The Servant King

Palm Sunday is one of those significant days on the Christian calendar. It marks the beginning of what we call holy week. It means we are entering into that final week of Christ’s ministry before he goes to the cross. There is so much colliding all at once in these final days of Christ’s time in Jerusalem. And it is truly a collision. At almost every turn in the gospels from here we see polar extremes bending in increasing tension. Those who are followers of Jesus are amped up because they think this is finally the time when a military coup against Rome is going to happen (and they think Jesus is going to lead it). Those who oppose Jesus are becoming adamant that he must be stopped at all costs. From this point, they are not just trying to silence Jesus, they are trying to kill him. The collision of adoration and condemnation is evident all throughout the events of holy week.

This collision of opposites brings us to today’s consideration of servanthood. We call Jesus both our lord, and our servant. He comes into Jerusalem as the servant king. That label itself is something of an oxymoron—a contradiction of terms. Normally a person who is a servant is not a king. And a person who is king is not a servant. Those two things do not go together. They did not go together in the time of Jesus, and they still do not go together in our world today either. Yet, this is exactly how Jesus reveals himself. More than that, Jesus seems to intentionally reveal himself as holding both these titles at the same time. He is both a servant and a king. This is instructive for us who follow Jesus today as his disciples.

Isaiah 50:4–9 NIV

4 The Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed. 5 The Sovereign Lord has opened my ears; I have not been rebellious, I have not turned away. 6 I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting. 7 Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame. 8 He who vindicates me is near. Who then will bring charges against me? Let us face each other! Who is my accuser? Let him confront me! 9 It is the Sovereign Lord who helps me. Who will condemn me? They will all wear out like a garment; the moths will eat them up.

Luke 19:28–40 NIV

28 After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, 30 “Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it.’ ” 32 Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 They replied, “The Lord needs it.” 35 They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. 36 As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road. 37 When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: 38 “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” 40 “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

we think of Palm Sunday as a triumphal entry into Jerusalem

Today I do not want us to lose sight of the collision taking place in the gospels. We might think of Palm Sunday as a celebration. Sometimes in the Bible we refer to the events on Palm Sunday as being the triumphal entry. We label this as a day of triumph. Most certainly that is what the disciples of Jesus are doing. This is absolutely a day of celebratory triumph in their minds. We come into church on Palm Sunday and sing songs that declare the same shout of hosanna that rang out two thousand years ago along that eastern road from the Mount of Olives into Jerusalem. We wave the palm branches just as they did back then.

Luke also uses language that frames Jesus as a king

Luke does not want to diminish for us the fact that Jesus is—in fact—a king, even if not in the exact framework and understanding to which the disciples are leaning in that moment. It is not an accidental random reference Luke makes with the words he records. 

Luke 19:38 NIV

38 “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

the shouts of hosanna reference Psalm 118 — but Luke inserts the word “king”

The first line is a reference taken from Psalm 118. However, Luke makes a very intentional variation in his version of this story. Technically, Psalm 118 says “blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” Both Matthew and John quote it that way in their versions of Palm Sunday. But Luke changes it up from the original quotation of Psalm 118. Luke inserts the word “king” in place of the generic pronoun “he.” Luke also adds another line which does not come from Psalm 118 (and which the other gospels leave out as well). Peace in heaven and glory in the highest. The original readers of Luke’s gospel would have recognized this reference all the way back to the very beginning of the letter. In Luke’s version of the nativity, he records the angels in chapter 2 declaring to the shepherds outside of Bethlehem:

glory and peace are references to the angel song in Luke 2

Luke 2:14 NIV

14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

cloaks on the road are a red carpet ceremony for a king

Luke’s references to Jesus as king: inserts the title “king” in his reference to Psalm 118 “peace” and “glory” reference to the angel’s song cloaks on the road (red carpet ceremony)

The disciples are echoing the refrain of heaven’s angels in their declaration of Jesus as king. The scene itself portrays this. As other Passover feast pilgrims are also headed into Jerusalem at the same time, a crowd of people begin to lay down their cloaks on the road ahead of Jesus. This is the Bible’s version of rolling out the red carpet; something reserved for royalty.

Here’s the point, even thought disciples and the crowd along the road do not accurately understand the ultimate mission of Jesus at this particular moment, Luke still elevates their declaration of Christ’s kingship in this story. Luke wants to make clear to his readers that Jesus is in fact a king.

kings would not ride on a colt of a donkey

Jesus intentionally portrays himself as a servant who is also a king

But then there is the collision. Jesus is riding on a young colt of a donkey. This is hardly a way for royalty to displayed. Imagine the scene as though we are there. Crowds of people are shuffling along the road towards Jerusalem. People coming from the (as Jesus is traveling) come from the town of Bethany—about two miles away from Jerusalem. The road goes over a large hill which they call the Mount of Olives. When we get to the top of that hill and begin to descend the western slope of the Mount of Olives, the eastern edge of the city of Jerusalem comes into view. The temple is located on the eastern edge of the city, so those traveling into Jerusalem this way would catch a full view of the city with the temple at the highest point as they come over the hill. I imagine that for the travelers who walk a great distance to Jerusalem in order to celebrate Passover, this was an exciting part of the trip. It is their first glance at the capital city and a signal that their long hike down dusty roads is almost over. These people who have been exploding with excitement at this spot along the way into Jerusalem.

