Sermon for Palm Sunday, March 28, 2010
“ And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots. And sitting down they watched him there; and set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS. ”
THE signboard that was nailed above Jesus' head on the cross bore the most ironical and poignant message one might devise. Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews. We sometimes depict this with initials INRI, Iesus Nazarenus, Rex Iudaeorum, the Latin which means the same thing. When the thing was hung there, some of Jesus' detractors came back to Pilate and complained at its syntax, that it ought to read, “he claimed to be King of the Jews, not that he really was our king.” Pilate had his only real victory the day when he told them, “What I have written I have written.” King of the Jews it remained. It's the reason for Jesus' execution according to Roman laws and punishments. We can't let the Jews have a king, not this king.
The matter of a king in Israel had always been a problem. The raising of Israel as a nation at all was due to the anvil of one man's powerful faith and the hammer of a king's fear of that man's growing family. The little shepherding family of Abraham might never have come to nationhood were it not for the oppression of the Pharaohs of Egypt. Even after their expulsion, it took forty years on the wilderness and the death of a generation to make the millions under Moses think like a nation.
Every nation around them had its king. Even tiny city-nations had their kings. But Israel had a prophet and that prophet's king was God. Israel's God was to remain its King perpetually, but in time the people chafed for human kings, and their first king was a pitiful failure. God then raised up one king who, though imperfect, remained in God's heart and served God faithfully in power and out of power. Thus it has been King David whose name descended for 1,000 years awaiting an heir to be Messiah, both the son of David and the Son of God. As the literal son of Mary and the heir of Joseph, Jesus had a double claim to David's title, and might have stood up to Roman oppression as the rightful ruler of Judea. But Jesus never wore royal clothing, never bore a scepter, never claimed a crown. The cruel mockery done by his torturers after whipping Him half to death: a purple cape, a reed squeezed in His hand, and a crown of thorns were the only signs of royalty ever conferred on Him in His life. Those and the sign over His head.
This humble king had ridden into the great city five days earlier on a young donkey that never before bore a rider. No war horse, no chariot, no litter borne by slaves as other human kings had always done heralded His arrival. Rather, in a quiet fulfillment of the prophecy of Zechariah, and it caused the faithful all the more excitement: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.” Zech 9:9 The people responded as they would toward royalty, laying their own clothes on the road to show submission to their superior, and to keep the dust of the road from troubling Him. Branches of palm and olive also were laid over the dusty road and today we remember what we call His Triumphal Entry with branches of palm, and crosses made from palm fronds.
Did Jesus ever actually say He was a king? It appears that He resisted the title and the job. When the devil tempted Him in the desert, He didn't claim the rulership that was offered, and this was emblematic of His problem. Here is the Emperor of the Universe who by rights owns the entire creation. Some day He will claim it and it will not resist. For Jesus to claim the royal line of Israel is, while technically correct, to make His true identity and title ludicrous. It would be like a president of the United States claiming to be mayor of Chico. When the people wanted to raise Him as their king for multiplying bread, He evaded them. When Pilate questioned Him about His being king, it was the governor worrying that a rival to the claims of local rulership Caesar claimed was rising to oppose him. No such rival was Jesus, for He is Caesar's creator. No contest. “ You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world.” John 18:37 But this was the king of truth, not of armies and palaces and governors.
When Jesus admits to being a king, and even king of the Jews, though He fulfills the fascinating lineage of David's line restored, it is so much more. He is not just the second David, He is the second Adam. God was ever to be the king of Israel, king of all mankind.
Our rebellion cut Him out of that role in our hearts, and does still today. Can God really be seen as king of America? King of the world for that matter? If He's our king, are we showing our fealty by obedience to His commands? What, if anything, did this King command?
We know about the first and second great commandments: are we fulfilling them? Do you love God with all that you are, all you have? Is your neighbor blessed to see you love him or her as much as you love yourself? Truly? Is Jesus king of your world?
A new commandment Jesus gave at the Last Supper, enjoining the Apostles to love each other just like He loved them. That meant to die for one another. A Christian is to give himself up to his fellow Christian. By this the world will know we are Christ's disciples. Is Jesus your king?
He commanded that we go to every nation, race, tribe, and every corner of the earth to proclaim His good news, to baptize all in the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, and teach them His commandments. If we are not obeying His commands, how can we instruct others to do so? Is He our king?
He told us to eat the bread and drink the wine, His Body and His Blood, frequently and thus bring Him back into us, and into our gatherings. Our genuflecting, bowing, crossing ourselves show our belief that He truly comes to us. Then we carry Him in ourselves out into the world. We are like torches lit by His single flame. How soon do we blow out that flame and conform to the dimness of our world. Is Jesus the king of your world?
He told His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” Matt 16:24-25 Is it easy for us to follow Jesus? His path sometimes means suffering and pain, rejection and crucifixions, betrayals and alienation. Is it worth it? Can we count the cost and find it's okay to spend our entire lives on this king until we are empty, depleted, spent?
Our Epistle today reads: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Phil 2:5-11
This is not a religion, like a personal belief system, a philosophy to live by, a way to be nice people. There can be only one king of the universe, and we have Him. He demands our attention, love and obedience. As He was humble, the eternal God willingly reduced to the status of a creature, to be executed by His creatures, we too must be very humble, for He is our king.
The Jews, as a nation, rejected Him. To those who opposed Him, He was neither king nor God nor Messiah nor prophet. Yet it speaks volumes of how they did believe all these things that He so threatened them, caused them to lie before God and the Romans, even claim Caesar as their only king, just to get rid of this Jesus.
But to many Jews, Jesus was the Christ, and the early church was made up of Jews who claimed Jesus as King of the Jews, David's son. It is to them we owe our thanks for carrying the news to us, writing the faithful testimony, making the sacrifice and dying for us, that we should know the truth and be free.
Is Jesus your king? Pray to know if He is, and to give yourself to this great Person, the King Eternal. He's coming back, and this time on the war horse, this time with the crown, this time with a sword and an army and a royal robe that reads, “King of Kings and Lord of Lords.” His throne will rise over this universe and the myriad creatures shall bow their knees before Him.
King of the creation, King of the earth, King of the Jews: it's all true. But is this true today, can you honestly say that Jesus is King of the nation of you ? King of your life?
Welcome your king, greet Him and say, “Hail King Jesus! Welcome, Lord of my life. King of my heart. Savior of my soul. God of gods, Lord of lords, King of kings. Welcome Jesus.”
PFH+