He is Good | Jesus is King | Mark 11:1-11 | Coleton Segars

We titled this series He is Good because Mark begins his gospel by saying, This is the beginning of the good news.

This is the uh this is the gospel of Jesus, but it's the beginning of it, and so he spends most of his time trying to identify and show ways that Jesus is uh is good.

And so um we're in the third act of Mark as he writes it, and so he had, I can't remember the exact times that it did it, but this is the third bit, and it really only covers seven days, and so in the last however many chapters that there is, 11, 12, 13, all the way to 16, it's really seven days that he's gonna cover a lot of content, but he's gonna cover seven days in the next um six chapters.

So uh we're gonna begin reading the teaching text for today is Mark 11, verses 1 through 11.

Mark 11:1–11

And this is what Mark writes about Jesus.

He says, As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethpij and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples saying to them, Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden.

Untie it and bring it here.

And if anyone asks you, Why are you doing this?

just say to them, The Lord needs it and we'll send it back shortly.

They went and found the colt outside in the street, tied at the doorway, and as they untied it, some people standing there did ask, What are you doing?

Untying the colt.

And they answered, as Jesus told them to, and the people let them go.

When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it, and many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields.

Those who went ahead of them who followed shouted, Hosanna, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Blessed is the coming kingdom of our Father David, Hosanna in the highest heaven.

Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts.

He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.

This is the word of the Lord.

Every now and then, um Rainey and I will be talking about theological things, or I don't know.

Like most of what we do now is like raise a kid.

We have dishes, you gotta clean the house or not clean the house.

Um and like most of our conversations kind of revolve around life in general.

Every now and then we'll be talking theology and the Bible and stuff like that.

And uh Rainey will do something or say something about the text or something like that.

And I'm reminded of um how brilliant she actually is, because most of what we talk about, like dishes and like stuff out of order, or how dirty the house is, or who's gonna take out the garbage.

And like for I forget that she has a Bible and theology degree from an incredible university, and then she also has a master's degree where she also studied uh seminary classes and all the rest of it.

And uh, it's not all the time, but it is this space where and she's not flexing, she's not trying to do something to like, you know, show me here's who I am or whatever.

But every now and then she does something, I'm like, oh yeah, I forget that like when it comes to the scriptures, like you probably know more than I do.

This is amazing.

Um, and so I'm not blowing smoke or we're not in an argument, I'm trying to fix something right here.

That's not why I'm saying these kind things to her.

Um but I say that because there's there's a space in here where Jesus does something and he's just trying to remind everybody who he actually is.

He's like, I want to, everybody needs to know.

And I've been pretty subtle and I've done some things, and y'all have asked me who I am, and I've told people to be quiet about who I am, and I've just tried to live in the outskirts for 30 years.

Nobody knew where I lived or who I was until I actually was baptized in the Jordan.

And then I've been pretty subtle about my ministry in many ways.

And now is a moment where he's like, but now I want to do something to show you who I am.

I want to I want to use this scene in this particular space to like remind all of you, here's who I actually am.

And so today what I want to do is I want to look at this scene and look at two things that Jesus is trying to speak to us and trying to say through the scene that we actually read here, two things Jesus is trying to say through this, and then why that would matter to us, because I think it's actually integrally important.

Like it's very important that we understand what he's saying, and I think he's saying that that way to go, like, y'all need to understand this.

And so why it matters to us, and then I want to give you at the very end just a question to wrestle with.

Okay.

So here's two things he's saying, why that matters to us, and then a question to wrestle with.

The first, the first thing that Jesus is saying through all of this is that he is the messianic king, that he is the long-awaited messianic king of the world.

He is God in the flesh, come, the anointed one, come to save the world.

Like he is, he is that person.

He's saying that through this particular scene.

There was this prophecy that existed back in the Old Testament that talked about a king would come to Jerusalem.

There's going to be this king one day that rides into Jerusalem, and this is Zechariah 9.

This is what it says.

