The King

Gene Beckner | 4/14/2019

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Introduction
1. Good Morning Brookwood! It’s good to be with you this morning. My name is Gene Beckner and I’m the Care Pastor here at Brookwood. I’m excited and honored to be with you this morning as we take a few minutes to look at what God’s Word shows us about Jesus’ last week before He was crucified.
2. Today is Palm Sunday. The name comes from what is known as Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. As you just saw on the video, Jesus is entering the city to much commotion. Some of the people were apathetic to Jesus coming; others responded with disbelief or ridicule. Some of the Jews saw Jesus as their promised king coming to rescue them from Roman oppression. Their response was to spread palm branches on the road before Jesus.
3. The palm represents goodness, but more importantly victory. Keep in mind that 400 years had passed between the end of the Old Testament writing of Malachi and the New Testament writings of The Gospels Matthew/Mark/Luke/John). During those 400 years, God had been silent. No prophets or messages. To make matters worse, the Jews had been ruled and oppressed by several different nations like the Greeks, the Egyptians, and at that time the Romans. They were looking to be rescued.
4. Enter Jesus. He’s been on the scene for the last three years. Mark tells us that He speaks with authority not like the religious scribes (Mark 1:22), Luke and Matthew tell us that He heals many (Luke 4; Matthew 8), John describes how He feeds several thousand people with a few fish and some bread (John 6). Some of the Jews tried to force Him to be king but He refused, slipping away until the appointed time.
5. Today we will look at this appointed time. Jesus enters Jerusalem to the fact that He is indeed The King. We will look at how the people responded to this. You can get your outline out if you haven’t already and I encourage you to be considering what YOUR response is to what I just said: Jesus is King.
6. Our memory verse comes from Luke 19:38 and it says, “Blessings on the King who comes in the name of The Lord! ...” Luke 19:38 (NLT)
7. Essentially we are blessing Jesus who is King! AND He comes not in His own name but in the name of The Lord!
The Triumphal Entry
1. Let’s turn to Matthew 21 and take a closer look at Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem and the response of the people. Feel free to swipe to Matthew 21 on your smart phones or tablets or flip the pages in your Bible to get there. If you have this version of the Bible that we sell in the bookstore, we are on page 790.
2. Matthew 21:1-11 (NLT)

