The King Enters

Introduction

ILLUST - my really bad week:

had to work late every day that week

youngest was in hospital

on way to hospital water pump literally fell out of my Jeep

If you had a big red ‘do over’ button or a time machine would you redo the week before to avoid the problems of the week?

What if you knew the week ahead was going to be the bad week? Would you do something now to avoid it?

**Do you need change in your life?

Change in your life will not happen simply because a truth exists. Change occurs in you life based upon your response to the truth.

Some change is

Change is only as effective as our response to the truth.

A reality can exist in your life that (if affected fully) can change your life forever. However, your response to the reality can limit or negate it’s intended affects in your life.

We can choose to respond with resistance -attempting to keep the reality of a truth from affecting us in any way

We can choose to respond with indifference - taking a passive role in which case the reality or truth may or may not affect us.

We can choose to respond with acceptance - opening ourselves and allowing the truth to have the maximum affect in our lives.

ILLUST - I was once stung by a yellow jacket on my uvula (cue the laugh track) The reality was that it hurt and my throat was beginning to swell.

Ex. Life-saving pills - If I am ill with a strong infection and am offered antibiotics, my response to the pills can alter my life. I could resist and die, be indifferent and possibly live, or accept the pills and live.

Why we must respond to the King

Because of who he is.

You can deny the existence of gravity, but you still won’t fly. You can even use things to fight against and alter the effects of gravity for a season, but it doesn’t change the fact that gravity exists and you will eventually return to earth.

Jesus is King.

This whole scene where Jesus rides into the city to shouts is reminiscent of a king’s coronation.

Matthew connects this scene to an Old Testament prophecy about the Messiah - God’s anointed one who he promised would come to save people from their sins and rule as king over everything.

Because of what he has done.

The claim of Jesus as the promised King of Everything was authenticated not only through the fulfilled prophecy surrounding his identity and personhood, but it was also authenticated by his actions and the power he displayed. We saw this last week:

Only the King of Creation can still the wind and waves.

Only the King of all humanity can heal the sick and hurting.

Only the King of the spiritual realm can cast out multiple demons with a single word.

Because of what he will do.

John’s vision of future events states this:

Revelation 19:11–16 ESV

Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.

Rev

When Jesus returns this second time everyone will recognize him as king.

All these things show us we must respond to the King. And more importantly:

**Your life depends on how you respond to the King.**

tells the story of when Jesus entered Jerusalem as King. I find it interesting the different characters in the story and how they respond to Jesus being shown as King.

Through these people, we find several ways people typically respond to Jesus as King.

Ways people respond to the King

Matthew 21:1–2 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.

This us the response of:

Committed obedience (1-2)

Matthew 21:1–2 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.

We don’t know who the two disciples were, but imagine Jesus calling them for this task.

‘Hey Pete and Phil, I’d like you two to go on ahead to to that little town there. As soon as you get into the town you’ll see a donkey - take it. If anyone stops you just tell them I need it and it’ll all be cool.’

Imagine I called up Pastor Tom and Pastor Brent and told them I was planning on heading into South Bend so I asked them to go on ahead to Mishawaka, you’ll find a black Toyota sitting at Starbucks. Go ahead and jump in it and bring it back here. And if someone comes flying out of the coffee shop with their latte in hand, just tell them, ‘It’s all good, Jesus needs it.’

Imagine what must have been going on inside of these followers of Jesus:

They were given a task by Jesus that seemed perhaps out of their comfort zone.

Maybe they had seen Jesus provide many times before but worried that perhaps this time might be different.

Maybe they wondered how they would know which donkey was God’s will.

Maybe they felt embarrassed when people asked them why they were heading into the village, ‘Do you really think some guy is going to let you simply take his donkey? Why would you trust this Jesus when he expects you to do such crazy things.

I don’t know what was going on inside the two disciples, but if they are anything like me, some, if not all of those questions were in play. Maybe you can relate.

What I DO know is that they responded to Jesus with committed obedience

* I wonder if we would respond the way the disciples did. Despite the questions you may be facing right now about what Jesus is doing or about to do, are you going to respond with committed obedience?

Matthew 21:3–6 ESV

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, “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.

Expectant sacrifice (3-6)

lk 19:33

Luke 19:33–35 ESV

And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” And they said, “The Lord has need of it.” And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it.

On the other end of the Uber donkey were two owners (most likely because according to Matthew there were two animals - a donkey and colt)

Matthew 21:2–5 ESV

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, “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 reality of the coming King required a response from them as well.

We know from the story that they saw the disciples untying the donkey, asked what they were doing, and when told that Jesus needed them, gave them willingly.

Why did they allow the disciples to do it?

Had they known of the disciple’s master?

Had they had an encounter with Jesus previously?

Had they had an encounter with Jesus previously? Were they witnesses to Jesus’ miracles? Did God prepare their hearts ahead of time to give of the donkey?

Were they witnesses to Jesus’ miracles?

Somehow God prepared their hearts to give for Jesus, because they allowed the disciples to take the donkey.

While they may have thought the donkey rental was a simple thing, a small sacrifice, it was, in fact a key component in God’s greater plan of redemptive history.

Matthew 21:4–5 ESV

This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, “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.’ ”

That was THEIR donkey!

Did you ever stop to think that the sacrifice you give could play a big part in God’s redemptive plan?

ILLUST - Money collected by people at FBC during a capital campaign helped renew my faith so I could preach to you today. (you may not know their names, but I do)

In November, we as a faith family asked God to make our faith Boundless as we expectantly sacrificed whatever Jesus was asking so we could be boundless from our mortgage in order to pursue God’s plan for us in ministry.