And notice the similarities.

It says, Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion, shout, O daughter of Jerusalem.

So that's where they're at.

Behold, your king is coming to you.

He is just and he has salvation.

He's lowly riding on a donkey, a cult, the foal of a donkey, and he will proclaim peace to the nations, and his rule will extend from sea to sea, from the river to the ends of the earth.

And so this is a prophecy that's given, and Jesus goes out of his way to make sure I'm going to set up a scene to make sure I fulfill this perfectly, so that I'm the person that when they begin to see me walk, you know, going through the streets, what's going to come into their minds is this prophecy of old, and nothing needs to be out of place.

And so Jesus is actually the one to set this up.

He doesn't leave this to the disciples.

He doesn't ask somebody else to like, you just go do whatever you want.

He's like, very specifically, I need you to go do something very specifically.

I have set something up in order to present something to people.

And so if you notice in the text, Jesus is the one setting it up.

He sends the two disciples saying to them very clearly, like, go get a cult tied there that no one's ever ridden.

Because the prophecy itself, it's a donkey, a cult, the foal of a donkey.

That's a Hebrew way of saying, this cult has never been ridden.

This is an animal that nobody's ever been ridden.

And those animals are normally reserved for royalty.

And so Jesus is saying, Go get me one of those reserved for royalty.

That's what I need.

And then if anybody asks you, make sure you tell them that the Lord needs it.

And so that was an expression that could be like sir or whatever, but to say it like that is like some royal person is saying they need it.

You're supposed to give it to them.

And in that day, it was common for kings or royalty to commandeer a vehicle or some form of transportation and go, like, hey, this is mine for a minute.

You'll get it back.

And so Jesus is doing that.

And then when they bring the cult to Jesus, they throw their cloaks over it over it, he sits on it.

That's a claim to royalty as well.

Many people spread their cloaks on the road and then they uh and the branches that they cut in the fields, and they he walks on those things on the cult.

And then they shout, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, blessed is the coming kingdom of our Father David.

And everything that's happening in this text here, Jesus is using to identify, I am a king.

I am the king.

And I'm not just a king, I am the king from the Old Testament.

And so it was a king's right to command your horse.

It was royalty who walked on clothes and sat on clothes, and Jesus accepts the praise of people that announce him as king.

Hosanna means save, save now, and it's coming from Psalm 118, which is basically talking about that there's a king, there's a deliverer who's going to come, and it says those exact same words.

A deliverer will come.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Then it talks about that this same person would be the cornerstone that was rejected by people, but now that corner, that stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.

And so Jesus is identifying himself consistently in every single thing that he's doing, going, You're wondering who the king is.

I'm king in this space, and I'm showing you I'm king here, and I'm showing you I'm king here, and I'm showing you I'm king here.

And he receives the praise of even people saying that he is the messianic king.

And actually, if you look at um Luke's version, Luke's version of this, Luke 19, um Luke talks about this particular scene that's happening, and the Pharisees hear the people shouting to him and saying to Jesus, You're the king, you're the Messianic king.

And so what it says is that they say, Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord.

Peace in heaven and glory in the highest.

And it says that some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, Teacher, rebuke your disciples.

They're calling you king.

Rebuke, they're calling you Messiah, rebuke your disciples.

And Jesus says, Look, I tell you what, if they keep quiet, the rocks are gonna cry out.

And so he is in that particular space, he's even saying, like, they're they're this is so weird that they're calling you king, and Jesus is going, it's not weird, because if they stop calling me king, earth itself will testify to the fact that I am king.

And so he's not gonna negate it or decline being king.

Because in many ways, if you think about the gospels, demons are coming out of people earlier on in Mark, and they're saying, You're the son of God, and Jesus rebukes them and tells them to be quiet.

Very subtle.

He doesn't want that to come out just yet.

But here, he's like, I need you to know who I am.

And so Jesus is using this to state on no uncertain terms, I am the king.

I'm the one who's coming.

And so this scene testifies to that.

