Palm Sunday: Consider the King
Sermon Highlights:
BLUF: The life and ministry of Jesus is so important to meditate upon, yet we often overlook it or take it as “old news.” When we consider the truths of Christ deeply, familiar texts become fresh truths about our Savior and the grace of our Father in Heaven.
Problem: We spend an unproportional amount of time thinking about our lives than we do thinking about the life of Jesus.
Solution: We ought to consider Christ, meditate on Him, so that familiar texts might offer fresh truths about our humble, peaceful King of kings. This will allow God to meet the deepest needs of our souls, which is to know Him deeply.
Jesus is the humble King
Jesus was not the king that the Jews expected.
Humble literally means “poor” or “lowly” or “afflicted”
They expected a king that was rich, in high standing, and unafflicted.
Jesus chose to draw near to Bethpage and Bethany (verse 29)
As villages on the outskirts of Jerusalem, they were filled with the poorest and most marginalized people who lived near Jerusalem.
These were people who were poor, lowly, and afflicted.
Jesus, the humble King, chose to be identified with these people.
Jesus rode on the back of a donkey.
He rode a donkey that He had to borrow.
What kind of king doesn’t own a horse, let alone a donkey?
This is how Jesus chose to enter the city.
This triumphal entry wasn’t one that followed Roman tradition, nor was it one that the Jews expected.
But it was one that fulfilled prophecy.
Zechariah 9:9, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is He, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
“[Jesus] does not arrive as his royal highness but his royal lowliness.” – Zondervan commentary
Instead of celebrating his reign, the humble King wept over the city.
“And when He drew near and saw the city, He wept over it.” Luke 19:41
The humble King entered the city knowing that its inhabitants would cry out against Him and lead Him to be crucified.
Yet Christ humbles Himself to submit to the will of the Father, to the point of death
Jesus is the peaceful king
The Jews wanted a political savior, someone who would free them from the Romans’ rule and influence.
They thought that Jesus might reign in Jerusalem as King over the Romans.
Jesus was not the king the Jews expected.
Jesus came as a peaceful king by riding a donkey, not a warhorse.
If Jesus rode into Jerusalem in 2025, we would expect it be on a tank, but Jesus rode the equivalent of a Prius or a minivan.
A king riding on a warhorse projects power, a king riding on a donkey projects peace.
Fulfillment of Zechariah 9:10, “He shall speak peace to the nations.
Jesus did not come to fight Israel’s battles against Rome, He came to fight humanity’s battle against sin.
Our peaceful King did not come to punish but to please for our peace with God.
Instead of bringing war to fight for earthly freedoms, He died and rose again to bring eternal peace.
Jesus is the King of kings
In this instance Jesus entered the city on the back of a donkey.
Revelation 19 tells of another triumphal entrance of Christ, and He will be riding a white horse in that one.
When Jesus came to this earth, He was crucified as A king; but when He returns, King Jesus will be crowned as the KING of kings.
There is nothing that can stop the praise due to the King of kings.
Even when the cross momentarily silenced the praises, the earth shook and the rock split.
Kings come and go, but the King of kings sits on the throne for eternity.
The Lord will be praised forever.
Therefore, submit to the King
To the unbeliever:
Don’t let pride stop you from praising God.
We will all recognize Jesus as King of kings, it’s just a matter of whether you’ll do it from His side or from His enemies’ side.
Jesus is the humble, peaceful King of kings; there is no other king worth bowing to.
To the Christian:
Submit to the king daily.
Even when it’s hard, even when it doesn’t make sense.
Jesus asked the disciples to go to a village, ask a stranger for a donkey, a donkey that has never been ridden before, and don’t offer to pay to borrow it.
This sounds like an impossible task, one that the disciples probably had second thoughts about.
“What if they don’t let us borrow it?” “What if we can’t find an unridden donkey?”
Yet, “…those who were sent went away and found it just as He had told them.” (verse 32).
As you keep submitting to God’s word, you will progressively see how much God keeps His word.