Return of the King

You know, in all of the craziness and busy-ness of the past few weeks, I realized yesterday that I had totally missed what was, at one point, a very important day of the year for both Sharon and myself.

Because this past Thursday, it turns out, was Opening Day for the American baseball season.

I know that baseball just doesn’t make sense to folks in the UK, and to be honest it doesn’t always make sense to those of us who grew up with it, but when I was growing up the opening of baseball season was a really big deal.

It’s really an unofficial holiday.

In the city of Cincinnati, where I first fell in love with baseball, they kick off the baseball season with a big parade that is now nearly a hundred-year-old tradition.

On that day people do whatever it takes to be part of the festivities.

The local paper wrote a few years ago: ““Kids skip school. Adults call in sick. Lame excuses flourish. [There are more fictional funerals] on opening day than on any other day of the year.”

It's a huge deal—marching bands, floats, celebrities...you name it.

All for a team that has yet to play its first match.

Normally, the parade comes at the end of the season, doesn't it?

When the champion is crowned, and the winner's home city welcomes the victors with a huge celebration as they travel through the streets to the delight and adoration of the crowd.

Parades are a great way to welcome people of accomplishment to your city.

Not just in sports, but all walks of life.

Think of parades to welcome back heroes of war, or space exploration, or to celebrate the accomplishments of national leaders…

…welcomed by hundreds or even thousands of cheering people, straining above the crowd to catch a glimpse of the heroes while flags wave and multitudes cheer.

How many of you have ever been to a parade?

There’s energy and excitement that’s really unlike anything else.

Now here’s what I’d like you to do as we prepare for this morning’s sermon:

Imagine there’s a parade coming right here, right now…at Gilfillan Memorial Church.

It’s a parade to welcome Jesus into our midst. Just like that first Palm Sunday.

He’s just out in the city centre…making his way here.

Imagine for just a moment it was true. Jesus is on his way here.

And ask yourself this question: what do you want him to do once he arrives?

If Jesus were to show up right here, right now…what would you like him to do?

What would you expect him to do?

Let’s spend some time thinking about that question as we prepare to hear and respond to God’s word.

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Earlier I asked you to imagine a parade welcoming Jesus into our midst.

In some ways, it’s really hard to imagine, because Dundee in 2022 is quite different from Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday.

Especially this time on a Sunday morning.

Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday would have been absolutely swarmed with people. Scholars estimate that during the Passover feast, the city would swell to somewhere between two and a half and 3 million people.

Passover was the highest and the holiest of all Jewish holidays, and people came from all over Israel to celebrate it.

It was the celebration of God's deliverance when he brought the Hebrew people out of bondage into freedom under the guidance of the great deliverer, Moses.

And that imagery was especially relevant, because at this point in history the Jewish people were under the thumb of Roman oppression and tyranny.

And somewhere in the midst of it all, lurking just below the surface of the celebration, was a hope.

A promise.

That one day God would send a new deliverer, a promised Messiah who would lead the people out of bondage once again.

Words of ancient prophecies would linger in the minds of leaders and lay people alike as they pondered this one God would send:

Words like those we heard in Jeremiah:

“For the time is coming, says the Lord, when I will place a righteous Branch upon King David's throne. He shall be a King who shall rule with wisdom and justice and cause righteousness to prevail everywhere throughout the earth. And this is his name: The Lord Our Righteousness. At that time Judah will be saved and Israel will live in peace.”

Everywhere the Jewish people looked, they saw signs of their oppression.

Yet in their hearts they believed God had a plan for them, that God had a unique place for them in history as his chosen people.

If that was going to happen, the Romans had to go.

That's the context that surrounds this event called Palm Sunday.

The Jewish people are looking for a Messiah, a king sent from God.

And they've been hearing about this prophet from Galilee named Jesus, who proclaims the coming kingdom of God, who makes the blind see and the lame walk, who just days before raised a man named Lazarus from the dead.

You can imagine the buzz about this person called Jesus.

Could he be the Messiah? Is he the king, the deliverer we've been waiting for?

And here’s the thing—Jesus actually plays into their expectation by fulfilling another prophecy about the coming Messiah.