M.

T.

Wright in this commentary on this said, You don't spread your cloaks on the road, especially in dusty, stony Middle East.

You don't do that for a friend or even a respected senior member of your family.

No, you do that for royalty, and you don't cut branches off trees and foliage from the fields to wave in the streets just because you feel somewhat elated.

You don't do that.

You do it because you are welcoming a king.

And Jesus is announcing, the king has come to Jerusalem.

There was this prophecy long ago that it was going to happen.

I'm just letting you know, the king has come to Jerusalem.

And so for us, the reason that this is important is because, in many ways, for them, it made the it forced them to make a decision, but also for us, it forces us to make a decision.

And the decision that we get to make is do we receive him, Jesus, as our king or do we not receive him as our king?

Because when someone shows up and says that they are king and they're like, I'm the ruler, I'm supposed to rule not just over the world, but I'm supposed to rule over you.

You get to decide, do I want you to rule over me or don't I?

It'd be like if you went to work tomorrow and Jeff said, uh, I'm the boss now.

And it's like, Jeff, you're terrible at your work.

You're a terrible boss.

Like, there's no way.

And you get the option, like, are you gonna receive Jeff?

If your name is Jeff, maybe you're a great boss.

I have no idea.

But like if that happened and somebody just randomly was like, hey, just so you know, I run this now, you have to do what I say, you get the option.

Do I receive that or don't I receive that?

And so, in the same way, if someone says, I'm king, I'm the king, and I'm your king, we have the option.

We're forced to choose, do I receive you as my king or do I not?

Because Jesus, if he had said, like, I'm just a healer, and then someone walks up to you and says, like, hey, I just want to heal you, then it's like, great, do your thing, heal me.

Or I'm just your savior, I just want to say, I just want to deliver you, I just want to save you from something.

And you're like, great, cool.

But when they say, like, I'm your king, bow down, like that's the response.

It's like, I don't know if I've given you that authority just yet.

It just comes a little different.

It's something very different.

And so to have him say, I'm king, it means to go like, if you choose him as your king, that means he makes the calls of your life, he makes all the decisions of your life, he gets to decide what's right and wrong for you, and you don't get to do those things anymore because now he's the king over your life and you're no longer king over your life.

And so it matters to us because it forces the decision.

Is that it's nice to say that he's king, but do I actually receive you as king?

Because he's not just saying I'm king over Jerusalem or Israel.

I'm saying I'm king over all of it, and it's all mine, and I'm I should be king over it.

And so it's easy.

We just sang that song, all praise to the Lord Most High.

Um, what does he say?

Jesus is the high king of heaven, my king forever.

It is super easy to sing those words.

He's my king forever.

But it's actually the implications of somebody being ruler over your life is very, very different because they get to make all of your decisions and they get to tell you that that decision that you just made was wrong.

If he's king, he gets to determine how we live.

So for instance, if Jesus is actually our king, and we're like, I'm following you in this, what that would mean for us is uh Jesus is my king, so in that way, we're not allowed to hate anyone because he says we can't, not allowed to hate anybody.

You're not allowed to withhold forgiveness from anyone, regardless.

So just consider if he's your king or not.

You're not allowed to withhold forgiveness from anyone, regardless of what they've done.

You must forgive them.

That's the answer.

I'm your king.

Do what I say.

There is no other you I'm either not your king or I am your king.

If he's your king, you must love your enemies and those who disagree with you.

You've got to love them.

You must turn the other cheek when you're insulted.

You must be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to become angry, because your anger doesn't produce the righteousness that God desires.

And again, like if he's just a healer, like a guy like, I really love the water to wine thing, that was really strong.

And if he's just a healer, then it's like, look, I don't have to listen to what you say.

I I want some of that healing, I want some of that stuff.

But if he's just a healer or a savior or a deliverer, like that's really cool.

I want your saving power and all that stuff, but like I don't actually want you to tell me what to do.

And so there's a difference in having him as king or having him as those things.

