FOLLOWING THE KING OF OUR LIVES

Following Christ: (Part IV)

FOLLOWING THE KING OF OUR LIVES

Matthew 21:1-9

Matthew 21:1-9

1) As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples,

2) saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me.

3) If anyone says anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away."

4) This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:

5) "Say to the Daughter of Zion, 'See, your king comes to you,

gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.' "

6) The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them.

7) They brought the donkey and the colt, placed their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them.

8) A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9) The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Hosanna in the highest!"

            After the deadliest shooting had happened last Monday (April 16) in Virginia Tech, many people including Christians have probably wondered and asked - Where was God when all of this was happening?  I believe the answer can come from Psalm 103:19,

The Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all.

            Clearly, the Bible declares, God is sitting on the throne and He was very much in control. Although God does not order evil or sin, an event like this does not take Him by surprise. He knows exactly why He has allowed this to happen. A.W. Tozer once said:

"To the child of God, there is no such thing as an accident. He travels an appointed way.... Accident may indeed appear to befall him and misfortune stalk his way; but these evils will be so in appearance only and will seem evils only because we cannot read the secret script of God's hidden providence"

   

            When tragedies happen, we should be comforted with the fact that God is always in charge. He never takes a vacation or He does not wake up some mornings and say, "Oh my goodness, I forgot about those people." There are no accidents with God. God never says "Oops!" Therefore, when tough times like this happen or our world seems to fall apart, remember, God is in charge, He is in control.

            Yes, to know that God is in-charge brings tremendous assurance, but it also brings some accountability on our part. I would like us now to shift our attention to this truth. We have been emphasizing the theme, "Following Christ" for the past three Sundays already. On this series, I am hoping that we will understand better what it means to be true followers of Jesus. This series will not be complete without emphasizing the need to know who should really be in charge of our lives, or who should sit on the throne of our hearts.

            Our text will help us have some concrete answers to these questions. I'm sure we are all familiar with the triumphal entry of Jesus to Jerusalem prior to His arrest and crucifixion. Let's study the passage together and discover how Christ's kingship:

   

I           THE ASSERTION OF KINGSHIP: (vv. 1-3)

            The Triumphal Entry of the Lord Jesus into Jerusalem begins in Bethphage, a small town on the eastern slopes of Mount Olives. When they arrived in this town, the Lord commanded two of His disciples to go and get a donkey and its colt and bring them to him. If anyone questioned their actions, they were to say "the Lord needed them".

            Consider this statement for a moment. Jesus was clearly asserting His right to use the donkey and the colt because He is the Lord. Carefully, He uses the word Lord which came from the Greek word Kurios, meaning he to whom a person or thing belongs or the master.

            Now, you are probably asking - what gives Jesus the right to use such a strong title for himself? Well, here are the grounds of His Lordship:

•A.     Being God, He is the Lord of all creation:

1 Chronicles 29:11-13

11) Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.

12) Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all.

13) Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name.

            In this passage, King David after spending his entire life serving God acknowledges that everything belongs to God and everything he enjoyed in his life came from Him.  

 

•B.     Being our Savior, He bought us with a price:

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

19) Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;

20) you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

 

            The apostle Paul declares that if you are a believer, you belong to Jesus because He provided the price for your redemption. On account of the fact that you are a purchased possession, you have to stop living for yourself and start living for God.

I believe this is an important concept for all Christians to understand. In reality, God has a double claim over our lives. We belong to Him by virtue of creation and conversion. This should be enough to lead us to a life committed to please Him. Peter T. Forsythe was right when he said, "The first duty of every soul is to find not its freedom but its Master".

 

II         THE AUTHROTIY OF KINGSHIP: (vv. 1-3)

            If you look to Jesus as the Lord, the king of your life, then you should have no problem recognizing His authority which demands obedience in everything.

            Going back to our text, the two disciples who have been with Jesus for the past three years have learned that when Jesus asks you to do something, you have to obey without questions. Of course, obedience was also expected from the owner of the donkey and the colt. Try to reflect about this truth for a moment, if you were the two disciples, would you have obeyed? Or if you were the owner of the donkey and the colt, would you have given up your right over your animals? There would probably be a great struggle in our part.

            In the book, Essentials of Discipleship, Robert D. Foster explained where our struggles would usually come from: There are four reasons:

•A.     God may ask us to do something we don't want to do.

Many people are afraid to surrender their will to God because God may ask them to spend time with someone they would not choose as a friend or God may ask them to move to another part of the country. Remember, if ever God asks you to do something, His grace will be sufficient for you to do that which He requires.

 

•B.     We think we know what is best for us.

We are often looking at our lives from our point of view, instead of God's point of view. Somehow we do not recognize that God always wants the best for us. Yet He who knows the end from the beginning knows what's best for us far better than we do.

 

•C.     We are not sure that God has our best interests at heart.

This reason is almost the same as the second, but we have to trust His promise:

Jeremiah 29:11

11) For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

•D.     We're afraid what we give to God may be taken away completely.

Here is a real test of faith because it takes faith to completely surrender anything we cherish to God. It may be a relationship with a person of the opposite sex, a prized possession, an activity, or plans we have made.

            It's not always easy to be obedient to God. We have to willing to trust the Lord with our lives, and be convinced that He knows what is best for us. The bottom line for Jesus is that your obedience will prove your love to Him.

John 14:15

 15) "If you love me, you will obey what I command.

 

III        THE ACCEPTANCE OF KINGSHIP: (vv. 4-9)

            The highlight of the passage is the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. Since this was the Passover celebration, there were probably about two million people in and around Jerusalem at that time. Jesus chose this time to publicly demonstrate His kingship to the people by accepting their adoration. Prior to this, the Lord Jesus cautioned people not to tell who He was, and He had deliberately avoided being publicly declared as king (John 6:15). But here, Jesus did not just accept it, He encouraged it.

            In verses 4-5, Matthew intimates that this was a fulfillment of an Old Testament prophecy found in Zechariah 9:9:

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

            By quoting this passage, Matthew reinforces the fact that Jesus is the Messiah that they have been waiting for. He is the king that should rule over their lives. It's quite unusual for a king to parade in a donkey. Often they would ride a horse. But the first coming of the Messiah was done in humility. He took the form of a servant to die for the sins of the world. However, His second coming will be in a white horse with great power and glory (Rev. 19:11-16).   

            Now, as Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem, He was met with worship and adoration by a large crowd. The people started spreading their clothes on the road for him, others waved branches of trees, and then almost everybody shouted "

"Hosanna to the Son of David!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Hosanna in the highest!"

            What kind of worship and adoration took place here?

  • External - They did not hide their adoration, they were for everybody to see.
  • Sacrificial - They gave up their clothes and put them out on the roads. David had the same attitude.

2 Samuel 24:24

24) But the king replied to Araunah, "No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing." So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen and paid fifty shekels of silver for them.

  • Verbal - The mouth expresses the contents of the hearts.

    Evidently, Jesus openly accepted all these adorations from the people.

Being the King of kings and the Lord of lords, He expects absolute obedience and wholehearted worship and adoration from all people especially His followers. I hope we are all prepared to look at Him as the King of our lives.