Now title of our lesson this
morning, The King Comes to Town. Now it is so very important for
us to preach and to believe the kingship of Christ. You before
God ever saves anyone, He's going to make them bow to King Jesus. Now the Lord Jesus Christ, He's
our Savior. He's our comforter, isn't it? He's even our friend,
the friend of sinners. What a friend we have. But first
and foremost, he's King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Remember what
he told his disciples? You call me Lord and Master,
and you say, well, for so I am. And you're gonna find every sinner
that the Lord saves bowing to Christ the King. Now in our lesson
this morning, we're gonna see Christ the King coming to town. He came to town as King. And
it's this trip to Jerusalem that Christ will be crucified. He's
going to be crucified in such shame and pain and humiliation,
but he comes to town as king. He comes to town as king and
everything he does in town is going to be as king. He's going
to suffer and die as king. He's going to arise from the
dead as king, and he's going to ascend back to heaven as king. And when he returns again, He's
coming as King. And you know, he wasn't afraid
to say so. Look over a few pages of Mark chapter 11. Or Mark chapter
14, excuse me. Mark 14, verse 60. And the high priest stood up
in the midst and asked Jesus saying, answerest thou nothing? What is it which these witness
against thee? But he held his peace and answered nothing. Again,
the high priest asked him and said unto him, art thou the Christ,
the son of the blessed? And Jesus said, I am. And ye
shall see the son of man sitting on the right hand of power and
coming in the clouds of heaven. And the high priest rent his
clothes and saith, what need? What need we any further witnesses?
You've heard the blasphemy. Well, thank you. And they all
condemned him to be guilty of death. Our savior is king and
he wasn't afraid to say so. He said, you're going to do what
you want right now. But next time you see me, I'm going to
be coming as king. You're going to see me sitting
on the throne of glory. Now, in our text, Christ is coming
to town to take his kingdom. That's what he's coming to do.
And I want us to notice that Christ the King doesn't come
to town like kings and religious leaders do today. You know, he
doesn't fly into town on Air Force One and be surrounded by
a bunch of Secret Service agents and, you know, common folk can't
get up next to him. He didn't come that way. He walked
to the edge of town and then rode into town on a borrowed
donkey. I mean, you think of that. He doesn't ride through
town. I actually saw this happen yesterday.
Like the Pope in the Popemobile, wearing funny clothes and making
a show of wealth, making a show of power that he does not have. Our Lord had the power, but he
didn't come to town that way. He came riding through town like
a poor, ordinary man riding on a borrowed donkey. But oh, the
glory in which he rides. I want to show you four things
about the glory of the King who's coming to town. Number one is
this, Christ the King came to town with power over everything. Mark 11, verse one. And when
they came not at Jerusalem unto Bethpage and Bethany at the Mount
of Olives, he sendeth forth two of his disciples and saith unto
them, go your way into the village over against you. And as soon
as you be entered in, you shall find a colt tied whereon never
man sat, loose him and bring him. And if any man say unto
you, why do ye this? Say ye that the Lord hath need
of him, and straightway he'll send him hither. And they went
their way and found the colt tied by the door within a place
where two ways met, and they loosed him. And certain of them
that stood there said unto them, what do you, loosing the colt?
And they said unto them, even as Jesus had commanded, and they
let them go. Now the Lord, I don't know how
far this is away, further than the human eye can see, but the
Lord knew right where that donkey was. He knew right where to send
his disciples to go get that donkey. You know why? Because
the Lord put that donkey there. That's why it wasn't just all
the donkey happened to be there and the Lord knew it. No, the
Lord put that donkey there as sovereign over everything in
his creation. He put that donkey where he wanted
him to be for his use. You see, that donkey belonged
to him. That's why he could tell his disciples, go untie that
donkey and bring him to me. He's mine. Now it's come my time
to use him. And he said this in such quiet
power. If you have true power, you don't
need to show it off by being loud, do you? So the disciples
did what the Lord said. They just walked right up, unloosed
the donkey, started to take it, no questions asked. They didn't
look around, ask anybody else's permission. They just went to
take the donkey, because that's what the master told them to
do. And when the owner asked them, now, what are you doing? Why are you taking my donkey?