But if he is your king, your political affiliation cannot dictate the way that you love people, it cannot dictate the way that you speak to people, it cannot dictate the way that you treat people who disagree with you.

Your political affiliation shouldn't dictate how you talk to people on social media.

Your king should.

Now, if your political affiliation is your king, then it's doing what it's properly supposed to do.

But if Jesus is your king, you do not have freedom of speech in Jesus' kingdom.

Because there's so many words talking about what he says about how you should speak to one another and how you should talk to people.

And if he is your king, you don't have freedom of speech.

You might have it here, and that's great in this space, but you do not have it with him because he's like, we don't talk like that, not in my kingdom.

We don't treat people that way.

If he is your king, you must give, you must give sacrificially of your money to the poor and to the church.

If he's your king, you gotta do it.

Because if you're following him as your king, you would say, like, I must do that thing.

And our church is financially stable, and I'm not doing this to ask for money.

I'm just saying, if he is your king, we don't have an option.

And so many people are like, oh yeah, he's my my king.

We're doing this thing, and it's like, and that was that was no?

Okay.

Thanks.

But it's one thing to sing that, and it's another thing to live by it.

And I think it's very easy just to say, yeah, yeah, yeah, Jesus, he's king, he's the king, king of kings, lord of lords, ruler of all the earth.

It's like, do you actually listen to a lot of what he says?

Like, oh no, I don't I don't do any of that.

It's nice to call him king of kings.

It says it in the Bible.

If he's your king, you must show honor to everyone, regardless of who they are.

Got to, because he said you should.

If he is your king, you don't get to choose what is sin for you.

Your king gets to choose what's sin for you.

And so if you're sitting there going, like, that's sin for them, but it's not sin for me.

No, you don't get to do that.

The king gets to decide that.

If he is your king, you must cut off the hand and pluck out the eye that causes you to sin.

And if you're not doing that, you're living in rebellion against your king.

If he's your king, he gets to decide what you post, what you share, what you watch, what you say.

He gets to decide all of those things.

And if you are the ruler over your life, you get to decide those things.

But in doing that, you need to understand that in doing, deciding for yourself what doesn't it, you need to understand that you are then rejecting another king and placing yourself as king.

And so, in saying, like, I understand that you're a king out there, and maybe you rule that person's life and all that kind of stuff, but honestly, I don't want any of that reflected in my life.

And so, in doing that, it sounds very simple to just be like, Well, I love Jesus, but uh I don't really do a lot of what he says.

That sounds like I it's not really that big of a deal.

Sounds very sweet, but actually the words that you're actively saying without saying them is like, uh, I reject him completely.

I reject him as my king.

He does not get to dictate what I say, what I do, the decisions I make, what's sin for me, what's sin for everybody else.

He doesn't get to talk about those things.

And it's like, okay, well, he's stating that he can do that stuff.

And so for you to say that he can't do that stuff is a to reject him as king versus to receive him as king.

A lot of people don't have an issue with Jesus that wants to heal them or save them.

They have a stronger issue with him being king, and they they have this idea that there's just another option.

It's like, yeah, he's king, but I don't actually have to do what he says.

But Jesus doesn't give us that option.

He doesn't just say, call me healer or savior.

He's like, I am telling you who I am.

I'm king.

C.

S.

Lewis talks about this idea of Jesus' claims about himself in the scriptures.

He says, a really foolish thing that people often say about Jesus is, I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God.

And he says, that is the one thing we must not say.

A man who was merely a man yet said the sort of things that Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher.

He would either be a lunatic, like somebody who calls themselves a poach egg, like I'm a poached egg, or else he would be a devil of hell.

And so you must make your choice.

Either this man was and is the son of God, or else he's a madman or something worse.

You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon, or you can fall out of his feet and call him Lord and God.

But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher.

He has not left that open to us.

He did not intend to.

He has never left us with the space of like, hey, honestly, I think you're pretty great, but I don't think you're king.

