Untitled Sermon (14)

Jesus Is King

Jesus demonstrates true worship, while he himself is being worshipped.

Payoff: We are to worship in knowledge, humility, obedience and sacrifice.

Luke 19:28–40

BIG IDEA: Don’t be replaceable. Our job is to Worship.

Worship doesn’t happen just on Sunday. It’s a daily lifestyle of study, humility, obedience and sacrifice.

Anyone here ever feel… replaceable?

Just curious.

As a creative guy, AI is revolutionizing my industry. It is mind blowing what it can do.

With just a few prompts, you can create almost anything in seconds.

Illustration, Logo, Video

Someone even created an AI-generated song that topped the Christian and Pop charts.

The singer? AI.  The music? AI.  The lyrics? AI.

They’re saying that before long AI could create entire TV shows— script, actors, etc

And for a moment I thought… Wow… I might be replaceable.

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized something important.

Being a designer isn’t who I am.

It’s what I do. But It’s not my purpose.

So what is my purpose?

Isaiah 43:21 says: we were formed so that we might declare Praise to God

(Isaiah 60:1-3): You are called to reflect the glory of the Lord in a dark world,

Want to know the meaning of life? That’s it

We were created to worship God.

In today’s text, Jesus says something shocking.

When the Pharisees told Him to quiet the crowd, Jesus said: “If they keep quiet, the rocks will cry out.”

Did you catch that?

If we refuse to worship the King… we will be replaced… by rocks.

BIG IDEA: Don’t be replaceable. Our job is to Worship.

INTRO

There are 3 moments that are HUGE in our Faith

When Christ was Born

When Christ was crucified, but then rose again (Which we’ll celebrate next week)

And Today - Palm Sunday - Where Jesus is declared King

This morning as we walk with Jesus 

We are walking with our King.

Actually, not just our King, but the King of All Kings!

A King who commands worship

And, as we walk with Jesus, we can see through his actions what True worship looks like

Just as He worshipped His Father, so we are to worship Christ

Jesus demonstrates true worship, while he himself is being worshipped.

And not to give away the ending of this

But what happens if we don’t worship Him, and we stay Silent

Christ says, the literal Rocks will Cry out

ROCKS!

We will be replaced by Rocks

Let that sink in

BIG IDEA: Don’t be replaceable. If we don’t worship the King, the rocks will.

1. THE KING ARRIVES (vv. 28–35)

This is a Huge day! - Jesus enters Jerusalem for his last week on this earth.

There’s a festival going on 

Jerusalem is packed.

People from all over have come to celebrate Passover.

There’s energy and Anticipation in the air.

And one name is on everyone’s mind:

Jesus.

They’ve heard about the miracles Jesus has been doing.

Casting out Demons

Healing the Sick

Performing miracles and feeding thousands

Raising Lazarus from the dead

And now… He’s coming into the Jerusalem.

And there are questions swirling: 

Is now the time?

Is Jesus coming in and ushering in his Kingdom?

Is Jesus going to takes over, fix everything that’s wrong?

Will he overthrow the oppressive Roman government?

1. Begin Text

And so our Text starts in Luke 19:28

Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem with His disciples

He’s a couple of miles out from Jerusalem, (Bethany)

And he does something very intentional.

He sends two of His disciples to get a colt.

He tells them where to go, and who he’d talk tooexactly

V31 “If someone asks, tell them the Lord has need of it”

And what happens?

They go, and there is the colt just as he said

And then people question them, just as he said

They agreed. The disciples were given the Colt, and they took it Back to Jesus

This wasn’t some random chore. 

Jesus wasn’t tired, and needed a mode of transportation

For Jesus, this was as deliberate as anything he had ever done

Throughout the NT Jesus has continually fulfilled OT prophesies….

Born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14)

Born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2)

Came from the line of David (Jeremiah 23:5)

Performed miracles (Isaiah 35:5-6)

And this morning he is going to fulfill Zechariah 9:9:

“Behold, your King is coming… humble… riding on a donkey.”

Jesus is making a clear statement.

