Palm Sunday 2024: The King We Need

Intro

everyone has seen a movie or read a book that involved a king visiting a city, or the coronation of a king or queen in England. It’s an occasion of pomp and circumstance, of great reverence, of celebration. Palm Sunday is a beautiful occasion where we recognize and celebrate the King coming into the city to take his throne.

Yet Palm Sunday is also a bit of a strange occasion when you take a look at it. Sure enough the King is coming, and there is some pomp and circumstance surrounding his coming, but not in the way you might expect. This is the King that Israel has been told to look for for thousands of years, the promised Son of David is here. Yet His long-awaited entry into the city is humble; he’s mounted on a donkey and surrounded by commoners.

This is because in Jesus, we receive not the king we deserve, but the king we need.

Today I want to talk about King Jesus, first that he shows himself to be the Sovereign King over all, and second that he shows himself to be the humble king that we desperately need.

Jesus is the Sovereign King Over All

Matthew 21:1–4 ESV

Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,

Gives Authoritative Commands (the perspective of the disciples)

State: As they approach Jerusalem, Jesus gives what seems like a very strange command to many of us. Jesus says to two of his disciples, “go into that town ahead of us, and you’re going to find a donkey and a colt tied up. Grab them and bring them here to me.” It’s ok for us to think this strange, because this isn’t one of those passages that’s only strange to us today because it happened 2000 years ago. Even for the disciples that received the command, this was a strange thing to them. In fact, Jesus made a habit of giving commands that seemed strange to the ones receiving them. The gospel of John makes a point of highlighting this on many occasions, and he makes sure to point out that the disciples did not understand what Jesus was doing with this whole donkey and colt thing while heading into Jerusalem.

But for all the strangeness of the command, we must recognize the authority that stands behind it. This was no mere request nor suggestion, it was a command that was meant to be followed. That isn’t to say that Jesus was some hard-nosed boss with an iron fist, but rather that his words carry immense weight.

Sometimes we get the sense that Jesus was a bit passive in his demeanor and that he just wanted whatever was easiest for everyone around him. We can sometimes create this image of him in our minds as a person who is non-confrontational and soft-spoken, somebody who we can hold up as a good teacher when we agree with him but easily brush him off to the side when we disagree.

But here we see something very important: Jesus is not someone to be disregarded or pushed off to the side. When he gives a command, he gives it with an authority that demands to be obeyed, even if that command might not make complete sense to the one listening.

Illustrate: Can you imagine this command being given today? This would be something like if you were walking with Jesus on the road and he said to you, “go into the next town and you’re gonna find a house that has a rusty 2004 Pontiac Grand Prix in the driveway. The keys are in the ignition and the doors are unlocked. Go get it for me and bring it back here, and if they ask you what you’re doing, just tell them that the Lord has need of it.”

Apply: Now, I promise you that God has not asked you to go and take any cars from any houses, this was a specific command to two specific disciples at a specific time for a very specific reason.

But there is a principle here that we need to make sure we recognize and see as true for our lives too: When Jesus gives commands, they are authoritative in nature. The commands of Jesus are not mere advice, nor should we only follow them so long as they make perfect sense in our own minds.

Obedience cannot equate to understanding. As the Sovereign King, Jesus has every right to give authoritative commands to us; and just because he is gentle and lowly in heart does not make his commands into mere suggestions that we can choose to follow or not. In fact, Jesus has given us many authoritative commands that we must take great care to respect and follow; but unfortunately we often treat them as nice sayings to put on coffee mugs but otherwise may be ignored when inconvenient.

Jesus has commanded us to love our neighbors as ourselves; especially those neighbors that are our enemies. He wasn’t making a suggestion, but commanding with authority.

Jesus commanded us to listen to his words and to do them, for if we love him, we will keep his commands.

The authority that rests behind his commands shows him to be the Sovereign King, and not only the authority that his disciples acnkowledge, but also his use of the right of requisition.

We can see this from the persepctive of the disciples and see Jesus as the authoritative King, but think about the perspective of the owners of the donkey for a moment with me.

