Jesus Is King

https://missionbibleclass.org/new-testament/part1/life-of-christ-late/triumphal-entry/

https://ministry-to-children.com/

What is a king? A king is someone who rules over a country. Great Britain has a king, King Charles. He became king last year after his mother, who was the queen, died. Do you think it would be fun to be a king or queen? Why? Kings and queens get to tell people what to do and everyone has to obey him. It’s like Simon Says. If Simon says it, everyone has to do it and if you don’t, you’re out.

Who doesn’t have to obey a king? Do we have to obey King Charles? No. Why not? We don’t have to obey him because we don’t live in Great Britain. He’s not our king. Because we live in the United States, we only have to obey the laws of the United States. But, if we were to move to Great Britain, then King Charles would be our king and we’d have to obey him. Today, I want to tell you a story about a time when some people honored Jesus like a king.

It all happened on a Sunday afternoon when Jesus was traveling to Jerusalem with his disciples. They were going to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. Does anyone know what Passover is? It’s a Jewish holiday that celebrates when God delivered the Israelites from being slaves in Egypt. God told his people that every spring they should travel to the temple in Jerusalem to celebrate. Jews still celebrate Passover today though they don’t travel to Jerusalem. So, Jesus and his disciples walked to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover.

There were a bunch of other people who were walking to Jerusalem too. They came from miles and miles. Some had to walk for a week just to get to Jerusalem. Can you imagine walking every day for a week? Do you think you’d be tired? The good thing is once they arrived in Jersualem, they stayed for another week before they started walking back home.

Just before they got to Jerusalem, they went through the village of Bethany. Bethany is about two miles from Jerusalem. Jesus had some friends who lived in Bethany: Mary and Martha and Lazarus. Can you think of a story about Lazarus? Lazarus had gotten sick one day. So, Mary and Martha sent for Jesus. They asked him to come and heal their brother, but by the time Jesus got there he had died. In fact, he’d been dead for four days. After greeting Mary and Martha, Jesus went to the cave where they had placed Lazarus’ body. He told them to roll the stone away and then he said to Lazarus, “Come out.” Do you think Lazarus could hear him? Lazarus could hear him because Jesus had raised Lazarus back to life.

While Jesus was in Bethany, he gave two of his disciples a special job. Jesus sent them to find him a donkey to ride. Jesus said, “Go into the village and you will see a donkey. Untie it and bring it to me. If anyone asks you what you are doing, tell them ‘the Lord needs it.’ When you say that, they will let you have the donkey.”

So, the two disciples did what Jesus told them. They went into the village and found a donkey just where Jesus told them they would. When they untied it, someone asked what they were doing. He thought the disciples were trying to steal his donkey. So, what did the disciples do? They told him just what Jesus had said, “The Lord needs it.” And what do you think the owner said? He told the disciples they could take it. If Jesus needed it, Jesus could use it.

We don’t think very much about donkeys today, we like horses. But in that day to ride on a donkey was pretty special. Horses were ridden by people in the army, but donkeys were ridden by kings and prophets. And Jesus was both. He was a king and a prophet.

When the disciples brought the donkey to Jesus, one of them placed his robe on the back for Jesus ride on. As they walked along, people saw Jesus and they started putting their robes on the ground for the donkey to walk on. Then some other people started spreading out palm branches on the ground too. That’s what you did for a king. It was like spreading out a carpet for Jesus. Before you knew it, there was a parade for Jesus.

Do you like going to parades? I do. Every December they have a Christmas in Elizabethton. There are floats, and marching bands, and fire engines, and candy. Just about everyone in the parade throws candy. What is there not to like about that? I like parades.

Friday evening there will be a parade in Kingsport for Fun Fest. They have bands and floats and candy too. The last time I went they also had squirt guns. If you brought a squirt gun and shot water at the people in the parade, they would shoot you back. That was pretty fun.

I do remember a really strange parade I went to one year. It was a patriotic parade on the Fourth of July. There were no marching bands, there was no music, and there was no candy. It was good parade, but it was the quietest I’ve ever seen.

As Jesus rode the donkey to Jerusalem they had a parade for him. There were no marching bands or floats or candy, but it was an still pretty exciting. Even though there were no bands, there was still some music because the people started singing. They sang:

9 Praise God! God bless the One who comes in the name of the Lord! 10 God bless the kingdom of our father David! That kingdom is coming! Praise to God in heaven! (Mark 11:9-10)

Have you ever heard that song? The words are from the Bible. They are found in Psalm 118. It was such an exciting time that even the children were singing:

Praise to the Son of David. (Matthew 21:15)

Don’t you think it would have been exciting to be at that parade?

The words of the song said they were praising God. Do you know what the word praise means? If I were to praise you for making your bed, what does that mean? It means that I said something good about you. You do a really good job making your bed. Do you do a good job making your bed at home?

The people were praising God. They were saying good things about God because of all the good things he had done for them. We praise God when we sing songs thanking God and telling him how great he is. We can also just tell God how great we think he is in our prayers.

As Jesus rode to Jerusalem, he went over a hill called the Mount of Olives. As he came down the hill, he was higher that the city. So, he had a good view of Jerusalem and of the temple. He could see all the buildings and the people, and the people, if they looked up, could see Jesus. They could see the parade and they could hear the sound of those walking with Jesus singing. They wondered what was going on. They wondered who was riding on the donkey that the people were singing to. So they asked, “Who is that man?” The people in crowd answered, “That is Jesus. He’s the one who has performed all those miracles. He even raised a man named Lazarus from the dead.”

When Jesus got into Jerusalem, the religious leaders wanted Jesus to stop the people from carrying on like that. They didn’t like the parade they were having for Jesus. They especially wanted the people to stop the singing. They asked Jesus, “Do you hear what all those people are singing? Do you hear what their children and singing?” Do you know what Jesus told them? Jesus said: “God said that he taught children how to sing praises to him.” And then he said:

I tell you, if my followers don’t say these things, then the stones will cry out. (Luke 20:40)

Can you image stones singing to Jesus? If they started singing, do you think that would make them a rock band?

Why do you think the people threw a parade for Jesus? They were excited to see him. They had heard about him, but most of them had never seen him. And now, he was right there with him. They were so excited to see him that they wanted to honor him, so they started putting palm branches on the ground and they started singing. Don’t you think it will be exciting to see Jesus one day?

One day we will see Jesus. In Philippians chapter 2, God says that one day everybody who has ever lived will see Jesus one day. And when they do, they will bow before Jesus and say that Jesus Christ is Lord. Do you know what a “lord” is? A lord is someone in control. He’s the owner or master. In ancient times they would refer to a king as lord. That’s why in the book of Revelation, God says that on Jesus’ robe it will say:

King of kings and Lord of lords. (Revelation 19:16b)

Jesus is the greatest king and the greatest lord. So, who is our king? Jesus is our king and because Jesus is our king, he deserves our obedience. That means we are to do what Jesus tells us. And because Jesus is our king he also deserves our praise and honor. He deserves to have us sing songs to him just like the people did as Jesus rode the donkey to Jerusalem.