OPEN: There’s a parable about the donkey that carried Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. When the donkey awoke the next day he walked into town and strutted in front of some people gathered at a well. But they didn’t notice him. They just went on drawing water and paid him no mind. He was shocked! The day before they waved palm branches as he approached. The crowd had shouted out “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD.” But now someone slapped him on the side and ordered him to move on. So, the donkey moved on to the market hoping maybe they’d remember him. But nobody paid any attention to him. He strutted down the street, but no one seemed to notice him. Hurt and confused, the donkey returned home to his mother. And his mother smiled and said: “Foolish child. Don’t you realize that without Him, you are just an ordinary donkey?” (Adapted from Hot Illustrations for Youth Talks by Wayne Rice. Copyright 1994 by Youth Specialties, Inc.)
Now, that’s just a parable. But it points to something very important. The donkey felt the praise and the attention was for him. But instead it was for Jesus. Instead it was the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Without the King, that donkey was just an ordinary donkey.
Our text today points out that God had this all planned out from the beginning. Long before Jesus was born of Mary, Melchizedek appeared in Genesis. And God intended to use Melchizedek as portrait of Jesus. When you see Melchizedek… you’re seeing Jesus. Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God… by translation… his name (is) KING of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, KING of peace.”
You see, Melchizedek was a king of righteousness and a King of Peace. That’s who Jesus was born to be. When you read about Melchizedek, you should be seeing Jesus because God intended you to see Jesus in who Melchizedek was.
Jesus was born to be a King. And not just any King. He was born to be a better king and a greater king than any other ruler who’d ever come before… or who’d ever come after.
Revelation 19:30 described Jesus as “KING OF KINGS and Lord of lords.”
Isaiah 9:6 prophesied: Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
And as a result, Philippians 2:10-11 says, “At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
One day, every king -- and every ruler --- will bow before Jesus, and they will confess that He is Lord to the glory of the Father. There is no king on earth that has ever been as great as Jesus!
But what is it that makes Jesus greater? What makes Him better than other Kings and rulers of this world? Well, He’s greater because of WHO He is… and WHAT He could give.
Hebrews 7:2 says “He’s the King of righteousness.” What does that mean? It means that, not only is He completely righteous, (which no mortal King could ever be) but He can make YOU righteous!
Now, that’s no small thing because God has made it clear. “There is no-one righteous, not even one” (Romans 3:10), and “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)
So… you’re not righteous! And if you’re not righteous, how’s Jesus EVER going to make you righteous? Well, the answer is: Jesus came to give you His righteousness.
2 Corinthians 5:21 says “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that IN HIM (in Jesus) we might become the righteousness of God.”
You and I are not righteous. We’ve NEVER done anything that would make God say “Hey, that person deserves heaven!” But God loved us so much that He sent His only begotten Son to die in our place to give us His righteousness so that we might have everlasting life.
ILLUS: Someone once noted that - when a baby lamb’s mother dies in childbirth - that newly-born lamb desperately needs the care of its mother. Without a mother… that lamb will die! But, why not give the lamb to another female sheep who had lost a lamb about the same time? Well, apparently that doesn’t work. Every lamb has its own unique scent. A mother sheep recognizes her own lamb by its scent. And if a lamb doesn’t have the right scent, the she will reject it. So, what can be done with a hungry orphaned lamb? Down thru the centuries, what shepherds have done is to take the skin of a lamb that has died in birth and wrap it around the motherless lamb like a sweater. Then the “clothed” lamb is presented to the mother of the dead lamb. She sniffs the lamb, recognizes the scent, and accepts the lamb as her own. If that baby lamb doesn’t “SMELL” right, and it’ll be rejected. And… because of our sin, we don’t smell RIGHT to God either. According to Isaiah 59:2 your “sins have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.” Like orphaned lambs and we would be destined to die. But God loved us so much that He provided a remedy to our predicament: He gave His Son—the Lamb of God (John 1:29)—to die on the cross for our sins (Ephesians 1:7). Jesus, the sinless Lamb DIED in our place. And that made it so that we could be “wrapped up in Jesus.” We can take on HIS righteousness… His smell (if you will)
That’s why Galatians 3:26-27 is so powerful. “In Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” When we were baptized into Christ we “put on” Christ. (adapted by an article by David A. Sargent, Mobile, Alabama)
We were wrapped in His righteousness so that we would smell like Jesus in the presence of the Father. Jesus is the King of Righteousness because He gave us HIS righteousness. No other earthly King could have done that. Without the righteousness of the King… you and I are just ordinary sinners.
