Coronation Day!
Mark 11:1-11
1 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples,
2 saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here.
3 If anyone asks you, ’Why are you doing this?’ tell him, ’The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’"
4 They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it,
5 some people standing there asked, "What are you doing, untying that colt?"
6 They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go.
7 When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it.
8 Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields.
9 Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, "Hosanna!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"
10 "Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!" "Hosanna in the highest!"
11 Jesus entered Jerusalem and went to the temple. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.
Poets and preachers have often compared two dynamic young men who both died at the age of 33¨CJesus of Nazareth and Alexander the Great, ruler of the Greek Empire.
Alexander :
¡ö lived a privileged and prosperous life.
¡ö as a boy he was tutored by the great philosopher, Aristotle.
¡ö a man of great wealth and power
¡ö nearly invincible as a military conqueror¨Cin fact there was time when he wept because ther were no more worlds to conquer.
¡ö died mysteriously, either as a result of too much wine, or was poisoned by a trusted aide.
One unknown poet put it this way:
Jesus and Alexander, died at 33;
One lived and died for self; the other for you and me.
The Greek died upon a throne, the Jew upon a cross
One¡¯s life a triumph seemed, the other¡¯s but a loss.
One walked with mighty men and the other walked alone
One shed the whole world¡¯s blood, the other gave His own.
Jesus and Alexander, died at 33;
The Greek died at Babylon, the Jew at Calvary
One made himself God, but the One who was God made Himself less.
One lived but to blast, the other but to bless.
When died the Greek, forever fell his throne of swords,
But Jesus died and arose to live forever, King of kings and Lord of lords.
Palm Sunday is a good day for acknowledging the glory and splendor of Jesus Christ. Let¡¯s join the multitudes as they wave their palm branches and shout, Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!
It must have been some sene¡ªsome parade that day. Most folks love a parade. What is it about a parade that attracts such crowds?
¡ö music?
¡ö bands?
¡ö floats?
¡ö clowns?
¡ö horses?
¡ö celebrities?
¡ö cars?
¡ö fire trucks?
¡ö pretty girls?
Some will wait for hours just to get a glimpse of some famous person. In Pasadena, California, people will sleep all night on the sidewalk just to have a good place to view the annual Rose Parade.
Most parades are soon forgotten, but a few stand out and are remembered because of the occasion and the color and drama associated with them. I¡¯m old enough to remember the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. I was 16 years old but I remember it like it was yesterday. It was truly awesome for its color and pageantry. I¡¯ll never forget it.
A far more humble procession, however, has been remembered for nearly 20 centuries. It is remembered on what we call, Palm Sunday.
All four gospel writers describe this event. It was a way for God to declare that He had kept His promise.
The events of this day point to three amazing facts that affect every person ever born. Each of these facts is true. One doesn¡¯t contradict the other. They are 3 links in God¡¯s eternal purpose. Here they are.
1. GOD¡¯S KING HAS COME TO EARTH
Jesus was promised to the Jews as King while the 12 tribes were on their way to the promised land. Listen to Numbers 24:17,18: Thee shall come a star our of Jacob, and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel...out of Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion.
During the centuries the promise was repeated and enlarged again and again, by the prophets. The great King to come would have an everlasting kingdom. He would rule not only over Jews, but also over the Gentiles.
He would bring peace and blessing for which the world longed. This is the One who rode into Jerusalem that Spring day in triumph.
Five centuries before His birth, the prophet Zechariah had described the entry in minute detail in 9:9: Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
A. He was born a King. He made have been born in a stable, but remember how the wise men came to find Him? They asked, Where is He that is born King of the Jews?
B. He possessed a kingdom mentality.
¡õ He said, ¡°The kingdom of heaven is at hand.¡±
¡õ He said that you cannot see the kingdom of God unless you are born again.
Illus: ¡°Woman In Suitcase¡±
In January of 1985, a large suitcase, unmarked and unclaimed, was discovered at the customs office at Los Angles International Airport. When U.S. customs agents opened the suitcase, they found the curled-up body of an unidentified young woman. She had been dead for a few days, according to the county coroner. As the investigation continued, it was learned that the woman was the wife of a young Iranian living in the U.S. Unable to get a visa to get into the U.S. and join her husband, she took matters into her own hands abd attempted to smuggle herself into America via an airplan¡¯es cargo bay. While her plan seemed to be simple though risky, officials were hard pressed to understand how such an attempt could ever succeed. Even if she survived the journey in the cargo bay, she would remain an illegal alien. In the same manner, some people believe they¡¯ll enter the kingdom of God on their own since they¡¯ve been reasonably good citizens or church attenders. But entry plans of our own design prove not only foolish but fatal.
¡õ Jesus also said that you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven unless you humble yourself and become like a child.
