“THE HUMBLE KING, THE HAPPY CROWD AND THE HATEFUL LEADERS”
When I was a child about 6 years old, Dad would take me to Harvest Festival in Arvada, Colorado. He would pay the Attendant a dime for me to ride a pony around and around in a large circle along with 9 other buckaroos. That was 5 minutes of glory for this Gene Autry Wannabe.
About that same time, a friend of Dad’s had a Pinto named, “Joker.” Sometimes when he visited the man, he’d take me along and they’d let me sit on Joker’s back. I remember that with warm nostalgia nearly every time I see a brown and white pony.
One beast of burden I have never ridden is a donkey. My former Associate Minister, Walt Chamberlain, has though. Once he played in a game of Donkey Basketball and ended up spending more time pulling the donkey by the reins than riding the stubborn critter.
I told you once about Norm Hedlund's horse riding experience. But it bears retelling. He mounted the horse and had scarcely hit the saddle when he was unceremoniously tossed off. Not to be that easily thwarted, he took a few minutes, composed himself and remounted his steed. This time, he managed to stay in the saddle for about 10 seconds before being ejected. He would have tried for a third time, but he was out of quarters, and Norma wouldn't give him another one.
But this isn’t a sermon about horse riding. No, it’s a much more important message than that.
This is Palm Sunday, the Sunday before Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday. We think about Jesus riding on a totally compliant, though unbroken, donkey into Jerusalem. Let’s consider that event and some of its applications.
“As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, ‘Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.’ This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: ‘Say to the Daughter of Zion, “See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”’ The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the colt, placed their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 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!’ When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, ‘Who is this?’ The crowds answered, ‘This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.’ Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. ‘It is written,’ He said to them, “My house will be called a house of prayer,” but you are making it a “den of robbers.”’ The blind and the lame came to Him at the temple, and He healed them. But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things He did and the children shouting in the temple area, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David,’ they were indignant. ‘Do you hear what these children are saying?’ they asked Him. ‘Yes,’ replied Jesus, ‘have you never read, “From the lips of children and infants You have ordained praise?”’” Matthew 21:1-16 (NIV).
What do we see on that donkey ride?
I. WE SEE THE HUMBLE KING:
A. The prophet Zechariah predicted it, “See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
1. The word for “gentle” has also been translated “Meek or Humble.”
2. He came in humbly, on a donkey, in a parade of peasants, rather than as an arrogant Roman conqueror, astride a magnificent white horse, leading a parade of soldiers and captives.
3. But there is nothing timid or weak or insipid or ineffectual about Jesus as we see in His wrath at the sacrilegious use of the Temple.
B. The gentle humility of Jesus can be seen in these texts:
1. “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV).
2. “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Philippians 2:5-8 (NASB).
3. When some children were brought to Him so that He might lay His hands on them and pray; the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, "Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." Matthew 19:13-14 (NASB).
C. So, what does His humility mean to me? How does it benefit me?
1. It means that He can identify with us in our weaknesses, insignificance, and lowliness.
2. It shows us the tender heart of God; that He didn’t come to lord it over us but to love all over us!
3. It reminds us that to be truly great and pleasing to God we must be humble. “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” James 4:6 (NIV).
D. In a story related by Philip Yancey, there was a king who loved a humble maiden. The king was so awesome and powerful that everyone trembled before him. He had the strength to crush all his opponents. And yet this mighty king was melted by love for a humble maiden.
How could he declare his love for her? If he brought her to the palace by force and crowned her head with jewels and clothed her body in royal robes, she would surely not resist – no one dared resist him. But would she love him?
Or would she live with him in fear, nursing a private grief for the life she left behind. Would she be happy at his side? How could he know?
If he rode to her forest cottage in his royal carriage, with an armed escort waving bright banners to impress her, it would simply overwhelm her. He did not want a cringing subject. He wanted her to forget that he was a king and she a humble maiden and to let shared love cross over the gulf between them.
The king, convinced he could not, by force, elevate the maiden without crushing her, resolved to descend. He clothed himself as a commoner and approached her cottage incognito, with a worn cloak fluttering loosely about him. He temporarily renounced the throne to win her hand.
So Jesus emptied Himself to win our love and we see Him riding in as a Humble King. So what else do we see?
II. WE SEE THE HAPPY CROWD:
A. “A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 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!’”
1. The practice of casting down cloaks and branches mirrored the practice of rolling out the red carpet, or Sir Walter Raleigh spreading his velvet cape over a mud puddle for Queen Elizabeth to walk on.
2. But for Jesus, says Matthew Henry, “there was nothing in this stately or magnificent. Zion's King comes to Zion, and the daughter of Zion was told of His coming long before; yet He is not attended by the gentlemen of the country, nor met by the magistrates of the city in their formalities as one might have expected . . . . yet He has His attendants, a very great multitude; they were only the common people, the mob (the rabble we should have been apt to call them), that graced the solemnity of Christ's triumph, and none but such.”
