GOD’S GOOD NEWS OF JESUS AS KING.
Luke 19:28-44
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I. THE PLAN OF GOD HAD ALWAYS BEEN THAT JESUS WOULD BE A KING.
1.) Jesus was recognized as king at the time of his conception.
A.) Luke 1:31-33
B.) Observe if you will these statements from the angel Gabriel to Mary, the future mother of Jesus:
ba.)”The Lord will give Him the throne of His father, David.”
bb.) “He will reign over the house of Jacob forever.”
bc.) His kingdom will never cease.”
2.) Jesus was identified as the king of the Jews at the time of his birth.
A.) Matt. 2:1-8
3.) Jesus came into this world when there was already a “King of the Jews.”
A.) Caesar Augustus (we also know him as Octavius, or Octavion)had claimed that title for himself. .
aa.) For anyone else who was not authorized to wear that title it was considered to be a Capital offence against Rome punishable by death.
B.) As the exclusive owner of that title, Augustus in turn bestowed the honour of that title on Herod the Great.
ba.) The Problem with that, was that Herod the Great was not a Jew, but an Idumean.
bb.) Like the Jewish people, the Idumeans were descendants of Abraham.
bba.) The Jewish people would have descended from Isaac’s son Jacob.
bbb.) The Idumean people would have descended from Isaac’s son Essau.
bbc.) They themselves were not Jews, but would have felt they were part of the promise of God to Abraham.
bbc-1.) The Jews on the other hand would not have readily accepted them.
C.) Herod had to do whatever he could do in order to maintain his dynasty, and kingdom.
ca.) He had already had all of the genealogical records in the archives at Seppheris destroyed so that no true Jew could ever come and lay claim to his throne, and take away his cherished title and position
“The King of the Jews.”
cb.) So with the announcement of the magi seeking the one who was born “King of the Jews” Herod the Great felt that to keep his throne and dynasty, that the “Rightful King of the Jews” had to be destroyed.
cba.) Matt. 2:3-8;16-18
II. THERE WERE VERY FEW WHO RECOGNIZED THE KIND OF KINGDOM OF WHICH JESUS WOULD BE KING.
When Jesus came into this world he came to bring good news of himself as the spiritual king, but most of the people could not understand his message and mission until after the cross.
1.) The Jewish people had at one point tried to force Jesus to become their king.
A.) John 6:14-15
aa.) Jesus had performed a tremendous miracle in the feeding of the 5,000.
aaa.) Because of this powerful miracle, the people concluded (and I must add correctly) that Jesus was in fact the prophet like unto Moses.
B.) If we were to look at that passage of Scripture, we would see the motivation for making Jesus King was that he had just filled their bellies with food.
ba.) It wasn’t so much what they had seen in Jesus, but that he had been their meal ticket.
baa.) John 6:26-27
bb.) The problem in seeking Jesus as King was their motivation, and reasons in their desires to make him their king.
bc.) Their kingship vision in Jesus was not for an intimate relationship with God, but rather to have him as a meal ticked when their stomachs would growl and grumble.
2.) At times, the Apostles kind of clued in to His Kingship.
A.) Matt.16:16-17
B.) Peter had made that great statement of faith which Jesus spoke of as a revelation from heaven, but then his next breath showed that he only partially got, it and had still pretty much missed the message of Jesus.
3.) Most of the time, even the Apostles of Christ were looking for a physical king.
A.) In the midst of the ministry of Jesus they were arguing about greatness.
aa.) Mark 9:33-34
B.) James and John and their mother sought special favours from Jesus in his kingdom when it would be established.
ba.) Matt. 20:20-22
bb.) When we look at the various accounts of Scripture, it would seem that Salome the mother of James and John, was probably the sister of Mary, and therefore Jesus’ aunt.
bba.) So, in this passage of Scripture it seems that she is asking a special favour of Jesus on that basis of being family, and deserving special privilege in his kingdom.
bc.) The other apostles were greatly angered by the requests of James and John and their mother.
bca.) Yet in as much as they were angry with these men for what they had done, their real anger was they James and John had beaten them to the punch with Jesus.
bcb.) The spoken requests of these two men was also the unspoken requests for themselves of each of the other ten apostles.
bcc.) Even with Judas, many feel that much of his motivation in selling Jesus out was the slowness Jesus was showing in establishing his kingship and kingdom.
4.) While riding in as a King into Jerusalem Jesus wept because they were missing the greatest blessing they could ever have, in search of an earthly king.
A.) Luke 19:41-44
B.) Jesus wept over the city.
ba.) He wept because He was riding into the city as the fulfillment of Scripture as a king who would bring them peace.
baa.) They didn’t want a peaceful and Godly king that would give them peace with God and man; they wanted a military warrior who would lead them in battle against Rome.
baa-1.) Jesus wept because their eyes were blinded to the one who could truly deliver them.
bb.) Jesus wept because he could look ahead 40 years to a time when they would welcome a king who would lead them in battle against Rome.
bba.) At that time, Rome would destroy the temple, and Jerusalem, and kill many of the people
bc.) Jesus wept because all those things would come on them because they did not recognize the time of God’s coming to them.
5.) Ironically, the thief on the cross was one of the very who recognized the true kingship of Jesus, and the nature of His kingdom.
A.) Luke 23:39-43
aa.) This criminal who was being justly rewarded for crimes and wickedness is not one we would have ever considered as one of the religious leaders of his day.
ab.) Yet there on that cross, this dying thief had understood more on the kingdom of God, and the kingship of Jesus Christ than the greatest religious scholars of the day.
aba.) He even understood more about the Kingdom of Christ than even the Apostles who had been with Jesus for three and a half years.
III. TOWARDS THE END OF JESUS’ MINISTRY HE ACCEPTED THE PRAISE OF A KING.
1.) When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, he fulfilled prophecy identifying him as a king.
A.) Matt. 21:4-5 (Zech. 9:9)
B.) Riding into Jerusalem, Jesus presented Himself as their King.
ba.) Yet Jesus was not the kind of king they wanted, so a few days later He was rejected and crucified on a cross as a criminal.
2.) Jesus accepted the title King of the Jews.
A.) Matt. 27:11
aa.) In His trial, Jesus openly confessed himself as “The King Of The Jews.”
3.) Jesus declared himself that He was a King, of a heavenly kingdom.
A.) John 18:36
4.) Jesus was given the title King of the Jews in His death.
A.) John 19:19-22
aa.) This was the only point in all of the trial before Pilate, that Pilate actually had the backbone to stick true to his convictions.
5.) Jesus will return to this earth as a reigning King to judge the world.
A.) Rev. 19:11-14
CONCLUSION:
1.) As I bring this message to a close it is decision time.
2.) Jesus gave the world the best of good news that could ever be given.
A.) God’s Good news is that for those who will choose to bow down to Jesus today, He will be our Saviour, our master, Our Lord, our Redeemer, our loving God, and our eternally reigning king.
B.) For those who choose to reject the good news of the offer He gives, he will still reign over you.
ba.) Paul in the book of Philippians (2:9-11) says: “God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
C.) God’s Word declares that before Jesus Christ every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
ca.) Our is the choice rather that will be in praise and worship because we have made him our Lord before the judgment, or
cb.) or rather that will be in the greatest of fear as we face him for judgment.
cc.) As Christ speaks to you today, what will your answer be to Him?
