Son of David; Son of God

Today's Bible reading will be from Matthew, reading from chapter 21, verses 1-17.

!

This took place to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet, saying,

Say to the daughter of Zion, Behold, your king is coming to you, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.

The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them.

They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them.

Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.

And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting,

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

And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying,

Who is this?

And the crowd said,

This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee.

And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple.

And he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons.

He said to them,

It is written,

My house shall be called a house of prayer,

but you make it a den of robbers.

And the blinds and the lame came to him in the temple,

and he healed them.

But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did,

and the children crying out in the temple,

Hosanna to the Son of David!

They were indignant.

And they said to him,

Do you hear what these are saying?

And Jesus said to them,

Yes.

Have you never read?

Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies,

you have prepared praise.

And leaving them,

he went out of the city to Bethany

and lodged there.

This is God's word to us today.

May we be blessed by listening to it.

Well, good morning, everyone.

Will you pray with me as we come to God's word?

Our Father, as we just sang,

I pray that through your word and by your spirit,

you would convince our hearts to crown you

the Lord of peace.

Lord, convince our hearts to crown you.

I pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Well, when leaders start their time in power,

how they begin often isn't an accident.

It's often very careful.

So there's a new coach.

I'm so sorry, another sport illustration.

I've got to find better illustrations.

But there's this new coach for a soccer team in England.

And every coach would start their leadership

by calling a meeting,

the players, the coaching staff,

the owners of the club.

But this guy's done something different.

And everyone noticed it.

He also invited the kitchen staff.

He invites the groundskeepers.

He invited the bus drivers.

He invited everyone.

And everyone, before he said a word,

just in that one act,

he has symbolised what his leadership wants to be about.

It's a clear message.

He's going to be honouring the contribution of all.

Or if you want to read another example,

read the official webpage for President Trump's

first 100 hours in his second term in office

to kick off America's golden age.

It's very intentional what he did first.

There's investment in American business.

There's tearing down what his predecessor built up.

There's securing the American border.

There's deportation flights immediately.

What a leader does first really characterises

what their rule is going to be about.

Matthew has spent 20 chapters so far

trying to convince us, persuade us,

Jesus is the greatest king history has ever known.

Fulfilling all the Old Testament hopes.

But until now, Jesus has been very, very careful

not to go public.

When we re-looked at chapter 16,

as soon as the disciples confess,

you are the king,

his immediate words is,

he strictly charged the disciples

to tell no one

that he was the Christ.

Why?

Because he won't let people's expectations define him.

He won't let your expectations define him.

My expectations.

He's going to define himself.

Now as we enter Jerusalem,

he's chosen this time to go very public.

He's very intentionally orchestrating this event

to define what his rule is about.

He's picked the most important time in the Jewish calendar,

the most religious significance.

There's crowds coming to Jerusalem for Passover,

God's deliverance, salvation.

He's picked the most important place.

We're on the Mount of Olives,

which was a bit higher than Jerusalem.

You could see the city,

the capital.

You could see the temple.

Two centuries earlier,

Simon Maccabees had defeated foreign armies

to secure Israel's independence.

He defeated the armies

and he rode into Jerusalem

riding his war horse

and people,

there was a parade.

There was cheering,

like the end of World War II.

There was cheering in the street.

There was people putting palm branches down on the ground.

What does Jesus do?

He doesn't come in on a war horse.

A donkey.

Not only a donkey,

this small baby,

well,

kid donkey.

It's never been ridden,

Mark's gospel says.

If you saw it,

it's like,

it's almost laughable.

It's like a huge man

riding this little motorbike.

Why did he choose that?

What is this symbolic act telling us?

He's defining his rule.

What's he telling us by doing this?

Well,

it emphasises his lowliness,

his weakness,

his humility,

even humiliation.

But he's also making the greatest claim

a human being has ever made about himself.

It wasn't the early church

who just misinterpreted Jesus' sayings

and go,

we're going to give him the title Lord.

He is taking that title for himself.

He is ascribing the title Lord to himself.