B. Most of those who came were outcast, overlooked, left out and unloved by the upper crust of their society:
1. Lepers.
2. Tax collectors.
3. The deaf, the mute, the blind and the lame.
4. Prostitutes.
C. They came
1. Because they found love, forgiveness and acceptance by Jesus.
2. Because they wanted Him to deliver them from Roman domination.
3. Because He could feed and heal them.
D. The crowd reminds me of the carp in Berkley Lake in Colorado. When I was a wee lad, we would stand on a dock and toss out popcorn or other food items. Then the water would boil with dozens of huge carp vying for every scrap. And when the free food disappeared, so did the carp. Much like many of those in the crowd. Some of them in just a few hours would demand His crucifixion.
I hope we come to Jesus for better reason than only to get blessed. I hope we come to praise, and learn, and serve, and share Him with others. In the doing of that, the byproduct is we get blessed.
Well, we have seen the Humble King and the Happy Crowd, and finally:
III. WE SEE THE HATEFUL LEADERS:
A. “But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things He did and the children shouting in the temple area, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David,’ they were indignant. ‘Do you hear what these children are saying?’” They didn’t like what they heard because they were bitterly opposed to Jesus.
1. Part of the problem was that they feared He’d undermine their authority by violating their manmade rules and traditions and encouraging others to do so.
2. Part of the problem was that He exposed their hypocrisy.
3. Part of the problem was that they were jealous oforation the people were giving Jesus.
B. Many people are not in the Jesus Camp. They are not His disciples, they are His detractors.
1. Look at the anti-Christ atmosphere in the world: His detractors demand there be:
a. No Gideon Bible distribution in public schools.
b. No praying in Jesus’ name for military chaplains or for opening Congress.
c. No crosses on public land.
d. No mention of God in pledge of allegiance or on coin.
e. Rob Parker, a representative of Ottawa's National House of Prayer, said he realized Canada was becoming godless when the thousands of Canadians who gathered in a show of solidarity on Parliament Hill following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 were not allowed to use the name God or Jesus Christ in their prayers.
2. Some of His detractors claim to wear the name of Jesus but deny His divine nature and power.
a. The religious advisor at U of O Christian House told several of us who attended Sunday School there one morning that Jesus was just a man who said, “Don’t call me Lord!” Last time we went there!
b. Many theological seminaries teach the same: No virgin birth, no miracles, no resurrection – all the while claiming to be Christian Seminaries – I call them Cemeteries!
C. What will you do with and about Jesus? There is no middle ground; Jesus said, “Anyone who isn’t with Me opposes Me, and anyone who isn’t working with Me is actually working against Me.” Luke 11:23 (NLT).
1. We are either in the crowd cheering, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”
2. Or, by default, we join ranks with those who resist and oppose Him.
3. We make the choice.
D. His detractors didn’t want the changes Jesus would bring. Like Henry Ford ack in 1912, Ford Motor Co. had a production manager named William Knudsen. Knudsen became convinced that the Model T (which had been in production for 4 years now) had to be updated. But, Henry Ford loved his creation so much it was well known that he opposed changing anything about the car.
Knudsen tried to convince Ford by building an updated and impressive model to show what could be done with a few changes in color and design.
Ford had just returned from a vacation, and when he saw the new design he flipped out. On-the-scene mechanics later revealed how Ford responded.
The car was a four door, and the top was down, painted gleaming red and built on a new, low slung version of the Model T.
One eyewitness said, "Ford had his hands in his pockets, and he walked around that car 3 or 4 times.
Finally, he got to the left hand side of the car, and he takes his hands out, gets hold of the door, and bang! He ripped the door right off! How the man done it, I don't know! He jumped in there, and bang goes the other door. Bang goes the windshield. He jumps over the back seat and starts pounding on the top. He rips the top with the heel of his shoe. He wrecked the car as much as he could."
Knudsen left for General Motors. Henry Ford nursed along the Model T, but design changes in competitors models made it more old-fashioned than he would admit. Competitive necessity finally backed him into making the Model A, but his heart was never in it.
Like Knudsen, but in a more significant way, Jesus came to change things; and like Jesus’ enemies, some people are not pleased!
• He came to change our relationship to God.
• He came to change our eternal destiny.
• He came to change our hearts.
We, like David, should say, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation And sustain me with a willing spirit.” Psalms 51:10-12 (NASB).
By faith in Him, the Humble King can elevate you to become God’s Children; by praising and honoring Him, you receive the blessings only He can give.
Step out of the camp of the indifferent, the undecided and, therefore, the opposition and step into the ranks of those who choose, love and serve Him.
We are in the happy crowd cheering Him, or we stand with those who have nothing to do with Jesus.
Who will humbly surrender and serve? Decide today that it will be you.
