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Text: Luke 19:28-48
Theme: Jesus is some King
Doctrine: Spiritual Reign of Christ
Image: Jesus weeping on the donkey while surrounded by celebration.
*Some King*
Luke 19:28-48
*Intro*
Reading this account of the entry of Jesus fills us with a little joy inside, does it not?
Today is Palm Sunday, and today we celebrate Jesus's triumphant entry into Jerusalem.
This name seems to be somewhat strange, though, it does not really fit with what we just read.
When we think of triumphant entries we think of huge parades, great celebrations, expensive preparations.
We do not think about someone riding on a donkey.
We think of the celebrative return of a sports team after they have won a championship.
Everyone comes out to welcome the team home and all the businesses are closed so people can enjoy the day.
Or perhaps we think of things like presidential inaugurations.
These are also magnificent affairs filled with pomp and pageantry, and traditional ritual.
Or perhaps we think of the coronation ceremony of a monarch.
There is a museum in London, England, where a recording of the coronation of Queen Elisabeth II plays on a loop all day long.
I sat and watched most of the ceremony.
Some of us can remember the wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana.
That, in itself, was a magnificent affair, but it in no way compared to Queen Elisabeth's coronation.
Here was a rather young, stunningly beautiful young woman clothed in the most magnificent dress and royal cape England had to offer.
As she approached the throne she passed through throngs of people standing in solemn silence.
Before ascending to the throne, she knelt before the Archbishop and received a blessing.
Sitting on the throne with her train and robe spread out before her she received the gold orb and sceptre symbolising her rule over the British Empire.
The climax of the whole event was when the Archbishop stood behind her and lowered the crown of England on her head.
Everyone erupted in cheering and applause, hailing her as Queen.
This kind of experience is a bit foreign to many of us, seeing as how it happened so long ago, but we recently witnessed a similar ceremony with the funeral of former President Ford.
It was amazing to witness the number of people who went out to pay their respects to this president.
How the entire city came out en masse to show respect for the man that he was.
The 21 gun salute and the 21 jet fly over added to the immensity of the display.
And the climactic lowering of the casket into the cold ground for its final resting place as the sun set into the west struck many people to the heart.
*Jesus shows himself to be King*
*fulfils prophecy*
These are the images that fill our heads when we think of elaborate ceremonies and the greeting of dignitaries.
We would not naturally think about someone riding into town on a donkey.
Many others have pointed out that this sort of thing is not what people would have expected from Rome either.
When Pilate entered Jerusalem it would have been in full state with a retinue of soldiers and a magnificent war horse.
The Romans would have looked down with disdain at this spectacle.
Some king this is, all he has is a donkey.
For the Jews, however, Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey would have stirred up some incredible feelings.
All four gospel writers consider this to be a significant event.
They go into extensive detail about how Jesus sent his disciples ahead to get a donkey's foul, one which had never been ridden.
The way that Luke tells the story, it appears as though Jesus has set the whole thing up.
It may be an exposition of the divine knowledge of Jesus, that he knew where the donkey was and that the owners would let it go with a simple explanation.
More likely, however, Jesus has set the thing up previously with the owners, even giving a password for when he would send people to retrieve it.
So, when the disciples told the owner, “The Lord needs it.”
They knew exactly who was requesting use of it.
They put their cloaks on it so that it would be more comfortable for Jesus to ride and began to lead the procession up to Jerusalem.
It seems that the crowd began to get excited as they went along.
They were, after all going into Jerusalem to attend the passover.
The atmosphere was one of joy and celebration.
Here was this person who had done wonderful deeds coming to celebrate the passover in Jerusalem.
They began to sing out joyfully one of the Hallel Psalms, one of the praise Psalms.
Luke quotes a portion of Ps 118, which we read as the call to worship this morning.
The Psalm says, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”
Luke, however, makes a slight change in the wording so as to indicate what was going on.
Unlike Matthew and John, Luke does not mention the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9 directly.
This prophecy is:
9 Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion!
Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
righteous and having salvation,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Luke changes the wording of Ps 118 to indicate that they applied this prophecy to Jesus.
Jesus is not just “he who comes in the name of the Lord” but “the king who comes in the name of the Lord.”
For Luke, the crowds recognise the authority of Jesus, they recognised their king coming on a donkey, they recognised the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Son of David who would be given a throne that would never end.
In Jesus they saw all of the fulfilment of all of their hopes.
The Pharisees recognise the reference as well.
They know what the crowd is saying.
They understand how dangerous this song is.
They glance nervously around to ensure that there are no Roman spies and quickly go over to Jesus.
They ask him t silence the crowd.
“Tell your people to be quiet.
Tell them they must be wrong.
Tell them that they should not apply these prophecies to you.
Teacher, rebuke your disciples.”
But Jesus says something surprising.
Unlike most of his ministry he welcomes, and even promotes the people in recognising him as king.
Here he has made a special effort to fulfil the prophecy of Zechariah by riding a donkey's colt into the city.
Jesus tells the Pharisees that the people have it right.
They have correctly identified the Messianic hope.
If they did not shout aloud.
If they did not proclaim that Jesus was king, then creation itself would shout out it exaltation.
The stones themselves would cry out that Jesus is king.
Some king this is.
*falls short of expectations (David as type of Christ)*
Jesus reveals himself as king, and the people recognise him as king, however, he does not fill the expectations of the people who were looking for this king.
The people had reason to be disappointed in Jesus.
After all, they were expecting a king like David.
They were expecting a king to come in to the city and set up an earthly reign.
They expected all of the enemies of the Jews to be wiped out.
They expected to be set free from all their suffering and to enter into the peace, the shalom of God.
They expected Jesus to set all things right again.
They expected from Jesus in his first coming what we expect from him in his second coming.
This explains a bit more what the people took issue with, does it not?
They have the stories of David and his conquests.
They have heard how God protected him and led him to victory defying all odds.
They have heard how God promised David someone on his throne forever.
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