Wes Bowen spoke at our Church (Center City Church, Springfield, MO) last Sunday...the Sunday before easter...talking about Jesus making His entry into Jeruselem. It may lose something in translation by not hearing it. He's a good speaker, but here it is. It gives us a lot to think about.

Your King Has Come                  4/17/11

 

I. Introduction

A. Holy Week: Beginning with Palm Sunday and ending with Easter.

B. Passage: Matthew 20:29-21:13

                  1. Background on Matthew

9:9-13  In this passage, Jesus calls Matthew, who would write the book we are reading.  Matthew is a tax collector, a despised member of Jewish society because the position involved breaking the Jewish Law by collecting interest, and possibly taking more of people’s money than what is fair.  When the Pharisees object to Jesus spending time with tax collectors, He says,

¹²  “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ¹³ Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Matt 9:12b-13 (ESV)

                  2. Purpose of Matthew’s Gospel

 

¹  The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

Matt 1:1 (ESV)

1:1  In this statement, Matthew identifies Jesus as the Messiah, who is the promised King and Deliverer of Israel, prophesied to be in the line of David, but also the blessing to the entire world God promised through the line of Abraham. 

 

3. Original audience of Matthew’s Gospel

                                    a. The Jewish Christian church, made up primarily of Jewish followers of Jesus

b. The church was facing the influx of Gentiles, and coping with that issue all over the world. 

 

II. Exegesis.

 

20:29-34 

 

²⁹  And as they went out of Jericho, a great crowd followed him. ³⁰ And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” ³¹ The crowd rebuked them, telling them to be silent, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” ³² And stopping, Jesus called them and said, “What do you want me to do for you?” ³³ They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.” ³⁴ And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him.

                  Matt 20:29-34 (ESV)

 

-        While on the uphill-walk to Jerusalem, Jesus and his disciples hear two blind men calling to Jesus for help, identifying Him as the Son of David- the rescuer of Israel like Matthew mentioned in 1:1. 

-        Those following Jesus tell the men to shut up, but Jesus has compassion on them and heals

them.  The men follow Jesus.

-        This passage and a later passage about Jesus healing people serve as beginning and ending of an episode.

 

21:1-7 

 

¹  Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, ² saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. ³ If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” ⁴ This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,
⁵  “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’ ”
⁶ The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. ⁷ They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them.

Matt 21:1-7 (ESV)

-        On the last stop before Jerusalem, Jesus sends two disciples to get a donkey and its colt.  Somehow the owner is prepared to provide these animals to his “Lord”. 

-        The word “Lord” is kyrios in Greek, and is the word used to refer to any kind of human master, but can also refer to kings, including the Messiah, and to God.  Often Jesus uses the word in parables. 

-        This donkey and colt were to be used to fulfill an OT prophecy in Zecheriah 9:9 about the Messiah coming to Israel in a humble way, on a donkey and colt. 

-        Jesus riding the donkey is similar to Solomon riding a donkey to his anointing as king.  It symbolized peace, as Solomon was a peaceful ruler compared to David, who was a warrior.  By riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, Jesus symbolized a peaceful King, coming to shepherd His people, as opposed to a conquering King. 

-        It was done intentionally to publically declare His Messiahship, and contrast what they were expecting the Messiah to represent. 

21:8-9 

⁸ Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹ And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”

Matt 21:8-9 (ESV)

As Jesus rode into Jerusalem, the crowds honored Him by spreading their clothes on the road, or palm branches.  The palm branches were symbols of Jewish nationalism, and might have shown the crowds’ hope that Jesus was the coming King.  As He entered, they shouted “hosanna” which is a Hebrew word meaning “save” taken from Psalm 118, a Psalm sung by Jews to celebrate Passover.

²⁵ Save us, we pray, O Lord! O Lord, we pray, give us success! ²⁶  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We bless you from the house of the Lord. ²⁷ The Lord is God, and he has made his light to shine upon us. Bind the festal sacrifice with cords, up to the horns of the altar!

Psalms 118:25-27 (ESV)

In this context, and by shouting “to the son of David” there is no doubt that shouting these things is meant to suggest that Jesus is the Messiah, just like Matthew did in 1:1. 

Matt 21:10-11 

¹⁰ And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” ¹¹ And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”

Matt 21:10-11 (ESV)

The crowd, strangely, did not declare this is Jesus, the Messiah.  Instead, they pointed to the fact that Jesus was a prophet.  This points to the idea that they were certain Jesus’ teaching was prophetic, but there was still uncertainty about His ultimate role.