When he sends his disciples,

go get these donkeys,

and if anyone asks you,

why are you taking our donkeys?

Tell them the Lord.

He hasn't used that phrase before now.

Tell him the Lord.

He knows exactly what he's doing.

The symbolism,

the crowds don't miss it.

We might misunderstand it,

but the crowds don't miss it.

Solomon,

David's son,

when he was crowned king,

that was done

by David giving instructions,

saying,

get him to ride on my donkey.

And that declared

that succession.

And Zachariah,

the prophet Zachariah,

picks this up.

The true son of David,

who will have an eternal kingdom,

behold,

your king is coming to you,

humble and mounted on a donkey.

He is ascribing himself

as fulfilling all the Old Testament hopes.

There is a frenzy.

There's a parade.

People understand what he's doing.

There's messianic hopes.

There's fever pitch.

This is an exciting time.

They are crying out,

Hosanna,

which apparently transliterates the Hebrew,

save us.

They're praising God,

finally.

You've sent your Messiah,

save us.

This is an exciting scene.

Ordinary clothes,

ordinary followers,

a ridiculous donkey,

and ordinary followers still today,

I'm sorry to say.

Despite appearances,

he is saying,

I'm the greatest king.

I am that king.

It's not others saying it to him.

He's claiming it.

That's what this little donkey says.

So are you willing to join the parade

and the celebration

of this donkey-riding king?

There's graffiti.

Graffiti in Rome,

on a wall in Rome,

dated to about 200 AD,

and it's this sketch.

It looks like a children's drawing,

but it's probably a sketch of a man

worshipping what looks like the figure of a man on a cross

with a donkey's head.

And the inscription says,

Alex,

I can't even say it.

I'm just going to say Alex.

Alex worships his God.

Roman Empire,

they worship power.

This is ridiculous.

You Christians,

worshipping

this donkey-riding king.

His weakness,

it's not attractive.

It's not attractive to this world.

But then,

but then,

other people find him

not attractive for a different reason,

like Ricky Gervais,

comedian.

He wrote an article,

and Jesus,

he says,

Jesus was a man.

And if you forget all that rubbish

about being half God,

and forget that,

believe the non-super,

if you just believe the non-supernatural acts

accredited to him,

he was a man

whose wise words

many other men would still follow.

His message was usually

one of forgiveness and kindness.

But this donkey-riding king,

he's declaring himself,

flawed,

of the entire world.

This world doesn't like

his great claims.

He's offensive.

He's ridiculous.

He doesn't fit

what this world

finds attractive,

and that's exactly

why he's worth following.

Because he's so different

from the rest of the world.

So are we willing

to follow this?

Are we willing

to celebrate,

or are we embarrassed?

The second thing

this leader is declaring

by this carefully chosen act

is that he's not

going to conquer

through force,

and power,

and threat.

It hints

at how he's going

to conquer the world.

Not as every other

kingdom of this world

conquers.

when our military

showed

our strength

with the

talisman saver

exhibition,

I didn't see

us showing off

our donkey

collection.

There's not

an AUKUS agreement

for producing

more donkeys.

peace.

This king

is going to

conquer by peace.

I'm not saying

countries can't

have military.

That's part of

the country's job

to protect its citizens.

But I'm just saying

this kingdom

is very,

very,

very different.

He's going to be

characterised by peace.

Not by taking power

and killing,

but by losing power

and dying.

He's going to be

humiliated.

That's how he's

going to conquer.

This peace,

he's going against

the expectations

of the crowd.

They thought

he was going to

come in

and destroy

the nations,

make Israel

great again.

He's going

against that

expectation.

No,

I'm going to

conquer through

peace.

And the kind

of peace

I'm bringing

is a greater

peace than

you're asking

for.

Now,

Don Carson

says something

about this

peace.

I think he's

on to something,

but see what

you think.

If you were

on holidays

in the

countryside

and you

thought,

a fun

activity for

today,

let's go

horse riding.

And just

before you

get on the

horse,

the instructor

says,

hey,

by the

way,

no one's

ever ridden

this horse

before.

Would you

go,

what a

privilege.

