“KING OF KINGS”
MATTHEW 21:1-17
OPEN
Last week, we completed our series Angels and Demons. We looked at how God created the angels and how one angel named Lucifer rebelled against God and led one-third of the angels in revolt. They were defeated by God’s angels and cast down to earth. Lucifer is now known as Satan or the devil and his angels are now called demons.
In last week’s message, we also learned that Satan’s desire in rebellion was to take over the throne of God but that he is only a pretender to the throne. Today, I want us to take a look at the true King – the King of kings – Jesus Christ himself.
Rev. 19:11-16 – I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. 13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. 14 The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
Did you know the United States once had an emperor? Believe it or not, it’s true – at least, it was in the rather confused mind of Joshua A. Norton.
Norton lived in San Francisco during the gold-rush days of the 1800’s. He was a colorful character, to say the least. When speculation in the rice market brought him to financial ruin, something happened to Norton’s mind. He declared himself “Emperor of These United States.” It might have been a practical joke, or it might have been the result of a clouded mind.
Whatever the initial reason, Norton’s pretending soon grew into a delusion. In 1859 he published a proclamation that he was emperor according to an act of the California legislature. He found a sword, stuck a plume in his hat, found a cape, and marched the streets in colorful costume.
The citizens of San Francisco were amused by this ploy and so played the game with him. They gave him recognition with free tickets to special events. He was invited to gala opening nights. In fact, they allowed him to collect a small tax and issue his own currency. It was all done in the spirit of fun. But to Norton it was serious business. In fact, he expanded his authority to “Emperor of These United States and Protector of Mexico.”
When he died in 1880, more than ten thousand curious people attended Norton’s funeral service – one of the largest funerals ever to take place in California. He lived and died in his own delusion of grandeur. He didn't hurt anyone; in fact, he brought a bit of a smile and a chuckle to people who came across his path.
But make no mistake about it. Joshua A. Norton was never really the emperor. Had he really insisted on a confrontation with the United States government, he would have been disposed of rather quickly. More than likely, he would have been confined to an insane asylum for the rest of his life.
Imagine the poor soul who enters eternity convinced that life was all about him or that she was the focus of the universe. That’s what Satan did. What a shock to find that the Bible’s title for Jesus is accurate. He is King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and no pretend emperor will ever take his place.
There was a day when Jesus looked something like an earthly king. The crowds welcomed Jesus to Jerusalem with practices reserved only for royalty. They spread their cloaks on the ground, and waved politically-charged palm branches in the air. Palm branches were symbols of victory and freedom to the Jewish people. It was a public declaration that they were looking to Jesus to free them from Roman rule and re-establish the sovereign nation of Israel. They sang songs of praise to Jesus as he majestically entered the city, and they had full expectations that political and military change was only a miracle away.
Mt. 21:1-17 – As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 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. 3 If anyone says anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.” 4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: 5 “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.’ ” 6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt, placed their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them.
8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 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!” 10 When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?” 11 The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
12 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. 13 “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.’ ” 14 The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. 15 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. 16 “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’?” 17 And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.
There three important lessons we need to learn from this passage. They will help you when you face the devil and his demons. They will help you as you deal with people who seek to lead you away from following the true king. And most of all, they will help as you deal with your own struggle as to who should be in charge of your life.
Lesson #1:
FIX YOUR EYES ON THE KING OF KINGS AND NOT YOURSELF
Following the end of British rule in India in the 1940's, a group of researchers wanted to study the impact of the end of British rule on the life of the nation. After six months, the British social scientists gave up, and went home. Though the British had been present in India since the 1600’s, many people in the villages of the country were not aware that the British had ever been there!
Could it be that God himself has visited the world and people have lived and died without ever being aware of the event? We live in a world where the King has come but millions are totally unaware that He is present.
The people singing Hosannas to Jesus knew they had their man. They welcomed Jesus like a rising military or political figure, and offered him their adoration. But when people were asked who Jesus was, they missed the mark.
“He is a prophet from Nazareth,” they said. They were literally walking with the Son of God who had come to save the world, but they weren’t even aware of it.
What if Barack Obama came to Danville in the next few weeks to give a speech and you were the one chosen to introduce him, what would you say? Let’s put aside political differences for just a few minutes and consider this scenario from a carefully measured position.
Don’t stop with the fact that he was a community organizer in Chicago or that he was a state senator right here in Illinois. Don’t even stop with mentioning that there are two books published with him listed as the author.
If you somehow forget that your speaker is President of the United States, you’ll never introduce another person as long as you live. Even your family would scold you for forgetting the most important information. But if President Obama did come to town, there wouldn’t be any mistaking that he’s arrived. With all the security, and with the news media coverage, it would be incredibly difficult to forget the main point during your introduction.
The Son of God arrived for the climactic event of all history, and people got the introduction all wrong. Why? They had their eyes fixed on themselves, and not on Jesus.