Has Right of Requisition (the perspective of the owner of the donkey and colt)

State: Kings have the right of requisition, and will often use that right when the occasion calls for it. Essentially, the right of requisition acknowledges that the King is able to lay hold of private property when it suits his needs. In practice, this means that your stuff is only your stuff until the King calls for it.

While I’m sure you can imagine how this could be an oppressive system under a tyrannical ruler, in the right context it was actually quite an honor for the king to requisition something of yours. When it’s the sheriff of Nottingham cruelly taking every last thing you have to live on its brutal, but a good King would make sure that you were more than compensated for whatever he requisitioned. When its a hated king you might resent the requisition, but you would feel beyond honored when a beloved King requested the use of your property.

This is the right that Jesus makes use of as he requisitions the donkey and colt from the nearby town. Though it technically belonged to someone else, Jesus has every right to use them as the authoritative King that he is showing himself to be.

Illustrate:

Apply: As the Sovereign King, Jesus has every right to requisition all that we have. Just because we are proud of something that we own, or because we worked hard for it, or because we only want it to be used in a very specific way, does not mean that it is off limits from the requisitioning of Jesus.

And in fact, Jesus has already requisitioned everything we have. This was the understanding of the believers in Acts as they had all things in common and were giving everything of themselves to serve one another. In the same way, King Jesus has requisitioned all that we have to be used in service of him and his church.

Your house, your money, your car, your time, your job, everything has been requisitioned to be used for his glory.

TRANSITION: But Jesus isn’t on some power trip here, and he isn’t just giving commands for the sake of commanding people. There is something deeper happening here, something truly beautiful.

Jesus is showing that he isn’t just another King in a long line of kings… but that he is the Christ, the chosen one of God, not the King we deserve, but the King we desperately need.

Jesus is the Humble King We Need

The kings we deserve

State: I should note at this point everyone in Jerusalem is aware that Jesus is making a claim to the throne in Israel. Whether it’s the crowds chanting that he is the Son of David who was prophesied to sit on the throne, Jesus making clear that he is fulfilling the prophesy about the coming king, or the Jews who make an accusation that he has made a claim for the throne. There is no question in anybody’s mind that Jesus is acting like the prophesied king here; but everyone has different expectations about that king.

The peasants in the crowds following him are expecting him to be the king that will finally overthrow the Roman Empire and reclaim the throne through military might. They aren’t happy with their living conditions, and they are hoping that Jesus has come to enact social and political change.

The high-ranking Jewish officials are aware that he may be that kind of a king, but they can’t have him seize political power because he has repeatedly made public his distaste for the religious elites. If Jesus gets the power they are scared he is coming for, then they can kiss their high ranking goodbye. Many of them have buddied up to Rome, and they would rather have Caesar on the throne than Jesus.

But of course, they were all misguided. They were busy looking for the king that they deserved, not the king they needed. They were looking for another David, another Solomon, another Josiah. Israel has already had many kings, some better than others, but all ultimately imperfect and incapable of being what the people really needed.

They were all under the impression that their greatest need was for someone to come in and overthrow Rome. In their minds, Rome was the enemy and their major adversary. If they could just get someone who could come in, gather together a military, gain God’s favor, and put together a military strategy impressive enough to topple the world power, then all their problems would be solved. Essentially, they were looking for a continuation of the Judges cycle, or for just another entry into the long line of kings that the people deserved. They were looking to be ruled by someone who was just like them, who shared their worldview, their interests, and their shortcomings.

Illustrate: There’s a line in Batman: The Dark Knight when police comissioner Gordon is remarking on the fact that while Batman may be effective, he isn’t necessarily what the city of Gotham needs right now. The famous line goes, “Batman is the hero Gotham deserves, but not the hero it needs right now.” His point in saying this is that Batman is a product of Gotham. He is dark and twisted, he goes around the law, he uses questionable methods to reach his goals. In many ways, he actually emulates the negative behaviors of the criminals he’s seeking to stop.

