AN UNEXPECTED KING

SERMON STARTER

 

Let's document the last week of Jesus' earthly life:

          1) Sunday, Jesus' glorious Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem           (Prefigures what will happen the next time He enters in                         His Second Coming)

          2) Maunday Thursday, the Seder / Passover Supper and                              Betrayal

          3) Good Friday, Jesus' arrest, sham trial, scourging,                                       crucifixion, death and burial

          4) Easter Sunday - The amazing day Jesus rose from death                 and the grave

          This wasn't the first time a procession into the city occurred. On the year 30 AD Pontius Pilate accompanied by 60 to 80 Roman soldiers entered Jerusalem from the Western side of the Holy City. Pilate and some of the soldiers were on horseback, but most were on foot. Each soldier was clad in polished leather armor. On their heads was helmets of polished leather adorned with bronze or gold that gleamed in the sun. At their sides were sheathed sharp, two-edged swords, called their Gladius. In their hands each soldier carried a spear or a bow with a sling of arrows across his back.

          Drummers were beating out the cadence of the soldiers' march into the city. Pilate, governor of Judea, Samaria and Idumea was arriving. The Roman governor of a occupied territory was required to be in the city's capital for religious celebrations. This was the week Jews celebrated Passover, the celebration of freedom from Egyptian oppression. Is there an irony here?

          My sermon this morning contrasts two kingdoms: the Kingdom of David and the Kingdom of God as described by the Lord Jesus.   Pastor Phil  <><<

Palm Sunday  - April 14, 2019

Sheepfold Ministries - Pastor Phil Roland

 

Palm Sunday

AN UNEXPECTED KING

Matthew 21:1-11

 

"Palm Sunday is a glorious day of celebration, but also a day of missing the point. The Jewish people were hopefully celebrating the arrival of a King that would liberate them fro the oppressive hand of Rome. Instead, Jesus rode into the city on a donkey."                             Pastor Phil  <><<

 

Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion!  Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem!

See, your king comes to you,  righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”       Zechariah 9:9

 

JESUS’ LAST EARTHLY WEEK

Sunday, Jesus' glorious triumphal entry into Jerusalem

Maundy Thursday - The Seder / Passover Supper and Betrayal

Good Friday - The arrest, sham trial, scourging, crucifixion, death and burial of Jesus
Easter Sunday - The amazing day Jesus rose from death and the grave

 

WAVING PALMS AT JEWISH FESTIVAL CELEBRATIONS

Every September in the 7th month on the Jewish calendar the Jews worldwide commemorate their 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. . .Sukkot. . .Seven days they sleep in crude, primitive huts overlaid with Palm Leaves. On the Sabbath Day Jewish pilgrims gather around the altar of the Lord waving plumes of Willow, Myrtle and Palm leaves (Lu-labs) crying loudly, “Ho-sho-no!  Rabbah!” (Save us!  We beseech Thee, O Lord!”)

 

He was Unexpected because. . .

I.  JESUS WAS EXPECTED TO BE A DAVIDIC KING

          A. They sang David's praises, - "David has killed his ten thousands!"

1. Naturally, Saul because insecure and jealous about David

                    2. He was what the people wanted, A successful warrior king

          B. David kept the Kingdom of Israel peaceful

                    1. He reigned for forty years

                    2. David and his son, Solomon kept the kingdom united

          C. David's Kingdom was prophesied to have no end - 2 Sam. 7:12-14

12 "When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.
13 He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men.

AN UNEXPECTED KING, cont., p2

 

                    1. 14 generations passed until the prophesy was fulfilled

                    2. 420 years from Abraham to Moses

                    3. 420 years from Moses to David

                    4. 490 years from David until Jesus rode into Jerusalem

          D. A King like David would have driven Rome out of Jerusalem

                    1. David was a tough physical warrior

                    2. He fought with physical weapons of war

                    3. The only reason David was victorious: God was with him!

          E. A King like David would rule another 40 years from Jerusalem

                    1. If that would have happened thru Jesus. . .

                              a. The prophesies wouldn't apply

                                    b. There would be no Savior

                                    c. There would be no Cross, no Resurrection, no Hope

                    2. If that would have happened mankind would die in their sins

          F. Jesus was expected to be just another King like those of history

                    1. Liberate the Jews from 300 years of Egyptian bondage

                    2. Give them freedom from brutal Roman Rule

 

He was an Unexpected King because. . .