Some were tired of being ruled by the Romans, and Jesus appeared to be their ticket out of the occupation. Some were tired of a disability, or a disease. They saw Jesus as a miracle-working machine who would make life easier. Some were hungry, and they’d heard that Jesus could stretch food to miraculous proportions. Very few of the people coming down the mountain that day had any idea that God was working His greatest act of love right in front of their eyes.
Amazingly, it’s still possible to miss Jesus. If people wait until a crisis to “find religion,” it rarely sticks. People in prison, or headed to incarceration, might see Jesus as their way of miraculous release. People surprised by serious illness might look to Jesus as the miraculous cure. People on the verge of a relationship crisis might see Jesus as the ultimate psychologist.
Make no mistake about it. Millions of people alive right now who’ve followed Jesus have reported many miraculous events. Jesus is still in the miracle-working, disease-healing, relationship-mending business.
But if that’s all Jesus is seen for, we’ve missed it. When the crisis is over, Jesus won’t be needed. He can be discarded as quickly as the crowd around Jerusalem discarded him in the days following Palm Sunday.
Lk. 19:1-10 – Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. 5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. 7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner.” 8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”
In the same way that Jesus entered Jericho and every other town to seek and to save the lost, he entered Jerusalem with a fixed purpose, and an amazing plan. Despite the fact that the crowd didn’t understand that plan, he stayed true to course, and never wavered from his goal. His eyes never left his target.
The Purpose Driven Life has sold millions of copies, and transformed people and churches across the world. Instinctively, most people want to know: What is my purpose? How can I be more fulfilled? What a shock to open this best-selling book and read the first sentence: “It’s not about you!”
And it’s not about you. Though Jesus is intently interested in you, and loves you more than can be described, he is King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, and is worthy of our worship. We have been created to worship him, not the other way around.
Lesson #2:
THE KING OF KINGS WANTS YOU TO BE IN HIS ROYAL FAMILY
There’s an old story of a boy who stood on a sidewalk, waiting on a bus. A man walking by spotted the boy, and gave him some gentle instruction. “ Son,” he said, “if you’re waiting on the bus, you need to move to the street corner. That’s where the bus stops for passengers.”
“It’s OK,” said the boy. “I’ll just wait right here, and the bus will stop for me.” The man repeated his argument, but the boy never moved. Just then, the bus appeared. Amazingly, the bus pulled over to where the boy stood, and the child hopped on. The man on the sidewalk stood speechless. The boy turned around in the doorway and said, “Mister, I knew the bus would stop here, because the bus driver is my dad!”
When you’ve got a family relationship with the bus driver, you don’t need a bus stop. If one of your parents is a US Senator, you won’t need an appointment to slip into their office. If you’ve given your heart to the King of Kings, you’re in a royal family of unspeakable proportions.
The purpose of this triumphal arrival for Jesus was to provide salvation for sinners. As King of Kings, Jesus was sharply focused on enlarging his royal family. In fact, you and I were the target of this purpose!
The one thing that kept us away from this incredible family relationship, however, was sin. After all, Rom. 3:23 tells us: For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Then in Rom. 6:23 tells us: For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Paul is telling us here that if not for a rescuer, we would be without hope, because the result of our sinful choices leads to death.
Jesus came as that rescuer, as a savior, and he wasted no time in communicating that message. When he cleansed the Temple – a beautiful building that represented the presence of God – Jesus made room for some people who hadn’t been allowed near the building for years.
Nothing is wasted in the Bible. The Temple, even, is a perfect example of how sin had separated us from God. In one sense, the Temple was a succession of fences, and a fierce line of “Do not enter” signs. [Here is a picture of a large scale model of the temple in the 1st century AD]
[Now here’s a diagram of the temple] Inside the heart of the Temple was the Holy of Holies, also called the Most Holy Place. Only one priest could enter that room, and he could only do so on one day of the year. The people who couldn’t enter there included every man, woman, boy and girl in the world, and all but one of the priests.
In the Holy Place, the nearest room to the center place, only the chosen priests could enter. Again, anyone not in the priesthood would never think of being allowed in that place, easily one of the most beautiful places in the world.
For the rest of the Temple, Jewish men were welcome, but Jewish women were confined to an area of observation. All other races and nationalities were forbidden inside the Temple, and there were no children there, either.
The large courtyard outside the Temple building was for Jewish people only, but no one “unclean” could be there – thereby ruling out any appearance of people with diseases or disabilities. Non-Jewish people could come near the courtyard, but no further than the dividing fence. They could see the business of Judaism from a distance, but they couldn’t be a part of the process. Children, too, were excluded from the courtyard.
For the person who ventured near the Temple area, only to be restricted from further entry, there would be no peace and quiet. The merchants were trading fast and furious at the closest possible point. They made deals with people needing a sacrifice for worship. They made a quick profit from the currency exchange rates. The animals they held nearby made noises, and created an unpleasant odor.