But Jesus is NOT JUST the King of Righteousness, He’s also the King of Peace (Hebrews 7:2). Just like Jesus gave us His righteousness… so also, He gives us His peace.
ILLUS: Last Sunday, Larry Philips (one of our Deacons) gave an intriguing communion meditation. Larry said he used to think that peace was an ABSENCE of conflict, of quarreling and of war. In fact, one resource noted that “Peace is the absence of hostility and violence” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace)
But Jesus said “Peace I leave with you; MY PEACE I give to you. Not like the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” John 14:27
And “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation (there IS going to be conflict/quarreling/war). But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
Larry summed up his devotion with these words. The peace of Jesus is NOT the absence of conflict. The peace of Jesus is the presence of Jesus. Jesus is the King of PEACE, and when He lives in your heart… you will have peace. Just like the Jesus covers us with His righteousness, He also FILLS us with His peace. He’s the King of righteousness… and He’s the King of Peace. Without THE King… we’re just ordinary people. And we are A MESS.
Lastly: Jesus is the King of an everlasting Kingdom. Years ago, I ran across this observation about Jesus and the Kings of this world. (The graphic I had shown on the overhead listed several items under the title “THE KINGS OF THE WORLD” and – across from that heading was another that said “JESUS THE KING OF KINGS.”)
The kings of this world were born in palaces; Jesus the King of Kings was born in a stable. Earthly kings were outrageously wealthy; Jesus was born into poverty. Some earthly kings thought themselves divine; Jesus WAS divine, He was God in the flesh. Many earthly kings put their rivals to death; Jesus allowed Himself to be put to death for others. Earthly kings built buildings; Jesus built people - He built disciples. Earthly kings used and abused people; Jesus healed people. The kingdoms of earthly kings no longer exist; but, Jesus’ Kingdom will last forever.
The Kingdom Of Christ lasts forever because Jesus lasts forever. Hebrews 7:3 tells us Melchizedek “was without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever.”
Jesus lives forever, but earthly Kings - no matter how important or good they may be - they’re all gonna die.
ILLUS: Ramses II was a famous Pharaoh of Egypt (in fact he’s called Ramesses the Great, often regarded as the greatest, most celebrated, and most powerful pharaoh of the New Kingdom). But then he died. When his mummy was sent to France in the 1970s, they issued him a passport. As with all passports, there is a line that asks his occupation. And this is what they put on that line: “King (deceased).” (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/01/30/fact-check-ramesses-ii-had-passport-but-viral-image-fake/4313165001/)
RAMSES WAS DEAD… BUT JESUS LIVES.
Now… why is that important? Well, when an earthly king dies (presuming he was a good king) any good that he might do for you… died with him. He can’t protect you; He can’t provide for you; He can’t intercede for you. HE’S DEAD!
But Hebrews 7:25 us that Jesus “is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.” Jesus is alive… and He always lives to make intercession for us.
Romans 8:32 tells us “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” Jesus can DO stuff in our lives because our King is alive to protect, provide and intercede for us.
I saw this meme on Facebook this week that sums it up for me: “Instead of saying ‘Lord, I don’t know how I’m going to do this.’ SAY ‘Lord I can’t wait to see how You do this.’”
CLOSE: There’s one more thing I noticed about earthly kings. If you lived under the rule of an earthly King… you’d have no choice. You wouldn’t get a VOTE as whether or not that King/Emperor/Pharaoh… ran your life. They’d be in charge whether you liked it or not.
By contrast - with Jesus – you have a choice. You can choose to believe He is the Christ/ Son of the living God; You can choose to believe you’ve sinned and you need to change your life; You can choose to declare that Jesus will now be your Lord and Master; And you can choose to be buried in the waters of baptism… rise a new creation.
OR YOU CAN CHOOSE NOT TO. You can choose not to believe that Jesus is the Son of God; You can choose not to believe you’ve sinned and need to change; You can choose not to give your entire life over to Him; And you can choose not to allow yourself to be buried in the waters of baptism. THE CHOICE IS YOURS
About 1000 years after Jesus was born in Bethlehem there was a King in England named Canute. Being a King, he was surrounded by people who were always praising him in hopes getting the King’s attention and to benefit from his generosity. Well… King Canute grew tired of the flattery. He ordered his throne to be taken to the seashore, and he sat there with his attendants and servants surrounding him and loudly commanded the waves not to come in and drench him. But the waves didn’t listen. The crowd watched as the water rose and the king became soaked. One historian tells us that, from that day on, the King never wore his crown again, but hung it on a statue of the crucified Christ.
INVITATION