Matthew quotes it in our New Testament reading. The prophecy comes from Zechariah, who wrote these words 500 years before Jesus was born:

“Rejoice greatly, O people of Zion! Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem! Look, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and victorious, yet he is humble, riding on a donkey--even on a donkey's colt.”

Everything about Jesus' actions here in Matthew 21 show a very deliberate plan. He's already prepared his way into Jerusalem for Passover, this isn't just mere chance.

Prophecy is being fulfilled in a very purposed and intentional way.

Even the cloaks and palm branches are significant.

In the Old Testament we see crowds waving palm branches to celebrate deliverance from foreign powers,

And we also see crowds laying down cloaks to welcome…a king.

So here's Jesus, humble and riding on a donkey, entering Jerusalem to the laying down of cloaks and the display of palm branches...

And the shouts of the crowd, “Hosanna to the Son of David!”

Hosanna…a word which literally means, “Save us!”

And calling Jesus the Son of David…they clearly see him as a king.

And so they greet him, “Hosanna to the Son of David, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest!”

There’s no denying the sense of expectation and excitement, the hope that maybe, just maybe, the chosen king had finally come.

Let me ask you a question to ponder for a moment: what comes to mind when you think of a king?

I wonder what images from history…or books…or movies…or tv shows resonate with your idea of a king?

One that comes to my mind…is from the “Lord of the Rings” films.

In the first film we meet a shady character called Strider, a so-called Ranger from the north who seems cloaked in mystery and dubious connections.

But we soon learn that he is, in fact, Aragorn, the heir to the throne of men, the rightful king of all humanity.

But it takes him a while to embrace his call. In fact, he resists it.

It isn't until humanity stands on the brink of destruction that Aragorn embraces his role, taking the sword of the king into his hands as his friend Elrond encourages him...

“Put aside the Ranger. Become who you were born to be.”

By the end of the third film, Aragorn is crowned king and takes his place as the leader of the human kingdom, a commanding presence that just oozes power and authority.

And when his journey is complete, he looks like a king, he talks like a king, he carries himself like a king.

Despite the fact that the first time we met him…he seemed nothing like a king at all.

Let's face it...we have expectations of what a king should be.

The people of Jerusalem that first Palm Sunday had an idea of what their king would be like as well.

Despite the prophecy playing out before their eyes, the humble king on the foal of a donkey...

Despite the Old Testament promise of a “Prince of Peace,”

Despite Jesus' own words: “I did not come to be served, but to serve, and to lay down my life as a ransom for many.”

The people couldn't fathom a king in any other way than a conquering hero, a military leader who would overthrow the worldly powers that ruled them.

But Jesus didn't meet their expectations.

Jesus rarely meets our expectations.

In the classic Holy Week story, The Robe, by Lloyd C. Douglas, a slave named Demetrius is in the crowd on that first Palm Sunday. He pushes his way through the multitude to see who is the center of attention. He gets close enough to look squarely into the face of Jesus. Later another slave asks him: "Did you see Him up close?" Demetrius nods, yes. The other slave asks: "Is He crazy?" Demetrius shakes his head emphatically, no. "Then is He a King?" And Demetrius whispers: "No. Not a king." The other slave demands: "What is He then?" And Demetrius replies: "He is something more than a king”

We think of kings as earthly powers, human rulers, wordly authorities,

That's what the Hebrew people expected, but Jesus was...is...so much more.

What does that mean, then, for us?

What does it mean say that Jesus is king?

We proclaim it, we sing it, we believe it, but what does it mean?

As one bible scholar once asked,

“In what sense is Christ’s kingship really operating in today’s world? If He is king, how is it that the world is so little changed and His kingship so little acknowledged?”

That's a very good question.

Some people would say that Christ is king, but we won't really experience that until the end of time, when God's kingdom is established once and for all.

But Jesus himself was once asked the question, “When will the Kingdom of God come?”

And he replied, “The Kingdom of God isn't ushered in with visible signs. You won't be able to say, `Here it is!' or `It's over there!' For the Kingdom of God is among you.”

The kingdom of God is among you.

It’s here. It’s now.

