What An Entrance Series

What an Entrance!

Luke 19: 28-44

Palm Sunday

Pastor Jefferson Williams

First Baptist Church Chenoa

04-14-2019

A Queen’s Coronation

On June 2, 1953, Elizabeth II was crowned Queen in Westminster Abby. Over 8,000 guests were invited and there were 129 countries represented. Out of 36 million living in the UK, 27 million listened to it on the radio. Millions around the globe watched as the first coronation was broadcast on TV.

On the way to the coronation, she and her husband Philip rode in a gold state coach pulled by eight grey horses. She wore the George IV state diadem that has 1,399 diamonds and 169 pearls. The procession was made up of 250 leaders in England.

During the ceremony, The Queen first put on the newly-made Colobium Sindonis - a loose linen-lawn garment, and then a robe of cloth of gold called the Dalmatic or Supertunica. The Lord Great Chamberlain presented the golden spurs, the symbol of chivalry, after which the Archbishop of Canterbury presented a jeweled sword, and then the armills, the golden bracelets of sincerity and wisdom. Finally, The Queen put on stole and cloth of gold Robe Royal and received the orb, the coronation ring, the glove, and then the scepter.

The imperial state crown was placed upon her head and she was anointed with oil and then they recited the Lord’s Prayer. (I’m leaving a lot out. It was a three-hour service!)

After the ceremony, thousands lined the streets in the pouring rain to get a glimpse of their new queen.

This morning, we are going to look at another coronation - a coronation of a king. This coronation couldn’t have been more different than that rainy June day in 1953. The coronation we will look at literally changed the world.

Setting the Stage

Turn with me to Luke 19. We will be camping out there but the triumphal entry of Jesus is told in all four Gospels so I will be bringing in details from those accounts as well.

Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead several weeks before and had traveled to Jericho. On the road to Jericho, he heals two blind beggars and in Jericho he eats with a tax collector named Zaccheus who commits his life to follow Jesus.

Preparation

After a parable about using what God gives you for the kingdom, Luke records:

“After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.” (v 28)

Luke paints a picture of Jesus walking ahead of His disciples with steely determination. Jesus knows what awaits Him in Jerusalem. The disciples were dragging their feet, perhaps out of fear or out of confusion about all this “dying in Jerusalem” talk.

Jericho is the lowest city on earth, nearly 800 feet below sea level. He was headed to Jerusalem, which was 3,000 feet above sea level. The road led through dessert and was nearly straight up for seventeen miles.

His destiny lies in Jerusalem. He has one week to live. He has an appointment with death. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it.’ Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” They replied, “The Lord needs it.”

(v. 29-31)

Bethany was one of Jesus’ home bases of operations. His friends Mary and Martha and Lazarus lived there about two miles east of Jerusalem. Jesus sent two of His disciples ahead probably into the village of Bethphage. He gives them an errand. Their job was to go a fetch a donkey.

Donkeys were ridden in times of peace. Horses were ridden in times of war. But it wasn’t just a donkey. They were instructed to bring back a colt, a young donkey that no one had ever ridden.

They were to untie it and when asked what they were doing they were to say that the Lord needs it. This was a very small area and everyone knew that Jesus was in Bethany so they would have known what this meant.

The two disciples found it just as Jesus had said. Did He make arrangements beforehand or was another staggering example of His Deity? Luke doesn’t tell us but the owners of the colt immediately give the animal to the two disciples to take back to Jesus.

(Next time try this – just go to someone with a Lamborghini and tell them that Jeff needs it)