He knew the prophecy, and he orchestrated fulfilling it

In that culture —

If a king came on a war horse, he came for battle.

If he came on a donkey… he came in peace.

And Jesus requested to ride on a Colt - Even lower than a donkey

An innocent, young animal, that had never been ridden before

Jesus is declaring something without saying a word:

“I am your King… but not the kind you expect.”

Jesus knew exactly what He was doing.

He knew where the colt was

He knew what the disciples would say

He knew what the owners would do

And more than that…

This morning, He knew where He was going. And what was about to happen

Not just going to Jerusalem - so everyone could cheer for Him

He knew what was waiting for Him.

Mocking

Beating

A cross

This seems like a joyous occasion for everyone.

They were there for a festival.

There’s laughing, singing, people having a great time.

But Jesus knew what laid ahead.

While on this same road, in the Book of Mark, he was talking to the twelve, and he was clear what was about to happen to him. 

Mark 10:33“See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. 34And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.”

“I’m going to Jerusalem… and I will be killed.”

This is not a just a parade.

This is a deliberate march to the cross.

2. THE CROWD ERUPTS (vv. 36–38)

The disciples bring Jesus the Colt

They throw their cloaks on the young, innocent animal

And they put Jesus on the it

As Jesus rides in, the crowd goes crazy

They throw their cloaks on the road—A sign of honor… submission… royalty.

And they begin shouting: “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!”

It’s A Messianic declaration from Psalm 118

What They are saying:

“This is the King!”

“This is the Messiah!”

And they’re right.

But also… very wrong.

3. THE GREAT MISUNDERSTANDING

While they recognized Him as King… They misunderstood His mission.

They were thinking:

KING JESUS IS HERE!

“Finally—freedom from Rome!”

“Finally—we Jews are going to have Power again”

“Finally—our problems are over!”

Jesus is:

Our political Savior

A conquering King

A revolutionary leader

They wanted a royal crown.

But Jesus came for a crown of thorns.

(PAUSE – LET IT LAND)

They praised Him… for what they thought He would do.

Not for who He actually was.

Oooo. Do we do that?

5. THE PHARISEES PUSH BACK (vv. 39–40)

The religious leaders see what’s happening and panic.

These are Pharisees. They know the law. They know what the OT says

They see Jesus, looking like he’s the Messiah

They tell Jesus: “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”

They understood exactly what the crowd was saying.

Jesus, rebuke them - they’re claiming you are the Messiah.

And Jesus responds:

“If they keep quiet… the stones will cry out.”

In other words:

This moment cannot be silenced.

A King must be declared.

All of history had been pointing right here.

A TRUE KING IS REVEALED THIS MORNING

Let’s be clear about the kind of King Jesus is:

Not a King of force

Not a King of armies

Not a King of political power

👉 He is a King of:

Humility - He rode on a donkey, and old coats

Grace and Mercy

Sacrifice

He doesn’t conquer nations…He conquers hearts.

He doesn’t bring temporary peace…He brings eternal peace with God.

HOW FAST PRAISE CAN TURN

It won’t take long for us to find out

When Jesus didn’t meet their expectations…Everything changes

He doesn’t overthrow Rome.

He doesn’t start a revolt - like they expected

He doesn’t take political power.

And within days…

The same voices crying “Hosanna!”

Would be shouting: “Crucify Him!”

Same city. Same crowd.

Capitalize on how we can honor Jesu with our lips

Think we are worshiping but our hearts are far from him

There can be people who go to church, walk an aisle, etc but it is a show

They do it for who they want Jesus to be for them

Not for who he really is…and they miss him completely.

What Can We learn from all of this?

JESUS IS KING

Our King has come

Our Messiah has come

And like I said earlier, Kings…

Command loyalty.

They deserve honor.

And deserve to be Worshiped

Jesus wants to be KING of our Life

And today, Jesus made it clear that He is King

Revelation says he is the The King of Kings - 

King of ALL Kings - The greatest

And the Lord of Lords

Today, It’s ALL about Jesus!!!