He's like, sorry, I didn't leave that option.

I told you who I was.

I was actually very clear, subtle about other things over here, but very clear about this.

And so the question that it's forcing us to make at some point, or the the choice that we're forced to make, when someone says that they're king, we get to decide, are you my king or are you not my king?

Do I reject you or do I receive you as king?

It forces those points.

And so the implications of him being king are a lot more challenging to consider because if he is those things, then we must do the things that he says because he's our king, or he's just not.

And so that's why his entry is so important.

Jesus is stating on no uncertain terms, I'm the king of the world, king of kings, ruler of rulers, lord of lords, I am everything.

And you get to choose do I want you to be that in my life or do I not want you to be that in my life?

Now, that's the first thing.

This is what he's saying.

I'm the messianic king that was to come.

The second thing that he is saying from this is that he is saying he is not like other kings.

So he is a king, but he's like, look, but I promise you, I'm not like other kings, and he's saying that through this as well.

It's evident in the way that Jesus enters through the city.

A triumphal entry that we see here Jesus doing was not an uncommon thing.

This kind of happened all the time.

People rolled into cities in triumph.

This happened all the time.

So the Romans did this a lot to show their dominance, and David McKenna and David Gusick talk about this, or Dr.

McKenna and David Gusick, they talk about this and says, a Roman triumphal entry was an honor granted to a Roman general who won a complete and decisive victory and had killed at least 5,000 enemy soldiers.

When the general returned to Rome, they had an elaborate parade, very similar to this, as a symbol of bloody conquest, they chose a prancing horse at the head of the processional that included his warriors, a shackled contingent of the conquered people, and an extravagant display of the treasures that the army had taken by force.

The procession ended at the arena, where some of the prisoners were thrown to the wild animals for the entertainment of the crowd.

And so this is a very common thing that's happening that Jesus is doing right here.

People would see this and go, we know exactly what this is.

But they would think about the Roman triumphal entries and be like, this is this looks nothing like the Roman triumphal entries, and that's important.

So, for instance, this is Alexander the Great.

We have a picture here.

Alexander the Great in the gold there.

Uh that's on his triumphal entry into Babylon after conquering Babylon.

And you can see like he's got slaves and stuff, like holding his treasures and that kind of thing.

That's him, huge chariot, huge chariot.

That guy was not trying to like you need to know who just ruled you, and here I am.

And so he's riding in that huge chariot.

Uh, this is Vespasian's triumphal entry into Rome, right here.

Uh, I believe he's on the right side coming in.

And then on the left, bottom left, you should see um some prisoners and some slaves and some things like that.

Like, we've been conquered.

You're shackled up, you're doing that, and they would show that, like, hey, just so you know, I didn't just win, I won decisively.

Look at the people that can't do anything about it.

And so that's Vespasians.

Uh, and then we have Constantines that's next.

Uh, he's on the left moving in.

And again, you'll see uh prisoners of war and different things like that.

All of them are riding horses or gigantic chariots wearing gold, very, very openly, like just very big in this space of going, like, look how great we are.

And now go to the next one here.

This is Jesus, just another image of Jesus.

It's a little different, right?

Like, no prisoners, nothing.

There's no prisoners there.

There's no giant horse or huge chariots, just Jesus riding on a donkey, a couple people laying some stuff down, no treasures that are being carried by slaves, there's nothing like that.

Very different situation here.

And so McKenna goes on and he says this.

He says, We can now understand why Jesus pays personal attention to the details of his entry and the animal upon which to ride through the gates into Jerusalem, in the symbol of the foal of a donkey.

He predicts that his role as he predicts his role as king.

Jesus makes his triumphal entry on a donkey a symbol of peace, not of war, a symbol of humility, not of pride.

And behind him comes not prisoners, but an entourage of disciples and a rabble of common people whom he has healed and set free.

They serve as the trophies of his conquest, not one by bloody violence, but by relentless love.

Just a very different parade that's happening.

And so the Romans had prisoners following behind them to show this is what my rule and reign is like.

