Are we more concerned about living LIKE a king, or living FOR a king?

Palm Sunday 1 Apr 2012 at Christ church, Billericay

Zechariah 9:9-13 & Mark 11:1-11

Introduction

What do you think of Elizabeth?

What do you think of Elizabeth? Not, our youth worker – whose away at her friends wedding, nor our band leader, but Elizabeth II, our queen. It's her diamond jubilee year. Very few kings or queens make it this far – that's one of the advantages of living in a constitutional monarchy, the king does not have to lead the troops from the front.

Most people have only known the one monarch so it may be a little difficult to make an evaluation, but anyway do you think she is a good queen? What could she have done better?

Make Jesus King

In the passage for today we see the crowds have another attempt to install Jesus as their King. So I thought it would be a good idea to look at some kings and queens to see what they were like and whether we think they would make an ideal monarch.

Good king / bad king.

I'll start with a list of 4 monarchs that I think are good and then look at four who are not so good.

Edward I – his reforms of criminal law are still (just) the basis for most of our criminal law today.

Elizabeth I – had a conciliatory approach to the feuding Catholics and Protestants in the land, and established the Church of England. Her reign is still seen as something of a golden age.

Henry VIII – Henry's energy in the early part of his reign was responsible for setting the framework for Elizabeth's golden age.

Richard I – The lion heart. He was a brilliant military leader, commanding his own force at the age of 16.

Now for some bad kings:

John – probably tops everyone's list of bad kings, having tried to usurp his brother. He was also known to be petty and spiteful.

Charles I – had a very strong belief in the divine right of Kings lead to a fatal split with parliament and resulted in the English civil war, which he then lost!

George III - his focus on war with France and his attempt to raise taxes from colonists lead to the loss of the American colonies.

Henry VIII - had a flagrant disregard for the law which led him to behead his wives. His concern was to produce a male heir, at the expense of everything else.

Ideal King

So there we have seven monarchs from our history. All of them had some good qualities, but what would an ideal King be like?

Here are a few Ideas:

Wise, like Solomon

Strong, like Richard I, or Churchill

Decisive

Fair, like Eadwig (955 - 959)

Proactive, like Henry VIII

Dutiful, like Elizabeth II

Charismatic, like Edward I

Natural Leader

Merciful, like Richard I

Subject to his own Laws

Living Under a King

For us, of course, it doesn't matter very much. How will England change when Charles III takes the throne? It probably won't affect your daily life.

In Jesus time the ruler had a significant influence on daily life. They decided if there would be war or peace. Many wars have been fought solely to satisfy a kings pride, which were nothing to do with the security of the nation. If there was to be war, there would have to be money raised, so new taxes would be imposed. If the King came to visit, he would have to be given the best room in town. (Yes! Given! Even Elizabeth II does not carry money!). If the King asked for anything, however bizarre it would be done for him.

Jews wish for a king

The Jewish nation wanted their own king, they had been conquered many times – that is not an experience that we can easily understand. They were currently part of the Roman Empire. The taxes that were raised were used to support Roman military efforts, and even worse than that the customs and practices of their religion were restricted. The people were looking for someone who could lead them to freedom, to self determination.

They looked back to the reign of king David, when they had defeated their enemies and all was well with the Kingdom (hindsight is a wonderful thing).

Jesus for King – the crowd

There were huge crowds in and around Jerusalem, they have come for the passover festival – perhaps the biggest festival of the year. When the Olympics start later this year we will get a sense of the impact that a huge number of visitors can make on an area. There are people everywhere. They have come to remember the time that Moses led the people out of slavery and into the promised land. They are looking for a repeat performance from someone – from anyone. They are hoping for a miracle cure, a cure that would see the nation restored to its former glory – to independence and self determination. This time they are not going to run away, they want the Romans kicked out.

Jesus for King – the donkey

It's at this point that Jesus decides to demonstrate who he is. He clearly signals to them that He is their king. Remember the reading from Zechariah:

^{Zec 9:9} Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion!  Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king ¹⁷ comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 

The crowd could not miss the sign. They recognised their new king immediately and began praising him. They grab anything they can and use their coats as a 'red carpet' to welcome their honoured guest. For someone this important, even the donkey must not walk on the dusty, dirty earth.

A donkey is a symbol of peace and humility.

Hosanna means 'save' and it had become an expression of praise. A recognition of the fact that God had saved His people many times in their history.

Praise and expectation

The praise and the expectation are high. John's account tells us that the crowd who had seen him raise Lazarus from the tomb were there shouting their praises, and that the story of Lazarus spread through out the crowd. A prophet who can raise the dead was something that Israel had not seen since Elijah.

Jesus enters the city and then moves on to the temple. He enters the temple and takes a look around at everything. That's odd, because He had been there lots of times before. Jesus is planning what he will do next – tomorrow he will purify the temple.

Living Under the King

For whatever reason, and there are many theories, the crowd will turn on Jesus and reject him as their king or as their messiah (saviour). After his death and resurrection his disciples would see that He is in reality King of the world, not just King of the Jews (even if that title was finally given to Him by Pilot).

His followers would recognise that as King and Saviour Jesus has a special call on their lives. We as his followers should also recognise this.

Christians live under an absent King. Jesus is in charge, but not completely in this world, in this time.

How do we respond to living under a king?

It's something that we are not used to, and no longer has any meaning in our culture. Here are some questions – see how you respond to them.

Are we willing to follow the king's orders even when they puzzle us?

Is 55:8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,”
            declares the LORD.
9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
   so are my ways higher than your ways
   and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Try to interpret what God is saying, if it is not un-biblical, then obey. This can be difficult, how are you going to answer the question “Why did you do that?”

Are we ready to go out of our way to follow him?

In today's world a commitment to attend worship every Sunday can seem peculiar and fanatical. Worship is reserved for celebrities and sports stars, and some of them – the real fans – the fanatical ones will follow their heroes every week. Most don't. Jesus was a celebrity in his procession to the temple, but the crowd soon turned on him. Celebrity can be fickle. As a king he asks that we put one day aside each and every week, and stop our regular work. That day should be dedicated to Him, and used to prepare our selves for the week ahead. That's the day when we get together to worship Him.

If that's hard, supposing the king were to ask you to travel to a foreign land and live there among the people, so that you could tell them about him?

Here are a few quotes from Eric Liddel, the runner at the 1924 Olympics who refused to run on Sunday and afterwards became a missionary in China.

“One word stands out from all others as the key to knowing God, to having his peace and assurance in your heart; it is OBEDIENCE.”

“HAPPINESS is to have enough for the day's needs with always some to spare for those who have not.“

"The kingdom is where the King reigns. If He is reigning in my heart, then the Kingdom of Heaven has come to me."

What are our equivalent of cloaks?

In Jesus time most people would have owned only one cloak. It was the only outer garment for protection against the cold. Here they lay their cloaks on the ground in honour of their king, not considering the cost. Perhaps the nearest equivalent today would be your car. This question is really asking what of value we are prepared to put at risk in honour of our king? How many of those folks got their cloak back? How many got them back without any damage?

Has our God become domesticated and trivialised, a mere helping hand through the tough times of life?

Or is He really a King to us?

Are we more concerned about living LIKE a king, or living FOR a king?