Actually, can I tell you a Secret - Everyday is all about Jesus

The Gospel is ALL about Jesus - It’s All about Him, and the work he has done

As Christians, in our walk, when we read God’s word the first thing we think

Well what about me?

Where do I fit into this?

How can Jesus make my life better?

There’s a Toby Keith song -

I wanna talk about me, wanna talk about i

Wanna talk about number one, oh my, me my

What I think, what I like, what I know, what I want, what I see

I wanna talk about me (me, me)

The Gospel is ALL about Christ

But All of THIS (Arms up ushering to church building)

Is about our God

His Son

Our King - The Messiah

Who is on the throne today

A King who has ushered in the Kingdom of God, which will be a perfect Kingdom some day.

Sometimes we put ourselves at the center of the story. We want Jesus to:

Fix our problems

Remove our pain

Make life easier

Give us control

We aren’t saved because our King needs people to rule over

We’re not saved just so we don’t go to Hell

Or to make our life better

Or just so drug addicts are free

Those are great benefits

But we are saved to Worship Him

Isaiah - we are people formed for him, so that we might declare his Praise

Jesus is King. He will be worshipped. By us, or by His own creation

ALL Creation worships Him

As the trees sway and wave their branches

As the birds sing their songs of worship

As babbling brook runs continually and never runs out

WE ARE REPLACEABLE

But then I find it interesting, when Jesus is talking to the Pharisees

Jesus says if they don’t worship me - THE ROCKS WILL CRY OUT

ROCKS

Of all things…

If we don’t worship Him, even the rocks will cry out

We are replaceable by ROCKS

No life. No soul. No heart. No mind. No mouth.

Yet, if we don’t worship Him, even the rocks will cry out

Wow. I feel like we need to get this right. 

How do worship our King - so that the rocks don’t take our job?

Flags! Do we need flags? Maybe a Dance team?

Raise our hands higher?

Do we need to be more emotional?

You can be emotional… loud… expressive……and still be missing it.

Can I say, it’s not just emotion, because the people in our story today were emotional, but they had no understanding

Churches can be over the top emotional, but lack in true worship

SO WHAT IS TRUE WORSHIP?

Is it the beginning of service - that we call Worship?

Jesus says in John 4 that it is not about the place

We have a genre of music dedicated to it on spotify - Worship

Is Worship just singing to God on Sunday mornings?

Is it a giant video screen with lighting?

Maybe worship is old smelling hymnals? Mmmm. Love the smell of hymnals.

Maybe worship is no music at all - there’s a whole denomination about this

Romans 12:1 (NIV): "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship”.

1 Chronicles 16:23 (NIV): "Sing to the LORD, all the earth; proclaim his salvation day after day”

Luke 9:23 (NIV): Jesus said, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me”.

John 17: 4 - Jesus says: I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.

I believe…

worship is way more than emotional songs with good lyrics and a beat.

Corporate worship, is amazing. The people demonstrated it in our story. 

But worship is an individual attitude to Christ

And when we get it right individually

It is sooo much better when we are together and worship as a whole

So what is this all about this morning?

Jesus is King and he deserves to be Worshipped — Daily!

As Christ followers. Our ultimate goal, is to imitate Christ.

And, in this text, even though Jesus is being worshipped

He demonstrates what true worship looks like

As he worships his Father

What does this look like?

I have 4 ways we can worship Our King

Here is our Application for this morning

1. We Must Worship in Knowledge

Psalm 100:3: "Know that the LORD, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his…"

We must know God, and who He is

This is demonstrated by Jesus when commanded the disciples to go and get the colt

Jesus knew the Old Testament

He knew the scriptures - and how he was to fulfill them

Jesus knew the law - Scripture

Jesus taught the law

As a child, he disappeared and was found at the temple teaching

Jesus had an understanding of Gods word

which led him to know his Father’s will

and therefore worship him in truth!

AND, in the same way, we are to know God through is Word

Studying is an act of Worship when we…

Read scripture

Study who Christ is - and abide in Him

Understanding His Character

Aligning our life with His Truth

We are making a concious effort to know him.