I get to

be first.

Now,

you're laughing

because we

all know

common sense,

you do not

get on an

animal that

has never

been ridden

before.

But that's

exactly,

and now put

that animal

in a parade

of people

screaming.

And yet,

it's just

this little

hint,

I think

Carson is

on to

something

here,

that under

the hand

of its

Lord,

this little

animal is

calm.

The peace

he's bringing

is to the

entire world.

He's going

to put the

whole world,

even nature,

right.

I think it's

this little

hint.

He's

fulfilling

Old Testament

hopes,

and he's

bringing

peace,

putting

everything,

he's going

to put

everything

right

by

becoming

last,

by being

humiliated,

not by

taking power,

by losing

it.

That's his

rule.

And what

he does

next,

we see

the enemy

he's come

to save

us from.

The crowds

thought,

bring judgment

on the

Romans,

but where

does he

attack?

He doesn't

attack the

governor's

palace.

He attacks

the worship

at the

temple.

Verses

12 to

16,

all happen

in the

temple.

We are

reminded

repeatedly,

the blind

and lame

came to

him in

the temple.

The

children

are crying

out

Hosanna

in the

temple.

That's

where

he attacks.

So the

scene here

where he

gets angry

and drives

out all

who sold

and bought,

worshipers,

pilgrims,

they're coming

for Passover

festival,

they need

animals to

sacrifice,

they need

to exchange

their currency

for God

required a

temple tax

for the

upkeep of

the temple.

You could

easily see

how this

would be

justified as

this is what

God wants

us to do,

to worship

him.

But they're in

the outer

court of the

temple,

which is where

the nations

were allowed

to come in,

where the

lame and

the sick

and crippled

priests even

were allowed

to come into

that area

to worship.

They've

turned a

place of

worship

into a

place to

make money

and have

driven out

the nations

and the

sick.

He first

quotes Isaiah,

my house

shall be

called a

house of

prayer,

and the

end of

that quote,

for all

nations.

the immediate

context of

a lot of

these Old

Testament

passages is

he's claiming

to be king

of all

nations.

He's going

to bring

worship to

God for

all nations.

He then

quotes Jeremiah

7,

the den of

robbers.

Instead of

being a

house of

prayer,

proper

worship,

let me read

a bit from

Jeremiah 7.

will you

steal,

murder,

commit

adultery,

swear

falsely,

make

offerings to

Baal,

and go

after other

gods that

you have

not known,

and then

come and

stand before

me in

this house,

which is

called by

my name,

and say,

we are

delivered,

only to

go on

doing all

these

abominations?

Has

this house

which is

called by

my name

become a

den of

robbers in

your eyes?

Now,

because you

have done

all these

things,

declares the

Lord,

and when I

spoke to

you persistently,

you did not

listen,

and when I

called you,

you did not

answer,

I will cast

you out of

my sight.

They had a

false security

in their

religious deeds,

but they

weren't

listening to

what God

is saying.

our greatest

problem is

our worship

problem.

It's not

external,

someone

outside of

us,

or something

happening to

us.

Our greatest

problem is

our worship

problem.

He's come to

put us at

peace with

God,

right with

God.

He's come

to bring the

whole world

right with

God.

peace with

God,

and we

get a

glimpse of

how he

brings peace

with God.

He doesn't

help the

worshipers coming

to the

temple in

offering

sacrifices.

He inserts

himself as

greater than

the temple.

That's how

he's going

to bring

peace,

not by

helping you

worship at

the temple,

but he

inserts

himself.

Now,

where am I

getting this

from?

You don't

have the

right to

walk into

my house

and move

my lounges

around if

you think

I've got it

in the wrong

spot.

You don't

have the

right.

If you

think my

cling wrap

is in

the wrong

drawer,

I don't

care.

It's my

house.

Or our

house.

Him

going in

there,

do you

see the

claim he's

making?

The only

person who

has the

right to

walk into

a house

and rearrange

stuff is

its owner.

He's

inserting

himself.

The blind

and the

lame

come to

him.

They don't

go to

the chief

priest.