As Jesus and the disciples approached Jerusalem, they came to the town of Bethphage on the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of them on ahead.“Go into the village over there,” He said. “As soon as you enter it, you will see a donkey tied there, with its colt beside it. Untie them and bring them to Me.If anyone asks what you are doing, just say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will immediately let you take them.” This took place to fulfill the prophecy that said, ^“ Tell the people of Jerusalem, ‘Look, your King is coming to you. He is humble, riding on a donkey— riding on a donkey’s colt.’” The two disciples did as Jesus commanded. They brought the donkey and the colt to Him and threw their garments over the colt, and He sat on it. Most of the crowd spread their garments on the road ahead of Him, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Jesus was in the center of the procession, and the people all around Him were shouting, “Praise God for the Son of David! Blessings on the One who comes in the name of the Lord! Praise God in highest heaven!” The entire city of Jerusalem was in an uproar as He entered. “Who is this?” they asked. And the crowds replied, “It’s Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
1. This story is mentioned in all four of The Gospels. Anytime something is mentioned that many times it certainly deserves our attention.
2. Verses 1-3 seem to simply mention Jesus sending two of His disciples to get Him an animal to ride upon as He enters the city. Upon closer examination, however, we see two Old Testament references that Matthew draws our attention to. The first Scripture is Isaiah 62:11.
3. The Lord has sent this message to every land: “Tell the people of Israel, ‘Look, your Savior is coming. See, He brings His reward with Him as He comes.’” Isaiah 62:11(NLT)
4. The second scripture is Zechariah 9:9.
5. Rejoice, O people of Zion! Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem! Look, your King is coming to you. He is righteous and victorious, yet He is humble, riding on a donkey— riding on a donkey’s colt. Zechariah 9:9 (NLT)
6. The Jewish people would have been familiar with both of these references. The Savior is coming with salvation for the people! Yet, their King, even though He is righteous and victorious, comes humbly and riding on a donkey’s colt. Jesus could have come on a stallion or on the shoulders of His followers with much pomp and circumstance, but He came in a way that fulfilled the Scriptures… humbly. In fact, Jesus’ time on earth could be described as humble. He was born in a manger to a carpenter. During His ministry He spoke the truth in love, with compassion for others. He never lorded over others His position. This is in sharp contrast to how the Roman leaders ruled over the people; how the religious leaders treated the people.
7. As He is entering the city, people are paying homage to Him by laying their garments and palm branches down in front of Him. Many were praising God! We will look at that in more detail in a moment. Right now, however, let’s look at v.10 which will correspond with our first fill in:
8. The entire city of Jerusalem was in an uproar as He entered. “Who is this?” they asked. MATTHEW 21:10 (NLT)
9. Responses to The King…the first response someone might have is Questioning .
10. Put yourself in Jerusalem for a minute. It’s the season of Passover. The town is packed with people celebrating how God delivered His people from Egyptian rule (Exodus 12). Imagine downtown Greenville at Fall for Greenville or Artisphere or The Farmer’s Market. Wall-to-wall people. And all of a sudden there are people yelling; lots of commotion; people taking their jackets and coats off and laying them down in the middle of main street; cutting down branches off of trees to lay in the road before a man on a donkey’s colt. Might YOU ask, “Who is this?”
11. See, not everyone was looking for the Savior as Isaiah 62 instructs. They were participating in the religious traditions. They were in the religious locations. Their focus was on other things so that they missed The King.
12. How about you? You ever get so focused on “stuff” that you miss Jesus? Could be “important stuff” like paying the bills or figuring out how to raise your kids well? Could be “good stuff” like going to church, reading the Bible, participating in a service project like feeding the homeless or helping someone move. All that stuff has value and it’s important but in the flurry of life you are missing The King.
13. Or maybe you’re brand new to this Christianity/Faith/Church thing. You’re like, “hey, I just got here. I don’t know what’s going on. Jesus...who?” Let me encourage you to ask the question, “Who is Jesus?” We can connect you with folks who can help you with the answer to that. Skepticism is ok; ask the questions; let’s journey together. Again, keep in mind the question on the Outline: My response to The King is_________.

Now let’s turn to Luke 19 on page 844.
1. The 2 ^nd potential response is Rejecting .
2. Verse 39 shows another response to Jesus as King

But some of the Pharisees among the crowd said, “Teacher, rebuke Your followers for saying things like that!” Luke 19:39 (NLT)

The Pharisees are responding to the response of the people who were praising Jesus. But it wasn’t just praising Jesus for being a prophet or a miracle worker…they were praising Him for being the Messiah…being God…being their Savior.
The religious leaders would not acknowledge Jesus as King. They referred to Him as Teacher or Rabbi. Jesus WAS a teacher and Rabbi, but He was so much more! Interesting that they were constantly trying to catch Him making a mistake...prove Him wrong…somehow discredit Him…get Jesus to slip up but He never did.
But now they saw that He had a following. His popularity was at a fever pitch in this moment. The people were listening to Jesus more than them. They were losing control and they wanted it back. They were afraid. When we are afraid we tend to try to control: people mainly.
How about you today? Are you rejecting Jesus as King? At first glance you would probably say “No Way!” We come to church don’t we? We sing worship songs…we give to the needy…we read our Bible….we even got baptized!
I’m not talking about those things….I’m talking about what’s going on inside of you. “Gene, what do you mean?” Is Jesus the King of your heart? Your mind? Your will? Who really sits on the throne? Are you more concerned about being politically correct? Being liked? Pleasing people? Staying in your comfort zone?
Don’t be too hard on the Pharisees or think that we aren’t “like them.” Rejection can be shown in many different ways. Their way was just more obvious and outward. Ours can be hidden and subtle, like being judgmental of others or harboring resentment or refusing to forgive. Either way, Jesus is not being honored and He is not King.
For those of you who are new to all of this, I again encourage you to take a step toward God during this time. Maybe this idea of Jesus being a King is weird or awkward to you. That’s ok. Ask God what He wants you to know about this and let Him begin revealing to you who Jesus really is. Opportunities to connect with someone will be available at the end of the service this morning if you have questions. We are all on this journey together. Again, keep in mind the question on the Outline: My response to The King is:____________