Renew our minds daily

And because of that knowledge we desire to be more like him, DAILY

WE ARE WORSHIPING

Our worship is more than just songs, it’s when our Mind and Heart come together

John 4 - God is looking for people to worship him in spirit and truth

Some get emotional - but there is no Truth

Others have All Knowledge - but there is no Joy

Personal worship starts with studying and knowing our King

2. We Must Worship in Humility

This morning Jesus rides in, in humility

The King of kings rides lowly… on a colt, not a great white horse.

He wears no royal robes.

He’s seated on old jackets

Their jackets were worn, I’m sure dirty, maybe frayed and with holes in it

What a picture of a KING

What this looks like:

True worship is never about showing off

It’s an inward posture of humility 

As Christ walked in humility - we should walk in humility 

•         Philippians 2 – having this mind which is yours in Christ Jesus…

Worshiping in Humility Acknowledges God’s authority

Where we admit our faults, and our sin

Surrender to God’s Soverignty - Where it’s not just about us

We are to know our place - as worshippers to his greatness

We are lowly, He is Great

We are nothing, He is Spectacular

Surrendering our will to his

Surrendering our selfish Ambition

Where ALL OF THIS is all about HIM

And in all of that, we practice gratitude

In worship we humbly bow our knee to the King

We are to worship in Knowledge, humility and

3. We Must Worship in Obedience

This is demonstrated by Christ this morning…

Jesus knew exactly what awaited Him

arrest, mockery, crucifixion.

Yet he walked forward in full obedience to His Father

Despite fear, pain, and rejection.

This was worship in action—a life fully surrendered.

And as Christ walked in Obedience, we are to walk in Obedience.

What this looks like:

True worship is walking in obedience to our King.

It is , even when it costs us.living in alignment with God’s will

Luke 9:23 Jesus said, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me”.

Where we walk in TOTAL SURRENDER TO God’s will

Walking in obedience, even when no one is around

It is trusting our faithful and good God, that he is in control

And not walking forward in Fear

We are to worship in Knowledge, humility, obedience, and

4 We Must Worship in Service and Sacrifice

Jesus’s was doing all of this for those around Him, and for those in the future

His life was marked by service

And ultimately marked by His final Sacrifice

Jesus, Our King - Was also the perfect Lamb

When he willingly laid down his life for the sins of man

A man who knew no sin, living the perfect life

Willingly walked to the cross, to take our sins up on him

Beaten, mocked and ultimately murdered on a Cross

But it doesn’t stop there - on the third day - He rose again

Defeating sin and Death

Ultimately bringing those who believe in Him - Forgiveness

And a renewed relationship with God the Father

What does that look like for us?

We can imitate Christ’s love for others

When we desire to serve others

Putting other’s needs before our own

We can lay down our lives in Sacrificial service 

So they will come to know Christ through us

We are to lay our life down daily, and pick up the cross daily

And be living sacrifices to God

RECAP

We are to be like Christ. Every day, a little more.

Our King - Is worthy of this Honor

We are to worship him Daily

Until one day, we will be made perfect, and fully transformed

We are to worship our King…

In knowledge - by knowing him

In humility - by surrendering to him

In Obedience - by trusting him

In Service - by sacrificing our self for others

He deserves our Worship. 

Not just on Sunday mornings

Daily. Every day, we are to walk in Worship

Imagine, if we all worshiped our King like this, everyday

Imagine the worship of when we all come together.

Worship is a Lifestyle

Not limited to songs or Sunday

But includes obedience and honoring God in daily choices.

In John 17 – Jesus said it was all about the Father

Accomplishing his mission

and glorifying him on earth…

And We receive the benefit of Jesus honoring his Father’s will

Jesus is King. And our King is alive.

He brings peace

He brings transformation

He is worthy of our Praise and Worship

You are the reason he came

To live a perfect Life

To eradecate your sin

So that you may be made perfect with God

So that your life would glorify God.

This morning, a King has gone before you, and he has come for you. 

This morning,  Don’t just shout “Hosanna”… Surrender to the King who alone is worthy of all our praise.

Jesus is King. The King will be worshiped.

The only question is… Will it be you?

Or will a rock take your place?