Alternatively, Gordon sees the need for a different hero, not one that the city deserves, but one that the city needs. A person who can sell an ideal, who can act righteously and by the books, who can rise above the scum and villainy and finally clean up the streets the right way.

While his plan may not have worked out so well in the movie, I think this does a good job of illustrating the problem with Israel at this time. They were looking for the king they deserved, someone like them, who would be selfish like them, share the same worldview as them, pursue the same goals as them.

Apply: We do just the same thing in our lives today. We crave personalities to follow; whether they be celebrities, athletes, movie stars, youtubers, influencers, politicians, or even popular pastors and authors. It seems hardwired into us to deify people and exalt them. What we inevitably end up doing, though, is seeking to exalt people who are like us. We look to these people to bring some sort of meaning to our lives, to entertain us the way we want, give us the advice we are looking for, back the political agendas we feel we need, you name it.

at our worst, we even craft Jesus in our own image to be the king we think we deserve

We are constantly in search of the hero we think we need, we exalt kings and queens in our lives that are just like us, and they are exactly what we deserve.

But Jesus isn’t what we deserve, and praise God that he wasn’t content to simply give us the king we deserved.

The King we need

Matthew 21:5–11 ESV

“Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’ ” The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”

State: While they were busy looking for a king who would ride in on a warhorse and claim the city for the Jews, the King of the Universe was riding in on a donkey being heralded by peasants. The king that they wanted was full of pomp and circumstance, but the king they needed was humble and mounted on a donkey.

This shows us what kind of a king Jesus is; the almighty Sovereign is a humble King. Can we take a second to appreaciate this? He is the eternal Son of God, the Almighty, the One True Sovereign, the one who has all authority in heaven and Earth. Here is the one who’s glory majesty, and power know no bounds. This is the one who has the right to requisition all things in creations, the only one who could rightly exalt himself over all else.

Here he is, riding into Jerusalem on a donkey and surrounded by common people.

His throne won’t be gilded and glorious, but his throne will be a cross.

This crown won’t be made of gold and jewels, but of thorns.

He won’t be lifted up on a litter and paraded around the city in glory, but he will be lifted up on a cross and paraded around the city as a common criminal.

This is the king they need.

This is they king they need because their biggest threat wasn’t Rome. What they needed the most wasn’t another flashy king to wrestle power back into Israel for another generation or so.

Their greatest enemy was themselves. It wasn’t outside, it was inside. They weren’t struggling against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers. Their main problem was that sin was eating away at them, destroying them, and that they could do nothing about it; and they were blind to it.

The people of God deserved a king who would come in and feed into their delusions about overthrowing Rome, but what they needed was a humble King who would come in and die for their sins as a perfect sacrifice.

They needed a humble King who, though he was perfectly righteous and innocent, would allow himself to be arrested, beaten, and killed by sinners so that he could wash them from their sinfulness.

Though they couldn’t see it, they needed a king who could save them from themselves.

Friends, we don’t need a king who can grant us our wildest dreams, enact the social changes we desire, or set us up to be happy and wealthy. What we need is a king who is able and willing to save us from the sin that dwells inside us.

And friends, the good news I have for you on this Palm Sunday is that King Jesus is exactly the King we need. In him, God has provided us with exactly what we need.

As we look to King Jesus and place our faith in him, trust him, hope in him, he conquers our greatest enemy. In him, our sins our forgiven. In him, our hearts are made soft. In him, we have newness of life. In him, we are empowered to live for the glory of God.

This is our King, the King we need.

Illustrate:

Apply: Take some time this week to celebrate our King. We have the special services, but beyond that, take some time to think about how glorious our King is. Think about how wonderful it is that God has provided us not the king that we deserved, but the king that we desperately needed. That King is Jesus, and he has come, he has defeated our enemy, he has rescued us, saved us, and even now as he sits on his throne and reigns over all creation, he watches over us and protects us, working out all things together for our good.

What a King we have in Jesus, lets celebrate him together!

FCF: Without a King to rule us, we are powerless against sin’s domination.