Matt 21:12-13 

¹²  And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. ¹³ He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”

Matt 21:12-13 (ESV)

-        Matthew excludes events that take place before this in other Gospels, jumping to this episode to show the connection between the two. 

-        Jesus went to the part of the temple called the “outer court of the Gentiles.”  This is the place where non-Jewish people were allowed to come and pray.  Instead, the temple officials have turned it into a market where they could raise money by allowing people to exchange money for sacrifices, in this example pigeons to the poor, often at inflated prices. 

-        Jesus calls the perpetrators “robbers,” from the Greek word  lÄ“stÄ“s, which was used for thieves, but also for people who rebel against the kingdom, like Barabbas. 

-        Jesus shows His concern for the whole world, including the outsider and the poor, and anger toward those who would exclude would-be worshipers from His presence.

Matt 21:14-17 

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 did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, ¹⁶ and they said to him, “Do you hear what these 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’?”
¹⁷ And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany and lodged there.

Matt 21:14-17 (ESV)

-        In this passage, Jesus follows cleansing the Temple court with acts of compassion to the blind and lame. 

-        Children echoed the things they heard the crowd shouting as Jesus entered Jerusalem, fulfilling a Messianic prophecy. 

-        This angered the chief priests and the scribes, who had not allowed people who were blind and lame into the temple to protect its “purity.”  Jesus symbolically rebukes them by healing in the temple.

III. Application

In this passage, we see Jesus identified publically as the coming King, but he is not what people expected.

-        He shows compassion on people, healing them despite his disciples’ objections, and the objections of the Pharisees.

-        He comes in peace and humility, riding on a donkey, fulfilling prophecy

-        He stands up to the religious establishment, rather than the political oppressors.

-        People hope for the coming King, but want to call Him a prophet instead.

Do we make some of the same false assumptions about Jesus today?

-        Dan Kimball is pastor of Vintage Faith Church in Santa Cruz, California.  He wrote a book called They Like Jesus, but Not the Church about how people today have a great appreciation for Jesus and what He taught, but they think the church today resembles the Pharisees much more than they resemble Jesus.  Listen to what some people Kimball interviewed said about today’s followers of Jesus:

 

One person said… “Church leaders seem to focus more on acting like businessmen raising funds to build bigger buildings for their own organized religious corporations than they do on taking the time to teach about social action for the poor.  I think Jesus would have cared more about raising money for the poor than building yet another minimall church with comfortable seating and wide video screens so you can see the CEO pastor all the better and bigger.”

 

o      They say Christians’ focus is on buildings, rituals, and on alienating the uninitiated rather than on knowing God. 

o      Do we focus more on protecting our organization than on taking the Gospel to people who are hurting and in need, the way Jesus healed the blind and lame?

 

Another person said… “The church is a group of judgmental mudslingers.  They seem to really like picking fights with others.  Whether it is homosexuals, or other religions, or even with each other.  That’s the weirdest part.  Jesus said to love one another, but you’re always hearing how the church even fights among themselves and with other denominations.  But this isn’t anything new.  Look at the Crusades.  The church has always been an angry bunch.” 

 

o      People who feel uncomfortable in church because of social taboos like alcoholism and homosexuality often think Jesus was a good teacher (prophet), but Christians are evil. 

o      Do we recognize, like Matthew, that it is the sick who need a physician?  Do people who have addictions say of Christians, “Oh, I love Christians.  They’re always so loving to me!”?

What kind of King is Jesus, then?

-        Jesus is the King who is near.

o      I heard on the radio last week that, until Thomas Jefferson, it was understood that people didn’t come near monarchs, or heads of state. 

o      Jesus reached out to those on the “outside.”  He ate with tax collectors, rescued prostitutes and touched the sick so He could heal them.

-        He is the King who died for the rebellion of His subjects.

                  Matt 27:27-41 

²⁷  Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters, and they gathered the whole battalion before him. ²⁸ And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, ²⁹ and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” ³⁰ And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. ³¹ And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him.

³²  As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross. ³³  And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), ³⁴  they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. ³⁵ And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots. ³⁶ Then they sat down and kept watch over him there. ³⁷ And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” ³⁸ Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left. ³⁹ And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads ⁴⁰ and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” ⁴¹ So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, ⁴²  “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. ⁴³  He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ” ⁴⁴  And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way.

