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.
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?