During that time, three major hurricanes rocked areas to our south. While Texas and Florida have regained a majority of normalcy, there are still parts of Puerto Rico without power six months later.

We, as a faith family, prayed and committed that the first 5,000 over our 50,000 one-time goal offering would go directly to help those hardest hit by the hurricanes.

As you gave sacrificially, we saw God show up and help us not only hit our big goal of 55,000 but double it with 110,000

We prayed for God to show us the best way to use his blessing, and I’d like to report that we as a faith family have recently donated 11,000 to help rebuild churches and help churches rebuild communities in Puerto Rico.

I am expectant that your sacrifice will have lasting Kingdom impact on people we may never know.

*Do you see the sacrifices that Jesus asks of you as an intrusion on YOUR time, YOUR money, YOUR relationships? Or do you see it as a way to serve your King that may affect redemptive history?

Matthew 21:7–9 ESV

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!”

Convenient worship (7-9)

Matthew 21:6–9 ESV

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!”

This is like a flash mob worship service.

ILLUST - It’s like all of us heading down to the UP mall food court and rocking out some Chris Tomlin at the top of our lungs.

It’s going to make a scene. People are going to drop their Chik-fil-a and stare.

What we know is that by the end of the week, those shouting their praise for Jesus at the beginning of the week will be no where near him.

Can you imagine? A group of people so enamored with the presence of Jesus (some of them genuinely), shouting praise to him on Sunday get caught up with the world around them and end up following the crowd instead - they look just like the rest.

**I’m afraid the church today is filled with too many convenient worshippers.

Our worship is more based on a crowd mentality than it is on a heart reality.

When we come to church, we worship because everyone else is worshipping - and it may be genuine, but by Friday you can’t find us, we’ve ended up following the world.

We need Christ-followers with an inconvenient worship

Can you worship even when the majority of the external influences around you are not?

Is the closest time you are with Jesus in the Word is when you have your Bible open at church?

Do you pray? No, really. Do you really pray?

Jesus asked his disciples to watch and pray with him for one hour.

Can we do it for 1/10 of that time - will you commit to 6min a day praying for what Jesus will do next Sunday?

Make this week inconvenient in your worship.

Keep your place in Matthew and turn to John 12:17-18:

John 12:17–18 ESV

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. The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign.

Experiential evangelism ()

Many from the crowd came to see Jesus because of the miracle of when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. This happened in the town of Bethany, just a short distance from Jerusalem.

John 12:17–18 ESV

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. The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign.

The crowd had heard about Lazarus not because Jesus tweeted the event (#LazarusLives)

Or because Jesus had a great vintage filter on his Instagram photo of Lazarus walking out with his grave clothes on.

The local news didn’t have video footage. It didn’t get a million hits on YouTube.

How did the people know about what Jesus did? There were witnesses. Their response to Jesus was to tell everyone about how Jesus made a dead man live. Jesus still makes dead men and women live.

God could have sent Jesus at any time in human history. Why didn’t he send him during a time like today? There could have been thousands of videos from a thousand different angles of all the miracles Jesus did. So why send Jesus to a time when we can’t even have a photo of what he looked like?

I’m convinced it is because God is not interested - and really people are not interested - as much in witnessing the event itself as in witnessing the change that the event creates.

Evangelism is actually pretty easy today. People want to hear a story of a dead man who lives. People want to - need to- hear the story of how you were once dead - in sin, in your purpose, in meaning, in direction for you life - then you responded to Jesus in a way that brought life - the kind of life only he can give - eternal life.

People want to know how Jesus has changed your life.

**I sometimes wonder if the reason churches go year to year without seeing many (if any) new believers is due to the fact that everyone in their community is already changed by Jesus, or if those who attend church regularly never talk about how Jesus changed them.

When was the last time you shared the story of how Jesus changed you and gave you life?

Not so shame you - but to motivate.

What would OUR church look like if we sensed the urgency of people dying and going to a God-less eternity, the opportunity of the harvest, and the expectancy that God wants to use us.

Skeptical distance (10-11)

Matthew 21:10–11 ESV

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.”

There are those, and maybe you’re here today and you know about Jesus, but you can’t really say much about the change he has made in your life - because there isn’t any.

You’re not sure of the difference he can make in your life. You’re skeptical.

Your response to the reality of Jesus is one of either indifference or resistance.

Jesus is a humble King - the change he wants to make is not for himself - it’s for your life.

Jesus entered the city for you. He knew what this would mean. There is no hiding from those who want to kill him.

The events from this Sunday to next will Jesus endure some of the most excruciating emotional and physical pain anyone has ever felt.

The irony is that those who ask who Jesus was were already known by Jesus.

He came to close the distance for the sinner to God.

Will you let the King enter?

How we must respond to the King

WORSHIP

How did the people respond to Jesus?

Matthew 21:9 ESV

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!”

Whether they were all sincere or not, we know that that was the correct response.

We know this because in Luke’s account of Jesus entering Jerusalem, when the disciples starting praising Jesus , Pharisees came to Jesus to have him silence their words of worship. Jesus said:

Luke 19:40 ESV

He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”

This is because Jesus will receive worship.

Philippians 2:9–11 ESV

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Conclusion

I find fascinating the very next event in Matthew’s Gospel. The King enters Jerusalem and the next day he attacks their place of worship. He cleanses it. Slowly over time the Temple went from a place of worship to a place of consumerism.

They were making change for their pockets and Jesus came to change their hearts.

The change in our life that will happen when we respond to the King in worship-

Where do you need change? How will you respond to Jesus to allow him to affect the change?