Matt 27:27-44 (ESV)

⁶ For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— ⁸ but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹ Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. ¹⁰ For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

Romans 5:6-10 (ESV)

Will you be His subject?  Will you bow your heart to Him, today?

What kinds of subjects will we be?

                  Subjects who love like He did.

                  Be near to others.  Jesus was approachable, and showed compassion on people who were                   hurting.  If we are to be little Christs, we should do the same.  What is your attitude toward:

-        Those in need?  … What about those whose needs never seem to end?

-        The socially unacceptable?  … What about just the socially awkward?

-        The rude, the arrogant, the hateful, the greedy, the ungrateful, the cowardly, the argumentative, the cynical, the sinful?  Are we so different?  How does Jesus regard us?

                  Will you be near to them?  Can you help them find healing?  Most of us don’t need to look                                     beyond our own families to find such people.  I promise you they will not find healing if you shut                   them out.

                  Forgive.  What stipulations did Jesus put on our forgiveness.  Christ died for us when we were                   still sinners.  Can we not forgive someone even if they don’t deserve it?

                                   

                  Subjects who carry out His mission.

                  Matt 28:18-20

¹⁸ And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Matt 28:18-20 (ESV)

-        As King, Jesus commanded His followers to follow in His footsteps, making more followers everywhere, of everyone.

 

-        Jesus showed us His sovereign nature when He gave up His life.  We should live as subjects in His Kingdom by imitating His example of welcoming the stranger, and taking His kingdom to the ends of the earth.

 

Story: Man on the sidewalk

                  A year and a half ago, Megan and I went to a planning meeting with Ron, our church’s future landlord, to explore the possibility of moving into this building.  The meeting went really well, and we were excited about all of the new opportunities we would have here.

                  As we walked to our car, on cloud nine with thoughts of growing our ministry, I saw a man sitting on the curb near our car.  He was covered in tattoos, looked as though he had not changed his clothes or showered in days, and he reeked of alcohol.  He had his head in his hands, and, he was crying.  My first thought was, “danger.”  I was afraid he was unstable, and might harm me or Megan.  The sooner we were in our car, the better.  He looked over at us as we approached the car.  I made it into the doorway of the passenger side when he said it.

                  “Hey!  Will you pray for me?”

                  Not what I expected.  I mean, come on!?  He was clearly drunk.  He was clearly homeless.  He was clearly out of the way, and beyond help.  What he really wanted, I thought, was to disturb this nice, clean-cut couple on their way out of the trendy coffee shop on their way home. 

                  “I’ll pray for you from here.”

                  I couldn’t think of a better excuse than that.  God didn’t want me to risk my physical well-being, and that of my wife, for a drunken homeless guy.  Did he?

                  “Oh, yeah.  You just get into your nice car and drive away!  Don’t bother with me!  You plan your little church.  I’ll be fine!”     

                  How did he know?  To this day, I can’t answer that question.  I thought, “How can I do my duty without risking anything?”  I knew! I would call Pastor Rich.  Rich had already made it all the way across town to his home.  In my mind, this man had too far to go to be saved.  He was not worth my time.  He did not fit my picture of what a potential Christian looks like, so stopping to pray for him would be a wasted effort.

                  His tear-stained face still haunts me, and I remember it when I see homeless men and women visit our new church.  I think about him when our church discusses ministry to alcoholics through AA groups that meet in our new building.  I think about him when vagrants from the neighborhood ask us for food or money to buy a bus pass, or when someone who is not familiar with “normal” behavior says something out-of-turn during a sermon.  I think about him when I see someone smoking in the doorway, waiting to come into church on Sunday morning.  I think, “Jesus paid the price for all of our sins, not just mine.  He doesn’t have to look or act like me to be worthy of God’s grace.”  I also think about how worthless and empty a nice, churchy, church building would be if we failed to add people like the man on the curb to the people of God.  

 

Conclusion

 

Our year in this building has been a great learning opportunity for me.  I’m challenged all the time to give up my prejudices, my fears, and to try to see people with the compassion that Jesus sees them.  As I think about my King, I can see him working in me to make me a subject that pleases Him.

 

While the band comes up, take a moment to think about your King. 

 

-        What do you need to surrender to Him today?  What relationship needs to change?  What attitude needs to change?

-        If you have never bowed your knee to Jesus, and made a decision to crown Him King in your heart, today is your opportunity.  I’ll be praying in the front row.  If you would like to have me or someone pray with you, please come up.