Yes, there is a future kingdom to look forward to, but there is also meant to be a very real experience of God's kingdom and Christ's kingship in our world today.

Paul writes this in Ephesians Chapter one:

“God raised Jesus from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.”

The present age and the one to come.

The now and the not yet.

That's where you and I exist.

[D-DAY ILLUSTRATION]

On June 6, 1944 an Allied victory became an eventual certainty.

But victory in Europe wasn't declared until May 8, 1945, and more people lost their lives in that period than at any other time of the war.

Friends, that is where you and I live…in the “now” and the “not yet.”

Between the guarantee of victory, and its final expression.

Do you feel that tension in the world today? Do you feel it in your own life? Do you struggle with it as I do?

Are there times when you just feel like asking the question for yourself:

If Jesus is King, why is my world so little changed?

If Jesus is King, why is there still pain? Why is there still suffering? Why does the world seem such a mess sometimes?

Why is my own life such a mess sometimes?

Why do things happen that are out of my control and sometimes drive me out of my mind?

The tension. Much like that the Jewish people must have felt under Roman oppression.

Knowing you belong to God, but living in the midst of chaos and evil.

And like that crowd in Jerusalem, we sometimes come to Jesus with our own expectations of how he should intervene in our world and in our lives.

We say to him, “Jesus if you really are a king…show it! Make some changes around here! Save us from all of this!”

Sound familiar? There were similar voices around the cross on Good Friday.

“If you really are the king of the Jews...save yourself!”

“You say you're the Messiah? Save yourself...and us!”

We sometimes forget that God used the most horrific experience imaginable, the death of Jesus, to bring about his kingdom rule.

And he can use our struggles, our suffering to show his kingdom rule in the world today, as we put our faith in him and demonstrate his power in the midst of life's storms and uncertainties.

The world is watching right now as all of humanity wrestles with a season of chaos and struggle unlike any we’ve seen in recent human history.

They’re watching the church. They’re paying attention.

What do they see?

What I hope they see is the body of Christ holding tight to the hope of the gospel even in the midst of trying and even horrific circumstances.

What I hope they see is a people who understand that knowing Jesus as King doesn’t exempt us from difficulty.

Jesus himself made that plain and clear: “In this world you will have tribulations.”

But what did he say next?

“In this world you will have tribulations…but take courage! I have overcome the world!”

I have overcome the world.

That’s the hope of the gospel…that even in the midst of horrible experiences, whether it’s living under Roman oppression or navigating the chaos of a worldwide pandemic and the threat of war...

…Christ is with us, Christ empowers, Christ comforts us, Christ transforms us.

Last week I spoke about the move we make as Christians from life to death.

Paul describes that move in another way in his letter to the Colossians:

“For God has rescued us,” he writes, “he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

That's the main way we experience God's kingdom today—redemption, forgiveness...God's mercy and grace drawing us to him, transforming us and leading us from darkness to light.

The people of Jerusalem 2000 years ago looked for a liberator, a king who would rescue them from oppression and bondage.

They didn't realize how right they were.

Because that's exactly who Jesus is—the mighty victor, the conquering hero...

But his victory is not over the Romans, not over the forces of the world,

Instead, he chooses the greater victory over the powers of sin and death.

And by doing so he opens the door so that we can know him now, and so that one day we can also know the full extent of his victory, of his kingdom where pain and suffering and trials and oppression are gone forever.

Not only that, we will see our current trials in a completely different light.

All those times in our lives when now we say, “Lord why didn't you...why didn't you...why didn't you...”

Those experiences when God fails to meet our expectations.

Then we will see them as God sees them.

I don't know about you, but I look forward to that day.

Look forward...that's a different kind of expectation, isn't it?

How our lives would be different if we worried less about our expectations of God,

And rested in the joy of our expectation of God, which Paul called a “blessed hope.”

The Return of the King...when he will come, not on a donkey, but on a mighty white horse to establish his kingdom for all eternity.

He came first to secure us a place in that kingdom, he'll come again to take us there.

To which I can only say,

“Hosanna to the Son of David!

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

Hosanna in the highest!”

Amen.