The third possible response is: CELEBRATING .
1. Let’s look at Luke 19:36-38 (NLT) , As He rode along, the crowds spread out their garments on the road ahead of Him.When He reached the place where the road started down the Mount of Olives, all of His followers began to shout and sing as they walked along, praising God for all the wonderful miracles they had seen. “Blessings on the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in highest heaven!”
2. Now we see a third response to Jesus as King and it is one of celebrating…rejoicing…singing…shouting! The people are proclaiming Jesus as King. As we looked at earlier, Old Testament Scriptures were referenced as how the Messiah would come into Jerusalem. God’s promises were that there would be freedom and redemption.
3. Expectations were high! You ever been there? Celebrating something that would benefit you like nothing ever had? Marriage? Job? Graduating from school? New Car? New House? Worth celebrating right? Yet, with all of those things our excitement may have caused us to miss some things. That spouse has flaws. The job isn’t all that it was cracked up to be. Graduating didn’t provide you with a job right away. The car costs too much. The house needs upkeep. The celebration was authentic and yet…..something is off.
4. Similar to this celebration. The people didn’t quite grasp what was happening. Jesus wasn’t coming to set up an Earthly kingdom where the Romans would be vanquished. In fact, in Luke 17:20, when the Pharisees asked Jesus about when God’s kingdom would come, He told them that it was already among them. It wouldn’t be detected by visible signs or be in a specific place. It would be on the inside.
5. A fair question to ask is then why celebrate Jesus as King? If He isn’t conquering Rome and establishing a Brick and Mortar Kingdom on Earth, then what is there to celebrate? To answer that we need to look The Lord’s Supper where Jesus lays out where His life is taking Him and us, if we choose to follow.

The Lord’s Supper
1. When you came in you should have received a pouch like this (IF YOU DON’T HAVE ONE PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND AND A VOLUNTEER WILL BRING YOU ONE.)
2. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke all detail Jesus’ explanation to His disciples that He is going to die at the hands of His accusers. However, He encourages them that He will see them again in His Father’s Kingdom. They eat bread as a symbol of Jesus sacrificing His body and they drink wine as a symbol of the blood that Jesus will shed so that those who believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior can have eternal life.
3. So, we come to a time of reflection and remembrance of the sacrifice that Jesus made for us by willingly going to the cross to be the payment for all people’s sins. Sin keeps us from a Holy God but Jesus bridges that gap with His sacrifice. We can’t bridge the gap by our good behavior or good deeds. We can only get there by receiving the grace that comes through Jesus. If you are still in a place of exploring a relationship with Jesus, you don’t have to participate in this experience. But, if you have questions or are interested in knowing more, I encourage you to come down front at the end of the service and talk with one of our Care Volunteers or speak with someone at the Care Connection room in the Concourse.
4. For those of us who are believers, we are instructed by Paul in

1 Corinthians 11:23-24 (NLT) For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord Himself. On the night when He was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some breadand gave thanks to God for it. Then He broke it in pieces and said, “This is My body, which is given for you. Do this to remember Me.”

Before you take of the bread, let’s take a few moments to reflect on what this means, what it means to you. Take this time to connect with God and take of the bread as you feel led.
If you have not partaken of the bread, do so now.
Paul continues with Jesus’ words in 1 Corinthians 11:25 (NLT) In the same way, He took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and His people—an agreement confirmed with My blood. Do this to remember Me as often as you drink it.”
Again, before you take of the juice, take a few moments to reflect on what that means, what it means to you. Take this time to connect with God and take of the juice as you feel led.
If you have not partaken of the juice, do so now.
As we end the service, please be considerate of those around you who may still be reflecting. Care Volunteers can come down to the front. If you need to speak with someone, come to the front or if you just need some time to continue reflecting, feel free to stay where you are as the music continues to play.