II. JESUS WAS THE KING OF KINGS  

15 which God will bring about in his own time--God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 1 Timothy 6:15 (NIV)

 

          A. Jesus was unique in all of human history

                    1. Never anyone like Him before He came

                    2. Never anyone like Him after He ascended

          B. Henry Drummond wrote:

He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman.  He grew up in still another village, where he worked in a carpenter shop until he was thirty.  Then for three years he was an itinerant preacher.  He never wrote a book; he never held an office.  He never had a family or owned a house.  He didn’t go to college.  He never visited a big city.

            He never traveled more than two hundred miles from the place where he was born.  He did none of the things one usually associates with greatness.  He had no credentials but himself.  He was only thirty-three when the tide of public opinion turned against him.  His friends ran away.

            He was turned over to his enemies and went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves.  While he was dying, his executioners gambled for his clothing---the only property he had on earth.  After he died, he was laid in a borrowed grace through the pity of a friend.

            Nineteen centuries have come and gone, and today he is the central figure of the human race and the leader of mankind’s progress.  All the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man on this earth as much as that one solitary life.

          C. He was truly the King of Kings

                    1. His rule extends to the Present and beyond

AN UNEXPECTED KING, cont., p3

 

                    2. His Kingdom is not limited by geography

                    3. His Kingdom isn't limited by race, creed or color

                    4. Today more than 2.4 Billion people call Him Lord

          D. Our Unexpected King and Unexpected Kingdom is unseen

                    20 Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God

              would come, He answered them and said, "The kingdom of God does not

              come with observation; 21 nor will they say, 'See here!' or 'See there!' For

              indeed, the kingdom of God is within you."    Luke 17:20-21

 

                    1. The people expected a Davidic Messiah

                    2. Jesus came preaching about an unseen Kingdom of God

                    3. They were superficial, black and white thinkers

                    4. Jesus was thinking outside of their limited understanding

          E. Jesus Was Sent as the Messiah, Son of God, Savior, King

                    1. He had a Threefold Mission

                              a. Rescue Mankind From His Own Destructiveness

                                    b. Restore Mankind’s Relationship With the Living God

                                    c. Reinstate Mankind to Their Rightful Estate as Ruler

          C. Jesus, like John the Baptist had a simple message - Matt. 3:1-2

                    1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea,

            2 and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"
                        1. “Repent for the Kingdom of God is Now With You”

                    2. Repentance is in the mind and heart

          D. His Evidence of the Presence of the Kingdom

                    1. His Phenomenal Love, Grace and Forgiveness

                    2. His Mighty Miracles and Healings

                                    a. The Blind see

                                    b. The lame walk

                                    c. The lepers cleansed

                    3. His Dominion Over the Demonic

                    4. His amazing power to transform lives

                    5. Have you met the King of Kings and Lord of Lords?

AN UNEXPECTED KING

Matthew 21:1-11 (NKJV)
1 Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples,
2 saying to them, "Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Loose them and bring them to Me.
3 And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, 'The Lord has need of them,' and immediately he will send them."
4 All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:
5 "Tell the daughter of Zion, 'Behold, your King is coming to you, Lowly, and sitting on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.' "
6 So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them.
7 They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them.
8 And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road.
9 Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: "Hosanna to the Son of David! 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!' Hosanna in the highest!"
10 And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, "Who is this?"
11 So the multitudes said, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee."

 

 

 

 

 

 

Isaiah 9:6-7 (NKJV)
6 For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

 

 

 

 

 

Jesus told them, "My Kingdom is not of this world." John 18:36

John 18:36 (NKJV)
36 Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here."