And now we add into the commotion word spreading through the crowd of people that the rabbi teacher Jesus is coming down the road just behind them. Many people would have heard some kind of news about Jesus at this point. Most notably, the news of Lazarus being raised from the dead by Jesus was well known. We know that because the Jewish leaders who are plotting to kill Jesus are also plotting to kill Lazarus. In the excitement of this moment, I imagine all the people are straining to catch just a glimpse of Jesus as he makes his way down the road through the crowds. The songs and chants can be heard, declaring that Jesus is a king. This is the long awaited promised messiah who is said to be in the lineage of king David.

And then you see it. Here comes this man riding on a young donkey. Wait; this is it? Something is not right! This is not how kings travel! It is as though they see a presidential motorcade in which the commander in chief is riding in a rusty Ford Pinto. Are we sure this is a king? He doesn’t seem to be acting much like a king. And this too is Luke’s point. Not only is Jesus a king, he is also a lowly servant. Jesus is both at the same time.

the reaction of Jesus to all this is sadness

Here is where Luke shows us a collision. Jesus comes into Jerusalem heralded as a king. But his reason for coming into the city is to act as a servant. He serves on behalf of the people he loves. We stopped reading the story at verse 40. But look at the reaction of Jesus when he sees Jerusalem.

Luke 19:41–44 NIV

41 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 42 and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43 The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. 44 They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”

Can you picture the scene? The disciples and the crowd are happy. The Pharisees and Jewish leaders are angry. And Jesus is sad. We should not overlook the sorrow of Jesus in this moment. Perhaps we get a little too eager to jump ahead to Easter Sunday. We want to focus our attention on the resurrection, and skip over the part about suffering and dying. After all, resurrection day is really what sets the kingship of Jesus firmly in place for all eternity. There can be no denying the kingship of Christ once he demonstrates victory over the grave.

we need to sit in the moment of this collision (joy, anger, sadness)

But we cannot get there yet; at least not today. For now we are stuck in this moment of collision in which the kingship of Jesus is mixed in with his own sorrow and weeping. But because Jesus is a servant, he is not weeping in self-pity over the events of suffering he knows are coming to him in this week. He is sad for the people he loves. He is sad for those who are lost. He is sad that the sin of this broken world has ensnared and dragged down all that God has created and meant for good. Yet while Jesus laments that the world has come to this level of brokenness because of our sin, he does not deter from the act of service he faces which will set things right. Jesus came into this world to humble himself as a servant for us.

why is Jesus sad? disciples are rejoicing because they want Jesus to be a powerful king pharisees are angry because they do not want Jesus to be a powerful king

nobody seems to understand Christ’s path of humble service

We have noted at several points in this series the way in which the servant nature of Jesus provides an example for us to follow. We take the identity of a servant in this world because the Lord that we follow takes the identity of a servant in this world. And so we serve as Jesus served. And yet we do so with one eye forward on the kingship of Jesus as well. I like how Isaiah deals with this tension in Old Testament.

Isaiah 50:6–7 NIV

6 I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting. 7 Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame.

Isaiah reminds us that even as we take upon ourselves the humility that comes along with being a servant in this world as Christ was a servant, we do so with full confidence that our acts of service are given not only in service to others in this world, but are also given in service for our savior Jesus. When we serve others in this world as we are called and redeemed by Jesus to do, we are actually serving king Jesus in doing so.

it is our actions of humble service that declare the kingship of Jesus

By this, our acts of service are so much more than actions of social justice, or examples of mercy. These are actions which declare the kingship of Christ. It is a way of living which leans into the sovereign authority of God over all things. And it comes by way of humble service. Do you see the collision here again? God’s authority does not project itself into the world in the form of power and domination by the example of Christ. It comes instead as humble service. And that is set before us as the example to follow.

God’s authority does not project itself into the world in the form of power and domination

This is a timely reminder for our culture right now. There is popularity building in our nation for a particular movement known as Christian Nationalism. In 2022, author Stephen Wolfe tried to put this forth in his book The Case for Christian Nationalism. The problem with Christian Nationalism is that it entirely depends power and dominance as the backbone of its ideology. The reason we—as followers of Jesus—should flatly reject Christian Nationalism is because it seeks the power and dominance of the kingdom without embracing the humble service of Jesus. Anyone who promises power to Christians is selling a lie. Not because they don’t have power, but because they don’t have the gospel. The gospel is that Jesus sets aside his power and majesty in humble obedient service.

The apostle Paul explains it this way in his letter to the Philippians.

Philippians 2:5–11 NIV

5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

do you see it there? The collision between Christ being both servant and king at the same time. Our path of faith is one in which we acknowledge the kingships of Jesus by following in the same humble acts of service which Jesus demonstrates for us. Or, as Paul says it:

Philippians 2:5 NIV

5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

Next week is Resurrection Sunday. We will get there. But let us never forget the path of the coming week which Jesus takes to arrive at Easter. Yes, Jesus is king; but he is a servant king.