Palm Sunday                                                                                                   April 1, 2007

“A King Unlike Any Other”

Luke 19:28-40

 

            28 After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.  29 As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, 30 “Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden.  Untie it and bring it here.  31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ tell him, ‘The Lord needs it.’”

            32 Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them.  33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?”  34 They replied, “The Lord needs it.”

            35 They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it.  36 As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road.  37 When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:

38 “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!  Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”  39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”  40 “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

 

If you are drawing plans for the perfect King, here are three words you’d include in your creation: powerful, brave and gentle.  Your King must be powerful. If he is a pushover, his kingdom will get run over by enemies.  If he is a wimp, nobody will have any respect for justice.  Your King must be powerful; his word cannot just be blown off and dismissed.

 

You’d also make him brave.  When the heat is on, you’d want your king right by your side protecting you.  You wouldn’t want him to run away when you need him the most.  What good is a powerful King if he’s your best friend during easy times but ditches you when times get tough?  Power without bravery is useless.  A great King needs to stand up and face the heat that is coming and not run away and hide.

 

But there’s more.  If your King is only powerful and brave but nothing else, what would happen when you open your heart and tell him about a heartache?  He wouldn’t be very compassionate.  As you are pouring out your heart, he might tell you, “Too bad!  Everybody has problems.  Now stop bothering me; I’ve got bigger fish to fry.”  So your King must be gentle and approachable.  If you had a dilemma, you’d want him to look you in the eyes and listen carefully to what was on your heart.  You’d want him to give you plenty of time.  You’d want him to know about your feelings and hurts and heartaches and CARE.  Your King needs to be powerful and brave, but gentle too.

 

Earthly kings possess some of these qualities.  Sometimes a president can be powerful or brave or gentle.  But a powerful earthly king easily becomes a manipulator; a brave earthly king quickly runs and hides when the heat is on; a gentle earthly king is gentle only when the cameras are on.  Earthly kings leave a lot to be desired in those categories.  And who of us could do any better?

 

There is only one who could; and only one who has.  Jesus is the perfect King.  His word is powerful like nobody else.  He is brave like nobody else.  He is gentle like nobody else.  He is a King unlike any other!  As we celebrate the festival of Palm Sunday, we watch powerful, brave and gentle King Jesus in action as he rides into Jerusalem on the fifth-to-last day of his life.  (read text)

 

How was Jesus powerful? 

  • First of all, he knew exactly where this colt was. 

 

  • Secondly, he caused the answer “The Lord needs it” to be an adequate answer.  What if you caught someone hotwiring the new F150 in your driveway, and you came running out of your house and asked, “What are you doing?”  If the hot-wirer told you, “Don’t worry – the Lord needs it” - would you say, “Oh, now I understand.  Don’t hotwire it; here, let me give you the keys.”?  I doubt it.  “The Lord needs it” would not have been sufficient for us.  But Jesus made sure that answer would be sufficient for the owners of the colt.

 

  • Thirdly, he rode on a colt that had never been ridden before.  An unbroken colt would never allow a grown man to ride gently on its back.  Especially not through crowds yelling and screaming.  But Jesus rode this unbroken colt through the hollering without trouble.

 

  • And when his enemies tried to stop him – watch the unstoppable word of the King then.  Jesus didn’t back down one inch – his Word is powerful and will last forever.  When asked to keep his disciples quiet, he said, 40 “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

 

All of that shows us that Christ’s word has power – it cannot be blown off and dismissed.

 

Jesus was powerful; he also was brave.  Remember what was about to happen.  This was Sunday; he’d be a dead man Friday.  He’d be executed soon.  All the blood.  All the pain.  All the ridicule.  All the anguish.  Nobody to help.  And he knew it was all coming.  It would have been easy for him to not head for Jerusalem; but instead head for Jamaica.  But Jesus was brave.  His mind was made up; he was willing to let his feet be put to the fire.  He is a powerful, brave King.

 

But he’s not a steamroller.  Jesus also is gentle.

  • Notice that he rode on a colt, not a thoroughbred or a chariot.
  • He had come not to say, “Look how great I am!” but, “You people mean so much to me!”
  • He had come to gently lay down his life like a quiet little lamb for the man who owned the colt, for the disciples, for the palm-wavers, even for those who said, “AAAAAUGH!  Jesus, tell these people to stop.”

 

Jesus is all we need.  He is powerful, brave and gentle.  When we have him we need nothing else.

 

And when we realize how complete of a King Jesus is, our sins are exposed and we feel silly for them.  Christ’s word is so powerful…why don’t we trust it?  But we don’t.  Christ’s bravery is committed through thick and thin…why do we act as though he has left us alone?  But we do.  Christ’s gentleness will always surround us…why do we feel so unloved?  But we feel that way.

And that sin illustrates all the more why Jesus is the King of the Ages.  He rode a pack animal in weakness to offer up his holy life for yours, to address your most pressing concerns, which are not cash flow, or the resolution of all health problems, or life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness to which you are told you are entitled.  He came like David against Goliath, in the name of the Lord, relying on God to make his rescue mission successful.  God did, and you are forgiven. 

That’s what will put you in good shape when loved ones die, when there’s not enough money to even think about putting something away for retirement, when there are still divorce ramifications ten years after the fact, when you just don’t think you can handle it anymore.  At an inestimable cost to himself, this Palm Sunday king brought me a pardon straight from heaven.  There’s no way he won’t cover my every need.  Hosanna to him!  Blessed is he, the one who is powerful, brave and gentle.  Amen.