They said the Lord has need of them. And the owner saw, okay,
take them, be on your way, you know. You know, that's the Lord's
power over the free will thoughts of men. I mean, I can't figure
it out, but I love to think about this. Our Lord has power over
the freewill thoughts and actions of men. And what is coming up
at Calvary is the perfect example, isn't it? Men did everything
they wanted to do. I mean, it's what they wanted
to do. This was their will, but what
they accomplished was God's will, wasn't it? I mean, he has power
over the actions and thoughts of men, and he uses it to accomplish
his purpose. That's such a mystery. Only the
sovereign has the power to do such a thing. This is the king
here. And you think about these, these
disciples walking up, take this donkey. Now that donkey had some
value to its owner. This is, this is a beast of burden. You know, it can use to be work
and ridden and all these things, you know, that's a value to the
owner. I mean, what would you do if
you got here in the parking lot and you see a couple of men getting
in your car to drive off in it? I mean, you'd stop them, wouldn't
you? It's my car, it's got some value to me. And this man just
said, okay, take it, God be with you, take it. The Lord made that
man willing in the day of his power. The same way he does for
all of his people that he saves. He makes us willing in the day
of his power. The king does that. And then
they bring the donkey to the Lord. Now remember, this colt,
no man ever ridden it before. It hadn't been saddle broken. And they bring this donkey to
the Lord, and the Lord just gets on it and rides it. He didn't
have to break it first. He didn't have to sit through
that donkey bucking against him. It didn't buck one time. The
Lord got on that donkey, and the donkey peacefully went where
the Lord willed for him to go. Because our Lord is in control. Will we ever get that through
our thick skulls? Whatever it is that's happening,
the Lord's in control of it. He's in control of even the will
of a donkey. Animals. Our King is the omniscient all
knowing God of heaven and earth. And he has the power to do as
he will. And you know what his will is?
To save his people from their sin. Now you reckon he's going
to do it? Of course he is. He's got the
power to do it. And doesn't it make it a joy
to bow to the sovereign like that? It makes it a joy, doesn't
it? It gives us complete confidence
to trust our Savior who has the power to save and the power to
keep. All right, here's the second
thing. Now this is Christ the King.
He's the King of glory. The ruler of the universe came
to town in poverty. Verse seven says, and they brought
the cold to Jesus and cast their garments on him. And he sat upon
him. Now our Lord could have flown
into town like Superman or something. He could have just transported
himself, you know, into town. He could have ridden into town
on a big white stallion with a fancy saddle and big fancy
reins and all those things. He could have done all those
things. But instead, Christ our King rode into town on a borrowed
donkey. He didn't even have a saddle
to put on the donkey. He had to sit on other people's clothes.
What do you mean his clothes? It was other people's clothes
he sat on. And we shouldn't be surprised this is the way the
King came to town. Because this is the way that
Lord Jesus lived his entire life as a poor homeless man. He had
to walk everywhere he went. When he was thirsty, he had to
ask the most sinful woman in town for a drink. He lived despised
and hated rather than being adored and honored like he deserves. Next time somebody doesn't give
you the glory and recognition you deserve, don't be surprised
that no one gave our Lord the honor and the glory and the adoration
that he deserved. This is the king with all riches. The cattle on a thousand hills
are his and the gold and silver and precious metals under the
hill, they're all his too. Yet the Lord Jesus lived as the
most poverty stricken man who ever lived. None of us could
be brought as low into poverty as our Savior was brought into
poverty. The Son of God, until we're in glory, we're not
going to have any concept of the glory of the Son of God,
of his person. But the Son of God suffered the
poverty of being made flesh. You think of the poverty he suffered
being made flesh. And when he came to earth, he
didn't come as a wealthy man, as a powerful man, as an influential
man. He was born to a poor family
and worked in a carpenter shop. He lived his life as a homeless
man whose followers were all uneducated. I guess Matthew would
have been the exception. He didn't even have a place to
lay his head at night that was out of the weather. And then
if that wasn't poverty enough, he suffered the poverty of being
made sin. The Holy son of God was made
sin and he suffered and he died for the sin of his people. The Holy son of God was made
sin. Nobody ever suffered such deep
humiliation. Nobody ever suffered such deep
poverty. The prince of life, the life
giver, the creator suffered death for his people. He suffered such poverty. He
didn't even have any life. Nobody's ever suffered such poverty
as he suffered. Now, let me ask, this is the
king, remember, and this is how the king is coming to town. Why would he willingly suffer
all that poverty? Now, why would the king do that?
I can show you. Look over a few pages, 2 Corinthians
chapter eight. He suffered all of that willingly
for the good of his people, for the salvation of his people.
2 Corinthians 8 verse 9. For you know the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, Yet for your sakes,
he became poor. He was unspeakably rich. And
for your sake, he became unspeakably poor that ye through his poverty
might be made rich." Oh, now I see what the King's doing.