¡õ Furthermore, He described His kingdo, in a series of parables¨CThe kingdom of heaven is like... And then He went on to describe this kingdom as one that is ¡°spiritual¡± and ¡°righteous¡± in nature.
He possessed a kingdom mentality.
C. He died as a King
At His trial, Pilate asked Him, Are you the king of the Jews? And He said he was. Pilate understood. In fact, he had an inscription placed on the cross in 3 languages, for all to read: THIS IS JESUS, KING OD THE JEWS.
Can you understand what this means? The divided, groping, warring world has had a visit from it¡¯s King! His time of glory and honor are in the future, but He came.
A week before His death, the Palm Sunday crowd seemed to sense it, if only for a short while. But Jesus turned aside from reigning then in order to become the Savior.
Hve you turned aside from the interests which have filled your life in order to bear your cross? That¡¯s what real disciples do! God¡¯s King has come.
2. GOD¡¯S KING HAS ALREADY BEGUN TO REIGN
The Lord told the Pharisees in Luke 17:20,21, The kingdom of God does not come with observation...for behold, the kingdom is within you.
Its an unseen kingdom. Its in the hearts of those who bow to His will. Max Lucado, in his book, In the Eye of the Storm, reminds us that there is never a time during which Jesus is not speaking. Never. There is never a place in which Jesus is not present. Never. There is never a room so dark...an office so sophisticated...that the ever-present, ever pursuing, relentlessly tender Friend in not there.
The Greek word translated ¡°within¡± is also rendered ¡°among¡± in some versions. That is to say, the kingdom of God was present in the world because the King was present.
Everyone who has received Him as Lord is a citizen of this vast kingdom¨Cspread all over this globe and beyond!
What does it mean to be in this mighty kingdom?
¡õ forgiveness
¡õ peace with God
¡õ assurance of a home in heaven
¡õ strength to endure trials
¡õ power to resist temptation
¡õ a special calling to be His ambassadors
¡õ an heir of His riches
3. THE KING IS COMING AGAIN
Paul stood on Mars Hill in Athens, Greece, in the midst of the great Greek philosophers and thinkers of his day and said the following: God commands all men everywhere to repent, because he has appointed a day, in which he shall judge the world in righteousness by that man who he has ordained.
In Warren Wiersbe¡¯s book, Meet Yourself in the Psalms, he tells about a frontier town where a horse bolted and ran away with a wagon carrying a little boy. Seeing the child in danger, a young man risked his life to catch the horse and stop the wagon. The child who was saved grew up to become a lawless man and one day he stood before a judge to be sentenced for a serious crime. The prisoner recognized the judge as the same man who years before had saved his life, so he ple for mercy on the basis of that experience. But the words from the bench silenced his plea. ¡°Young man, back then I was your savior; today I am your judge. And I must sentence you to be hanged.¡±
One day Jesus will come back. What will He be to you then? Will He be your Savior or Judge?
Again and again, the Bible speaks of the King Jesus¡¯ return:
- It is the subject of Psalm 2
- It is promised by the angels in Acts 1
- Christ Himself spoke of it in John 14
- The New Testament contains over 300 references to it
One of these days we¡¯re going to meet the King! One of these days He will come back. Are you anticipating His return or do you fear it? It all depends.
Is your lamp filled with oil? Are your garments clean? The King is coming!
On September 4, 1970, France celebrated the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Third Republic. There was one segment of the population, however, which didn¡¯t join in the celebration¨Cthe Royalists. They wanted to restore the monarchy to France. Their newspaper carried an editorial which read, One hundred years of calamity. Today, more than ever before, every thinking patriot, every intelligent person can only want to put an end to the king¡¯s absence!¡±
Millions of God¡¯s children today long for the return and righteous reign of Jesus, as King of kings and Lord of lords.
Several years ago,Bill and Gloria Gaither wrote about the coming again of King Jesus.
The market place is empty, no more traffic in the streets,
All the builder¡¯s tools are silent, no more time to harvest wheat;
Busy housewives cease their labor; in the courtroom no debate,
Work on earth is all suspended as the King comes through the gate.
Happy faces line the hallways, Those whose lives have been redeemed,
Broken homes that He has mended, Those from prison He has freed.
Little children and the aged hand in hand stand all aglow,
Who were crippled, broken, ruined, clad in garments white as snow
I can hear the chariots rumble, I can see the marching throng,
The flurry of God¡¯s trumpets spell the end of sin and of sin and wrong;
Regal robes are now unfolding, heaven¡¯s grandstands all in place,
Heaven¡¯s choir is now assembled, Start to sing, ¡°Amazing Grace.¡±
Chorus:
O the King is coming, the King is coming,
I just heard the trumpets sounding
And now His face I see
O the King is coming the King is coming
Praise God, He¡¯s coming for me.
MAKE SURE YOU ARE READY TO MEET HIM TODAY!
