Matthew 21: 1-11.                           See, your king comes to you?                     13/4/14

21 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, ² saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. ³ If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”

⁴ This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
⁵ “Say to Daughter Zion,
    ‘See, your king comes to you,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
    and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”
⁶ The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. ⁷ They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. ⁸ A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹ The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,
“Hosanna to the Son of David!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
¹⁰ When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”
¹¹ The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

 ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey. See your God comes to your rescue. Here we have something to really sing about. Let us rush to be with and spend as much time with him as we possibly can. Let us seek from him the good that he surely has for us. “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

 Yet we today, are even less enthusiastic than were the people of Jesus day. At least many of them did go out and acknowledge and lay down branches and cloaks before him. At least there was enough activity around his arrival that the city was stirred up enough to ask, “Who is this?”  But today, do we really care? There is even less interest in that fact that God has come to save us, than there is with regard to Princes William and George’s arrival in this country. This surely begs the question, what on earth is going on here? Even in our own midst and our own lives.

 We in this country have skipped over Palm Sunday and are already at Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. The crowds are already crying out, Crucify him! Crucify him! Get him out of our thinking. God is dead and no longer relevant. Just let us pack up for our long weekend at Oakbank or by the river, or where ever. Let me live and do my own thing. We don’t want a king. We don’t want God telling us what we should think and do.

 All too often if we do think of Jesus and his coming, we merely think of the ‘goodies’ that he can give us. Like the people of Jesus day, who wanted the miracle working Jesus who could make life easy for them, and the Messiah who would drive out the Romans and set up a kingdom where they could be ‘top dog’ once more. And oh yes we want him to let us into heaven as well. But not the King who would do, say and dictate what he knows is good for his people.

 Here again we see the age old problem of humanity: we don’t want anyone telling us what we can and cannot do. We want our rights and ‘goodies’ but not the responsibilities that go with it. We want to be our own kings and queens; answerable to no one. We want to do what we think is right and good. We are rebels without a cause; other than to please ourselves. We have a problem with all authority; other that our own.

  And whenever anyone is set above us we do our utmost to pull them down and get rid of them. Unless of course they give us what we want and do what we want them to do. We see that even here with Jesus: they hail him as the king who does all these miracles and will drive out the Romans and make life easy for them: But when he doesn’t do that they quickly howl for his blood.

 So we see that this even happens with regard to God Almighty himself; and perhaps especially to him. We are happy to acknowledge him as God as long as he gives us the things that we want: But when he demands our complete allegiance and servitude we quickly turn our backs on him. Why do you think most people will say they believe in God but then make no attempt to take him seriously or to live according to what he says is good for us?

 Now we may not like to hear this; but it is the truth. This is the reality of a sinful humanity that has chosen to ignore and go against God. Even we ourselves have this same sinful trait in us, and it is not good. Here we need to recognise that we deserve to be totally rejected by God and sent to hell. We all deserve to receive the full wrath of God Almighty himself.

However the good news is, that despite our attitude, God’s own Son, Jesus Christ comes into our world to do what was necessary to rectify the situation. He comes as king. But not in the way we would expect. He comes gentle and riding on a donkey,  and on a colt, the foal of a donkey. And thank God that he did; for if he came as we would expect, he would have come and punished us all for our rebellion. But he doesn’t.

 He comes gently and first off reminds us that he is God come to us. So he performs all those miraculous signs that only God can do and he speaks God’s word with authority and power so that there is no doubt that he is from God himself; and that he loves and cares for humanity despite our rebellion. So we are left with no doubt that here God has come into our world to do what had to be done.

 Here then comes the most surprising thing of all. He rides into Jerusalem on a donkey and allows humanity to kill him. Even though he could have called on legions of angels to keep him safe, he instead humbly submitted himself to the most awful death on the cross, taking the punishment that each one of deserves, so that we might be forgiven. Then he is raised back to life three days later so that we can be absolutely sure this this is all for real.

 Yes he died for every single one of us so that we can once again live and be in his kingdom which is truly good and everlasting. Instead of all of the selfishness, troubles and death that we have as a result of rebelling against God, we can be a part of that which is ideal in every way. We can live under a king who has the very best in mind for us guaranteed.

 This surely is the most remarkable thing that this king could have done for us. This is absolutely amazing: Enough to surely stop each one of us in our tracks. Surely we now will want to re-evaluate our whole situation. Surely we now will want to acknowledge our absolute stupidity and turn back to our king so that he can lead, guide and help us to do what is good and right. Surely now we will give him the rightful place that he deserves.

 Yet despite all of this what do we find? So many still have turned their backs on him as if here were not even here.  They have rejected him and still openly want to live in rebellion against him; and so will finally receive the just rewards of this.

 Many others acknowledge him and want the benefits of his kingdom, but they still do not want him as their king and leader, and will also receive the rewards of this rebellion. They too will as that reading from Philippians reminds us, have to finally bow their knees and acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, but then go to their destruction.

For the few who are deeply moved by all of this and even though they struggle and often fail, with the Spirits help they look to this king and long for all that has for them in his kingdom. They acknowledge him as King and seek to honour and live under him. They know they are far from worthy of being a part of his family, but they trust in him and the promises he has given to us. They look to him as that which is all important in life and constantly seek his help to live as is fitting for one who is a part his kingdom.

 That means they will go out of their way week after week to come and give honour and glory to their king. There will be nothing more important than to come to him and seek what he has to give to them so that we can live honourably throughout the week ahead. They will be so moved by the love and forgiveness that he extends to them they will want to live in accord with what he would have for us.

 These people will then know what it is to live in peace for all eternity. Yes even while they live out their few short years in the midst of a world that is in rebellion and open warfare against this king, they will have a peace which is beyond understanding. For they know that this king has died and risen again so that we can have the certainty of eternal life with their God. They know that the devil has already been defeated, even though he continues to fight on to the bitter end.

 The King has won the victory and he now rules over all and for the good of those who trust in him. Let us now go forward to this coming week and celebrate the death and resurrection of this King, our Lord Jesus Christ, giving him all glory and honour for what he has done for us. “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Hosanna in the highest heaven!” Amen

 Pastor Roger Atze

Glandore/Underdale Lutheran Parish