He had to tell me what he's doing, but now by God's grace, I see. The King, the King, he always
does what's best for his people, even if it's going to cost him. That makes me want to be one
of his subjects or be my king. That makes it such a joy to bow
to Christ the king. What a joy to have a king who's
got all power and who only ever uses that power for the eternal
good of his subjects. Isn't that wonderful? This is
our king. This is the way he rode into
town to reveal himself. All right, number three. Christ the King is also the Messiah
who came to save his people from their sin. Now I know that so
because during his three-year earthly ministry, the Lord Jesus
fulfilled every type, every shadow, every prophecy of the Messiah
found in the Old Testament. And the way that he rode into
town on this day is another fulfillment of the Old Testament scriptures.
Look back at Zechariah chapter nine. I'll show you that. Zechariah
nine. You know, like I said earlier,
the Lord, he could have walked into Jerusalem. I mean, he had
the strength and power to do it. He walked to the edge of
town. He could just walked in through town, but he didn't do
that. On this day, he rode a colt into town, a colt that had never
been ridden, so that he could fulfill the Old Testament prophecy
of the Savior in Zechariah, so that we would know this is God's
promised Messiah. Zechariah 9, verse 9. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of
Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, thy king cometh unto
thee. He is just, having salvation,
and here's how he's coming, lowly and riding upon an ass, upon
a colt, the foal of an ass. Zachariah told us that's how
he's coming, and here our king comes, coming into town, riding
on this colt, the foal of an ass, a colt that's never been
ridden before. This King who's coming is the
Savior. He's the Messiah. He's lowly
and he's meek, but he's just. He's just. He is the justification
of his people. In just six or seven days, he's
going to die to satisfy God's justice and make all of his people
just, justified by his sacrifice. He is just and he's the justifier
of his people. This King is coming to town lowly. He's meek and he's bringing salvation
with him. He's bringing salvation and peace
to all of his people. He's not offering them and tell
them, come get it if you want it. He's bringing it to them.
He brings it to them. He's bringing salvation to his
elect by his suffering and his death on the cross on this trip
to Jerusalem. Christ the King, He's the Eternal
King. And he's the eternal savior.
He's the sovereign savior who saves whom he will, when he will,
how he will. And the whole Old Testament was
written for this purpose, not to give us a law that we have
to keep in order to justify and make ourselves righteous. No,
the whole Old Testament was written to tell us who the Lord Jesus
Christ is, to tell us what it is that he's going to accomplish
for his people when he comes so that when he does it, we'll
know it's him. And we'll worship him. We'll
fall at his feet and worship him. The whole Testament is written
to tell us he's coming. He's coming. He's coming. Look
for him. By God's grace, he showed him
to us. What joy and what confidence there is in bowing this to the
eternal King. He's come to bring salvation
to his people. This is the one. I find it so
easy to trust my salvation to him. How about you? All right. Here's the last thing.
It's the King's Parade. in verse eight of Mark chapter
11. And many spread their garments
in the way and others cut down branches off the trees and strawed
them in the way. This is where they get Palm Sunday. And they went before and they
that followed cried saying, Hosanna, blessed is he that cometh in
the name of the Lord. Blessed be the kingdom of our
father David that cometh in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in
the highest. Jesus entered into Jerusalem
and into the temple, and when he looked round about upon all
things, and now the eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany
with the twelve. Now this scene had to be something
else. This kind of scene where the
people are shouting Hosanna and throwing their clothes down on
the ground for the donkey to walk over and then cutting down
these palm branches and throwing them down. This was reserved
for a triumphant king who's coming back to town after a battle.
You know, there's been an enemy and it looked like the enemy
for sure was going to conquer the, destroy the city. We're
outnumbered, we're outgunned, but the king went out and he
fought that enemy and he destroyed them. And now he's come back.