The entire business created a clamor of noise and an atmosphere quite contrary to worship. The area near the merchants was certainly no place of prayer.
When Jesus arrived on Palm Sunday, everything changed for a day. He expelled the moneychangers and sellers of animals, and suddenly, things were quieter. The sound of animals – and the smell of the animals – was gone.
As Jesus healed those who came looking for miracles, the children came, too. Songs broke out, and people praised the God who had healed them, and they praised the man who had invited them to the Temple for worship. Ironically, while children and adults sang the best songs of praise the Temple had heard in years, the religious leaders protested the arrival of those who sang the songs, and especially, the focus of those songs.
The point Jesus made should be very important to all of us. If you’ve ever felt left out of something as lofty as the presence of God, feel that way no more. If you’ve ever felt too unworthy to join the worshippers, join them now.
For Jesus went after the lowest, the least, and the defenseless, and put them right in the middle of the very place they knew to be off limits. And there, healing happened. The miracles came. The very work of God was on display in the very place God was to be worshipped, and it happened all day long. It was one of the simplest, yet most profound illustrations Jesus would ever give to communicate the truth: He loves you, and has fixed his eyes on making sure you know that truth.
Lesson #3:
THE KING OF KINGS DESERVES YOUR ULTIMATE ATTENTION AND DEVOTION
This week I read about a pastor and his family and his account of an exciting adventure. They climbed into a rubber raft for a down the rapids journey on the Rio Grande river. Everyone was an experienced swimmer and it seemed to be a fun but harmless exercise.
Their guide was a young woman. She told them how to maneuver the raft and spent some time teaching them how to work as a unit – not only paddling the raft but also listening to her voice over the rapids.
The time came when they left the fairly calm and quiet waters where they had practiced and headed down the river. They raced over the first series of rapids and it was an exhilarating experience. They were having loads of fun.
Unfortunately, they forgot all the instructions and failed to follow any of the guide’s commands. When they got to the next quiet area, the guide pulled them over to the bank and looked them squarely in the eyes. She said, “Look, you’ve got to listen for my voice, and follow instructions. People die out here. People get hurt out here. Your life is at risk, and so is mine. We can’t go on if you don’t listen to my voice and follow instructions.”
She had their attention. They pushed off from the bank and did much better on the next set of rapids. By the end of the trip downstream, they understood why their guide had been so passionate about her message. At every set of rapids, they increased in intensity and fury. If they hadn’t learned to listen to the voice of their guide and follow her instructions, they would have been in big trouble.
There are a lot of rapids in life, but the biggest test is yet to come. At the end of life, when we meet the God who created us, what kind of answer shall we give to the way we listened for God’s voice, and whether or not we followed his instructions?
Heb. 2:1-4 – We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. 2 For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, 3 how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. 4 God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.
The truth is, we shall not escape, if we ignore so great a salvation. What more could God have done to show us the way? The cross was not hidden from sight. It was in plain view of those who passed by the very week of the Triumphal Entry, and it still remains in plain view of people today. There will be no excuses from those who have heard the message, and yet ignored it. There will be no excuses from those who had a chance to consider the truth, and yet found other things to do.
Deciding what to do with the cross, the Bible says, is the ultimate issue in life. As such, it requires ultimate attention.
CLOSE
He Set It All Aside By Dan Adkins And Tracy Dartt
Somewhere Upon A Distant Land
Long Ago, And Far Away
Was A Crown Of Gold And Precious Jewels
Still Unequaled To This Day
It Was A Crown Desired By Kings And Princes
Throughout The Years Of Time
But The King For Whom The Crown Was Made
For Love... Set His Crown Aside
So The Story Goes, This King Of Old
Sat Upon A Throne So Bright
Glowing Like A Rainbow In The Sky
And Around It Day And Night
Those Who Loved Him, Paid Him Tribute There
But They All Began To Cry
When The King For Whom The Throne Was Made
For Love... Set His Throne Aside
In That City Fair And Beautiful
Far Beyond The Dreams Of Men
Stood A Palace Of Majestic Grace
Never Rivaled, Now Or Then
It Was A Place Of Royal Adoration
But The Cheers Turned To A Cry
When The King For Whom It All Was Made
For Love... Set It All Aside
Chorus
He Set Aside A Golden Crown
For A Crown Of Thorns That Day
He Set Aside A Kingly Throne
And Received A Cross Of Shame
And He Traded Off The Palace Grand
For A Borrowed Tomb, You See
All He Gave Was All For Love
And The Love Was All For Me
Tag
All He Gave Was All For Love
And The Love Was All For Me
Following Jesus means we recognize the royal nature of the one we serve. Yes, he has saved us. Yes, he loves us and wants us in his royal family. But yes, he is King of Kings, and we owe him our very lives.
So look to him – not yourself or anyone or anything else. Know that he wants you in his royal family. Give him your ultimate attention and devotion. He deserves nothing less.
