Jesus, Name Above All Names

If you were a king, what kind would you be? If you could be queen, how would you be graded?

Certainly, there are many perks. For instance, you would live in a large palace.

You would have servants delivering every kind of food you desired.

There would be no shortage of resources.

You would have power, prestige, and influence.

Every whim and wish of yours would be granted by a host of servants.

You wouldn’t even have to use words- just hand gestures.

The world has seen many kings. But arguably none crueler or more demented than Nero. The Roman Emperor, responsible for the executions of Peter and Paul, reigned from 54-68. One source states:

Nero's rule is often associated with tyranny and extravagance.

He is known for many executions, including that of his mother, and the probable murder by poison of his stepbrother Britannicus.

He is infamously known as the Emperor who "fiddled while Rome burned" and as an early persecutor of Christians.

He was known for having captured Christians to burn them in his garden at night for a source of light.

Nero, who sought to serve himself and sacrifice many others in the process, was Rome’s best offer as a monarch.

In great contrast, Palm Sunday is about the recognition of another king, the Lord Jesus Christ. He was a special king who was willing to serve, instead of being served. His coronation was humble, from the crowd that was gathered, to His entry into His royal city.

But before we get into the events of that first Palm Sunday, let us consider those things leading up to that day.

There were those that planned to destroy the world’s greatest king.

What is ironic is what takes place before this coronation. Jesus is being schemed against. Plans were being made by the religious rulers to arrest Him and execute Him. But Caiaphas the High Priest admonished them and said: “You know nothing at all.” And predicted that one man would die for the people.

John 11:51–53 (ESV)

51 He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, 52 and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. 53 So from that day on they made plans to put him to death.

But man can only plan so much. God’s plan always wins out. Jesus would not die as a victim, but as a sacrifice. But before that would happen, He would be recognize as King.

The crowd recognized Jesus as their good king.

We read about it in John 12:12-13

John 12:12–13 ESV

12 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”

The account of the Triumphal entry is one of the few events recorded in all four gospels. A great crowd of pilgrims always came to Jerusalem for the Passover Feast. On one Passover, Josephus records that 2.7 million gathered in Jerusalem for the event.

The fact that the crowd would proclaim “Hosanna!” is a play off of Psalm 118, the last of the Hallel Psalms, those Psalms that state in Hebrew: “Save us now.”

The praise that Jesus received that day was a fulfillment of Scripture, with everything that the crowd would do, to everything that Jesus did. For instance, it was a type of symbolism that He would ride into Jerusalem on a donkey’s colt. This was written around 500 years before the birth of Jesus.

Zechariah 9:9–10 ESV

9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 10 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.

Many in the crowd that day would have been Galileans familiar with his ministry. Others would have heard about the raising of Lazarus and would have been eager to see Jesus, the one who could raise the dead!

For this reason, people laid their cloaks and palm branches in the roadway, so Jesus could ride across them. Palm branches were a national symbol. Donald Carson notes that these,

“…may have signaled nationalist hope that messianic liberator was arriving on the scene.” Donald Carson, The Gospel According to John (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1991), 432.

F. F. Bruce states:

“From the time of the Maccabees, palms or palm branches had been used as a national symbol. Palm branches figured in the procession which celebrated the rededication of the temple in 164 B.C. and again when the winning of full political independence from the Greeks was celebrated under Simon in 141 B.C.” (F.F. Bruce, 259)

So it was maybe something similar to waving the stars and stripes or hearing “Hail to the Chief,” during America’s brightest hour.

The crowd was just repeating what Nathanael had said at the beginning of the gospel in John 1:49:

John 1:49 ESV

49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”

Jesus was truly a king! But the real question is this. Is He your king?

Every person has one of two kings. Jesus referred to Satan as “the ruler of this world,” but that is masked by the fact that many people live as if they were their own ruler, that self is king. But Palm Sunday reminds us that Jesus is the One King, “Faithful and True.”

Everything in Jesus’ life had an intentional design to it- a fulfillment of Scripture.

The significance of these events missed the disciples. It was not until later that they discovered the full impact of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. John 12:16 says:

16 His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. 17 The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. 18 The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.”

The disciples are no different than we are. Human nature is slow and unobservant. The truth is that God is always working, always conducting things according to His wise counsel.

But the significance was not lost on the Pharisees. They saw the beginning of something that threatened their knowledge and power. Notice what the Pharisees say. “The world has gone after Him.” This is an echo of what we see in John 11:48 Here, John could be alluding to the universal appeal of the gospel.

John 11:48 ESV

48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”

It is important to know that being a disciple of Jesus’ is a worldwide thing. It is not confined to America, or the Bible Belt, or a skin color. It is a worldwide venture. This is why you read of some Greeks that sought out Jesus right after this passage.

But unlike other worldly kings that shed the blood of others freely, King Jesus would lay down His life for us, that we might become children of God. Jesus would give His life. He would sacrifice Himself. What king does that? Only One. It is as one poet wrote:

Full many a king a golden crown has worn, But only one a diadem of thorn: Full many a king has sat on jeweled throne; But only One hung on a Cross alone: Through garlanded gay streets, cheered by the crowd Great kings have ridden—One, with His head bowed Beneath the burden of His Cross, passed on To die on Calvary, one King, but one: All other kingdoms pass; are passing now— Save His Who wore the bramble on His brow.

For the true follower of Christ, this world does not compare to the blessing with following God. Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world.” And so His subjects do not place the value of their lives in this world either.

The benefits are tremendous: forgiveness of sin, abundant, eternal life, becoming a child of God. But the cost is great! It involves a shift in priorities: one in which Jesus must increase, and I must decrease. Paul would write in Galatians 2:20:

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Friends, when you become a Christian, your life belongs to another. You are not your own. And you are no longer king. Pastor J.D. Greerar said:

In every heart, there is a throne and a cross. If self is on the throne, then Jesus must be on the cross. If Jesus is on the throne, then self must be on the cross. Those are the only options. Do we bow in humble submission to Him?

In contrast, those who love this life, devote themselves to wealth, prestige, advancement and recognition; things that become idols that replace God. To live for this world means that you live for those things mentioned in 1 John 2:16:

“For everything in the world-- the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does-- comes not from the Father but from the world.”

One commentator states:

“Those who are absorbed by the interests of life on earth encounter ruin while those detached from worldly interests will through Christ’s work attain to eternal life.” (The New Geneva Study Bible, 1687).

But the mark of a disciple is to give one’s life unreservedly to God and to the advancement of the gospel.

I want to challenge you today to do just that! Give yourself to Christ the King!

Peter Waldo, the probable leader of the pious Waldensians, was a rich merchant from France. He was converted through the death of a friend. At one point in his life gave up all his wealth to follow the Lord. Everywhere he went he preached the claims of Christ, using the words, `Look to Jesus! Listen to Jesus! Learn of Jesus!' These are the prerequisites of discipleship. This is our calling: “Look to Jesus! Listen to Jesus! Learn of Jesus!”

CONCLUSION

Which is your life? Who is your king? Is it Jesus? Or self?

Don’t answer so fast, that you don’t know what is required. Henry Drummond was a Scottish evangelist who lived in the latter half of the nineteenth century. He was once asked to address a meeting of a select West-End Club in London. On his arrival he found his audience assembled and everything arranged for him to give his message. He commenced his address with these words: 'Ladies and Gentlemen, the entrance fee into the Kingdom of Heaven is nothing: the annual subscription is everything.'

I would tell you the same thing. `It doesn't take much of a man to be a Christian, but it takes all there is of him,' said Thomas Huxley.