He's completely destroyed the archenemy of the city. There's
no more fear of the enemy's destroyed. The city's safe. And the king
rides back into town. He goes through town being cheered
by his adoring subjects. Here's our king. He went out
and fought the battle, saved our lives. Now, isn't that a
departure from the way that Lord normally acted in public, the
way he's done things up till now? Up till now, every time
he performed a miracle, what did he say? See, nobody knows
it. Tell no man. Up till now, every
time the people wanted to come and take him, make him king,
what did he do? He left to hid themselves from
them. His hour was not yet come. But now, his hour has come. And he does things differently,
doesn't he? On this day, the Lord allowed everyone to cheer
him, to hail him as king. And I believe I know why he did
this one different. Because on this day, this trip
to Jerusalem, he's coming for the hour of hours to suffer and
die for the sins of his people. He's coming to do the most glorious
act God's ever done. Save his people by the sacrifice
of his son. He's coming to town to finish
the work that the father gave him to do. He was just nine years
old and he told his parents, don't you know, I must be about
my father's business. Now he's come to finish it. He's
come to finish the work. He's coming to offer the sacrifice
that he came to offer. He's coming to honor every attribute
of God by his sacrifice. You know, the sacrifice of Christ,
oh yes, it satisfied God's grace, didn't it? Don't forget it satisfied
God's justice. It honored and glorified God's
justice. Yes, the death of Christ honored
and glorified God's mercy. God could not be merciful to
us any other way except through the sacrifice of Christ. But
don't forget it honored and glorified the truth of God too. The truth
of God. Christ is coming to put away
the sin of his people to make it right for the father to bring
his people to be with him where he is. That's what the King's
coming to do. And that's something we're celebrating.
You know, all the other earthly miracles, there are types and
pictures of redemption and salvation and healing, spiritual healing
that God's people have in Christ. But the Lord never did allow
that to be celebrated, did he? But this is the redemption of
his people. This is what he's coming to do to honor his father,
to save his people from their sin. And this is something to
be celebrated. And I see absolutely no reason
for you and me to ever get off on a tangent and get away from
this and celebrate this sacrifice. Nothing else matters. All these
other things people get so caught up, they don't matter. This is
the honor and glory of our Savior, our Savior King, as he came to
save his people from their sin. And he should be honored. He
should be adored as our conquering hero. He should announce himself
as King of Kings as he's coming into his kingdom, shouldn't he?
But he's coming into his kingdom, not by destroying his enemy by
killing them and him living. He's coming to enter into his
kingdom by his suffering and death for his people as a substitute,
as a sacrifice for his people. This king destroyed his enemies
by suffering and dying. And then rising again the third
day. This king crushed the head of the serpent by allowing himself
to suffer and die and allowing the serpent to bruise his heel.
He never quit being king, even in what appeared to be his lowest
physical condition. As he's nailed to the cross,
he'd been beaten. He'd been tortured. His ribs
had been lacerated with that cat of nine tails. His back,
you could see his ribs. You could probably see through
some of those internal organs. Oh, the beating and the suffering,
the crown of thorns on his head, the blood, the nails through
his hands and feet and the blood and the gore and the suffering.
No man ever suffered like this. His visage was marred more than
any other man. He did not look like a man hanging
there on the cross. And that dying thief beside him
said, this is the king. This is the savior, Lord. Would
you remember me when you come into your kingdom? And the king
in power said, today, shalt thou be with me in paradise. And he
could say that because he's purchasing it for that thief at that moment.
That's the king. And the king brought that dying
thief directly into his kingdom. They had to break the legs of
that thief so that he would die. But when he died, our Lord brought
that thief, that thief who never did one thing for God. He never
witnessed, he never baptized, he never tithed, he never did
any of those things. The king brought that thief straight
into his presence because his sacrifice made him fit to be
there. What a sacrifice, what a King. That King should be honored
and should be adored, shouldn't he? And the people were doing
it, but here's a very, very solemn warning. Show you how fickle
human beings are in just a few days. This crowd who's yelling,
Hosanna, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Blessed
is the kingdom of our father David. Oh, he's coming in the
name of the Lord. Hosanna to the highest. In just
a few days, at the top of their lungs, they're gonna be shouting,
crucify him and give us Barabbas. That's how fickle human nature
is. You know, don't think that you
and me can't change and turn on a dime. I mean, turn 180 degrees
and go the opposite direction unless the Lord prevents it.
Don't ever think, I've seen it happen too many times. But the king, he knew what those
people were going to do. He knew how they were going to
turn on him. And he came to town to suffer
and die for them anyway. Now that's our King. He came
to suffer and die for them anyway. And as he was dying, I mean,
we just can't imagine the agony, the body and soul our Savior
was enduring. You know what he cried? Father, forgive them. They don't
know what they're doing. That's who the King of Kings
is. Oh, my prayer is that Lord give you and me faith to believe
Him and to bow to Him and to trust Him. And when He does something
that we don't understand, my desire is to bow to Him and trust
Him anyway. I hope you will too. All right,
Lord bless you.