Chief

priest,

intercede

for us

for God.

No.

They come

to him.

I watched

this documentary

biography,

Notes on

Blindness.

It was on

Netflix.

I haven't

checked it

recently.

This was a

couple of

years ago.

This guy

used to be

able to

fully see

but his

eyes

degenerated

quickly to

the point

of total

blindness and

Christmas

Day was

agony for

him because

he could

hear his

children

opening in the

presents but

he couldn't

see their

smiles.

eyes.

He felt

so cut

off from

his family.

He couldn't

see his

newborn

daughter's

face.

These

guys or

girls,

whoever,

these blind

and lame

coming would

have felt so

cut off

from God

and under

curse,

punished by

him.

this is a

little word.

If you're

feeling

unworthy,

look,

they come

to him

and he

receives

them,

he heals

them,

he welcomes,

he gives

all the

blessing of

God to

them,

he restores

them.

I think

the bodily

restoration

is just

an image

of the

spiritual

restoration,

the whole

restoration

he brings.

He's

inserting

himself.

Don't get

right with

God

through the

temple,

but through

me.

And these

little

children

are

praising

him.

They're

not wise

enough to

probably know

the significance

of all that

was happening

that day,

but they're

these little

dependent

children without

skepticism,

without

worrying what

others think.

They're just

echoing the

crowds in

the street,

unashamedly

joyfully

chanting

in the

temple.

Save us,

Hosanna,

to the

son of

David.

But the

first,

those thinking

they are

strong,

those thinking

they have

something to

offer God,

that God

needs them

somehow,

the so-called

expert,

the irony is

they see

the wonderful

things he's

doing,

but they

remain willfully

blind and

they're offended

by him,

they're angry,

they're

questioned.

Don't you

hear what

these little

children are

saying?

I think

it's,

everyone in

the streets

yelling it,

I think,

I suspect

the problem

is they're

in the

temple,

they're in

the temple

and they're

praising you.

You know

when you ask

a question,

like if a

parent in

the room

today is

like,

don't you

know we're

in church?

That's an

instruction.

That's not a

question,

it's really

going,

Jesus,

do you

hear what

they're

saying?

You

better do

something about

this.

They are

praising you

here in

this place

when they

should be

praising God.

If you

keep accepting

this here,

you are

really

blaspheming.

You

better do

something about

this,

Jesus.

And he

could not

have poured

more fuel

on the

fire at

this point.

I love

his response.

Do you

hear what

they're

saying?

Yes?

I thought

you were

experts.

Haven't

you read

Psalm 8?

Out of

the mouth

of infants

and nursing

babies you

have prepared

praise.

Now,

Psalm 8

is children

praising

Yahweh.

Yahweh.

they're

praising me

and they

should keep

praising me.

I'm not

only the

son of

David,

I'm the

son of

God.

He

inserts

himself.

Someone

greater than

the temple

is here.

The Lord,

as the

prophet

Malachi

said,

the Lord

whom you

seek will

suddenly

come to

his temple.

He's

pushing

them to

the point,

crown

me.

Crown

me.

Or

kill

me.

He's

humble.

Yes,

he is so

humble.

But he's

come to

fix our

worship

problem.

I think

the implication

of this is

there's no

nook or

cranny of

your life

where he

won't stop

inserting

himself into

my life

and your

life.

There is

not a

nook or

cranny.

There's

nothing.

Your

spouse,

your

children,

your

dreams and

aspirations,

he is

inserting

himself

saying,

crown

me.

He's

come to

fix our

worship

problem.

There's

no one

like him.

He's

so

humble

and gentle

and lowly

that

children

are drawn

to him,

prostitutes

are drawn

to him,

outcasts,

foreigners

are drawn

to him,

those

feeling

utterly

unworthy

are drawn

to him.

and

received.

There's

no one

like him

and yet

he

inserts

himself,

crown

me.

I think

this

passage is

pushing

us to

the same

point that

he pushed

the religious

leaders

and the

crowd on

that day,

crown

me.

I will

not just

be

liked.

