Sermon Tone Analysis

Text: Matthew 21:1-11

Theme: The great theme of the whole of the New Testament is to “fix our eyes upon Jesus.”

Did you know the United States once had an emperor?

It’s true — at least, it was true in the rather confused mind of Joshua A. Norton.

Norton lived in San Francisco during the gold-rush days of the 1800’s.

He was a colorful character, to say the least.

He made a successful living as a commodities trader, but when speculation in the rice market brought him to financial ruin, Norton had a nervous breakdown and snapped mentally.

In 1859 he declared himself “Norton the 1st, Emperor of These United States.”

Some thought it might have been a practical joke.

Other believed he was sincerely deluded, even insane.

Whatever his eccentricities, Norton’s pretending soon grew into a delusion.

In 1859 he published a proclamation that he was emperor according to an act of the California legislature.

In January 1860, Norton summoned the Army to depose the elected officials of the U.S. Congress.

The Army ignored his request.

Norton found a sword, stuck a Ostrich plume in his hat, found a cape, and marched the streets in colorful costume.

He spent most of his daylight hours inspecting the streets; spending time in parks and libraries; and paying visits to newspaper office.

In the evenings, he often was seen at political gatherings or at theatrical or musical performances.

The citizens of San Francisco were amused and played along with their new emperor.

They gave him recognition with free tickets to special events.

He was invited to gala opening nights.

They even allowed him to collect a small tax and issue his own currency.

San Francisco police officers saluted him.

It was all done in the spirit of fun.

But to Norton it was serious business.

In fact, he expanded his authority to "Emperor of These United States and Protector of Mexico.”

When he died in 1880, more than ten thousand curious people attended Norton’s funeral service — one of the largest funerals ever to take place in California.

He lived and died in his own delusion of grandeur.

He didn't hurt anyone; in fact, he brought a bit of a smile and a chuckle to people who came across his path.

Make no mistake about it, however, Joshua A. Norton was never really the emperor of the United States.

Had he really insisted on a confrontation with the United States government, he would have been disposed of rather quickly.

More than likely, he would have been confined to an insane asylum for the rest of his life.

Imagine the poor soul who enters eternity convinced that life was all about themselves; that they were the focus of the universe.

There will be hell to pay — literally.

What a shock to stand before the God of the universe, only to discover that the Bible’s title for Jesus is accurate.

He is King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, and no pretend emperor will ever take his place.

On what has come to be called Palm Sunday, Jesus entered Jerusalem as a King.

The crowds welcomed Him to Jerusalem with practices reserved only for royalty.

They spread their cloaks on the ground, and waved palm branches in the air — our equivalent of rolling out the red carpet and waving the American flag.

They sang songs of praise to Jesus as he triumphantly entered the city, and they had full expectations that political and military change was only a miracle away.

"The disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them, 7 and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their coats on them; and He sat on the coats.

8 Most of the crowd spread their coats in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road.

9 The crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest!” 10 When He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee.” 12 And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves.

13 And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a robbers’ den.” 14 And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them.

15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He had done, and the children who were shouting in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they became indignant 16 and said to Him, “Do You hear what these children are saying?”

And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies You have prepared praise for Yourself’?”

(Matthew 21:6-16, NIV)

What are the lessons that you need to learn from this passage of Scripture this morning?

I. FIX YOUR EYES UPON THE KING OF KINGS, AND NOT ON YOURSELF

ILLUS.

Following the end of British rule in India in the 1947, a group of British researchers wanted to study the impact of British rule on the life of the nation.

After six months, the British social scientists ended their project, and went home.

Though the British had been present in India for almost 300 years, the researchers discovered that in the remote villages and county side, many people were totally unaware that the British had ever been there!

Their communities had gone on, and generations had passed by with no knowledge that Queen Victoria of England had ever ruled over them as Empress of India, or that they had been part of the British Empire.

1. can it be possible that God himself has visited the world and people have lived and died without ever being aware of the event?

a. the sad truth is, we live in a world where the King has come but millions are totally unaware that He is present, and his kingdom is real

2. the people singing Hosannas to Jesus thought they had their man

a. they welcomed Jesus like a rising military or political figure, and offered him their adoration

b. but when people were asked who Jesus was, they missed the mark

1) they said, “He is a prophet from Nazareth” (vs.

11)

c. they were literally walking with the Son of God who had come to save His people, but they weren’t even aware of it

ILLUS.

The story of the Triumphal Entry, is an incredible parable of the lifelong mismatch between what people think they need from God, verses what God knows they need from Him.

The people of Israel think they need a political savior — someone who’s kingship will drive the Roman’s out, and establish an earthly kingdom that will rival the glory day of Solomon’s empire.

That’s what they think they need.

God knows that what they really need is a servant-king who will become the perfect sacrifice for their sin — which is their real problem.

1) this mismatch between what people think they need, and what God knows they need remains the great spiritual dichotomy of our day

2) we want a God who serves at our beckon call to fix our lives when we break them — usually through stupid, sinful, disobedient decisions — and Whom we then stuff back in a box until we need Him to fix something else

3) God wants broken people who will love Him with their whole being, even when He doesn’t fix their lives in the way they think they ought to be fixed, because they don’t realize that when they love Him with their whole being, God will do exceedingly abundantly above all that they can ask or think

3. the Son of God arrived in Jerusalem for the climactic event of all history, and people got it all wrong

a. why?

b. they had their eyes fixed on themselves, and not on Jesus

1) some were tired of being ruled by the Romans, and Jesus appeared to be their ticket out of the occupation

2) some were tired of their disability, or their disease and they saw Jesus as a miracle-working machine who would make life easier

3) some were hungry, and they’d heard that Jesus could stretch food to miraculous proportions, and they figured Jesus was their meal ticket

4. very few of the people lining the road into Jerusalem that day had any idea that God was working out His great act of redemptive love right in front of their eyes

A. MANY PEOPLE STILL MISS OR MISS-UNDERSTAND JESUS

1. amazingly, even in our day, it’s still possible to miss or miss-understand Jesus

a. if people wait until a crisis hits to “find religion,” it rarely sticks

1) people in prison, or headed to incarceration, might see Jesus as their way of miraculous release, or a lighter sentence

2) people surprised by serious illness might look to Jesus as the miraculous cure

3) people on the verge of a relationship crisis might see Jesus as the ultimate psychologist

b. make no mistake about it – millions of people alive right now who’ve followed Jesus have reported miraculous events in their life

1) Jesus is still in the miracle-working, disease-healing, relationship-mending business

2. but if that’s all Jesus is seen for, we’ve missed it

a. when the crisis is over, Jesus won’t be needed

b. he can be discarded as quickly as the crowd around Jerusalem discarded him in the days following Palm Sunday

ILLUS.

After the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, many expected American houses of worship to be jammed with parishioners seeking refuge, community and a place to grieve.

And that spike in church attendance did in fact occur.

Briefly.

The jolt to church attendance following the attacks lasted just a few weeks.

It was the shortest “spiritual awakening” in American history.

Fear subsided, life went back to “normal” fairly quickly, and God wasn’t really needed any more — so back into the box He went.

3. Jesus entered Jerusalem with a fixed purpose, and an amazing plan

a. despite the fact that the crowd didn’t understand that plan, he stayed true to course, and never wavered from the Father’s will for his life

1) His eyes never left his target — a Cross and a Tomb

ILLUS.

Rick Warrens’ book, The Purpose Driven Life has sold tens of millions of copies, and transformed millions of people and churches across the world.

It was on the Time’s Best Seller list for 90 weeks.

The book’s title captured the attention of many readers.