. Here was a king that could raise the dead. Here was a king that could produce provision out off almost nothing. What chance did the Romans have?
Perhaps he had some run-ins with the well respected Pharisees and Sadducees. Sure He had called them names like vipers, hypocrites, and dead men’s tombs. But all that could be worked out later. The important thing was the king had come to declare victory.
However, things began to go wrong. All this talk of Jesus being a king had the religious leaders worried. There had been other Messiahs but none had achieved the frenzy that Jesus had achieved. What if Rome became worried that this individual was able to establish a revolt against Caesar? Then the Roman army would get involved and war could break out. Perhaps it would be better to eliminate Jesus before the people revolted.
So trials began. Jesus being shuffled to and from one place to another, each time looking defeated and beaten. Certainly He is not looking kingly. People were waiting in anticipation of some intervention to signal the uprising that would defeat Rome.
When Jesus was taken to Pilate perhaps the people thought this is it. But what they heard was disturbing.
John 19:9-11 “He took Jesus back into the headquarters again and asked him, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave no answer. “Why don’t you talk to me?” Pilate demanded. “Don’t you realize that I have the power to release you or crucify you?” Then Jesus said, “You would have no power over me at all unless it were given to you from above.”
The word soon spread. Jesus was not going to use his special powers to do anything. He had surrendered to Pilate. When He came out He looked like just another beaten, battered victim of Rome. The people had been duped by a charlatan and a magician. They had been made fools of. For that He deserved to be crucified and so He was.
The religious leaders were a bit more settled, less worried about an uprising. The people were satisfied that justice had been served. And we gained a King.
A King that would turn our world upside down. A King that would free us from all the rules and regulations of the law. A King that would fulfill the law so that we could have fellowship with him and the Father. A King that would go to the other side to get us. Today lay spiritual palm branches before him and say “Hail to my King.”