I will

not be

your

personal

assistant.

All

your

worship

should

be

directed

at

me.

There's

a good

quote by

Reynolds Price

that captures

the

offence

of the

Gospels.

He says,

if 2,000

years of

pious

handling

handling of

this

gospel,

if 2,000

years of

this pious

handling had

not dimmed

our understanding

of this

story's

demand,

his gospel

would still

be seen as

the burning

outrage it

really continues

to be.

It is

either a

work of

madness or

a blinding

revelation.

The acts

it portrays,

the claims

it advances

from the

very first

paragraph,

demand that

we make a

hard choice.

If we

take the

gospel

writer

seriously,

we must

finally ask

the question

he thrusts

so

fragrantly

towards us.

Does he

bring us

a life

transforming

truth?

Or is

this one

gifted

lunatic's

tale of

another

lunatic

wilder

than he?

He's

saying,

crown me.

many

question why

God doesn't

end all

evil.

Why

doesn't he

end sickness?

Why

doesn't he

end war?

Why

doesn't he

end the

oppression of

the vulnerable,

all the

injustice?

Why doesn't

he end all

that?

And he

promises he

will.

A day is

coming where

he will be

declared a

second time

and he

will be

riding a

horse on

that day

and he

will end

all evil.

But today

he's

ridden on

a donkey

because he's

going to

the cross

to die

in our

place so

that when

he ends

all evil

he doesn't

have to

end you

and me.

Don't

waste this

brief,

brief moment

of his

humiliation.

confession.

Come and

find rest

for your

souls.

Feel the

confrontation

of this

passage.

He's

saying

crown

me.

Give

yourself

totally

to me.

I am

gentle

and lowly

in heart

and you'll

find rest

for your

souls.

Crown

me.

I think

the other

thing we

should take

away from

this passage

is this

king continues

to conquer

through weakness.

things.

I keep

trying to

manage my

life.

I keep

trying to

be in

control and

make better

plans and

get ahead and

boast in my

abilities and

my accomplishments.

I keep going

back to that

way of

thinking.

I think

there's an

imitation of

the Christian

life that

says just

just be

self-controlled

be generous

be courageous

be kind.

This

passage

that's not

far enough.

It's not

far enough

to the

kind of

life that

he's calling

us to.

We've got to

follow this

donkey

riding king

who conquers

through

humiliation.

I believe

he's calling

us to

serve others

by sharing

in his

weakness,

in his

humiliation.

Like Paul

says in

2 Corinthians

4,

we have

this treasure

in jars

of clay

to show

that the

surpassing

power belongs

to God

and not

to us.

So I

wonder what

you're facing

in life

at the

moment.

What would

it look

like for

you not

to try

and conquer

that through

managing it,

being strong?

What would

it look like

to follow

this donkey

king and

lay down

your life

to show

that your

life is

resting in

him and

you want

others to

find the

peace that

you've

found in

him?

What would

it look

like to

follow his

example?

I take

great confidence

that he loves

to use

weakness.

Our God,

our donkey

riding king

loves to

conquer

through

weakness.

That is

really good

news because

he can use

someone like

me.

Well,

let's crown

him in our

hearts and

let's follow

him.

not in

strength but

in

humiliation.

Will you

pray with me?

Let's pray.

Oh,

Lord,

thank you

that you

don't win

our hearts

through threat

and fear

but you

win us

over by

serving us.

Lord, you

are so

humble that

you would

lower

yourself

to the

very last.

Forgive us

for

trying to

make

ourselves

great as

the world

counts

greatness.

Forgive us

for that

and help

us worship

you like

those little

children

unashamed

in the

temple

just

praising

you

because of

the peace

you bring.

Lord,

please use us

as a church

not through

us being

clever

or

strong

or

successful.

Use us

through our

weakness.

Lord, it's

a dangerous

prayer because

I just want

a comfortable

life but

use our

pain

and

our loss

to shine

the peace

that you've

given us

in Jesus.

Please use

us as a

church

to declare

the peace

that you've

brought.

I pray this

in Jesus'

name.

Amen.