I will domineer, I will crush, and I will enslave anybody who goes against me.

They're following behind to show what the kingship looks like.

And Jesus on the Other hand, the train of people he has following him is like, what's your rule and reign gonna be like?

Like, oh, I'm gonna liberate some people, I'm gonna heal some folks, I'm gonna call people who who should never have been called in the history of mankind, should never have been called into anything worthy of what you know, anything.

Like, I'm gonna have that.

That the people behind me will be restored, renewed, uh, redeemed people.

And so, what will your kingdom be like?

What will your kingship be like?

Will it be like the Romans that just want to crush people and mangle people and then make them prisoners?

It's like, no, no, no.

I'm not gonna make anybody a prisoner, I'm gonna set everybody free, though.

And so his parade was supposed to announce what will his kingdom be like, and it's very different than any Roman leader, any Roman emperor, or any other emperor that's ever moved forward.

His looks very, very different.

And he is showing, I am a king.

I am a king, I want to rule over your life.

But if you will let me rule over your life, what life will be like for you is what the train of people behind me have experienced.

If you will let me be your king, these people have let me be their king, and what they've experienced is liberation.

If you will allow me to be your king, your life will be like theirs.

You will experience freedom, you'll experience redemption, you will experience peace, you'll experience someone caring for you, loving you, providing for you, taking care of you.

That's what you'll experience.

That's what my kingdom will be like.

If you submit yourself to his rule and reign, you'll be like this.

You can join in the parade.

But it's not of prisoners, it's of free people.

And so for us, Jesus saying those two things, I am a king, but I'm not like every other king.

And if you here's here's what it's like to be under my kingdom and under my rule and reign.

For us, this is why we should choose him as our king.

That's why you should go, like, look, honestly, I don't want anybody to rule my life.

I'd rather rule my life myself.

And it's like, yes, but then you'll experience your kingdom, and I want you to experience my kingdom.

Look at these people.

Their lives are so much better.

Now that they've made me their king, I want you to do that as well.

And that's why we should choose him as our king.

This is why we should allow his words to guide us.

This is why when we disagree with his words, we should choose his words over our words, because what he has shown is like, if you will let me lead you, if you will let me rule you, you will become freer people, not enslaved people.

And so the question to wrestle with consistently, um, and maybe forever, is is Jesus your king?

And I do think that there's space in everybody's lives where it's like, yeah, I think, like, I'm pretty sure that he is.

Um, but the truth is, like, the way to tell if Jesus is your king is just to consider like whose kingdom are you experiencing the most?

Because every king inside that they're inside their kingdom, and it's true of you and your house too, if you come into our house, you'll experience the rule and reign of Rainey and Colton.

This is what it's like to enter into our family.

The dining room's probably a mess.

Don't go to the kitchen, but we clean this room for you.

This one's okay.

Like you'll experience the rule and reign of what it's like to live inside of our family just for a minute if you if you choose to stay for dinner and stuff like that.

You just experience the characteristics of the house that you enter.

And that's true of you as well.

If you rule over your house, then people experience the rule and reign of whatever you're like in that space.

And so your kids will do that, your guests will experience that.

And so, in the same way, your life will experience who your king is, because their king, their kingship, you'll experience the characteristics of their kingdom.

And so the question is like, is Jesus your king?

The way to find out is like, are you experiencing the characteristics of what his kingdom is like?

Are you experiencing what his rule and reign is like?

Or are you experiencing something else?

And so, for instance, the traits of Jesus' kingdom, right here.

The traits of Jesus' kingdom are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control, sacrifice, generosity, community, reconciliation, freedom, restoration, abundant life, joy in the midst of suffering, hope in the midst of despair, trust, rest, selflessness, and forgiveness.

Those are just a handful of traits of like, what's it like to be in this kingdom?

It's like they're pretty good.

There's some right there.

Then the traits of the world conflict, fear, control, rage, anger, deception, division, chaos, scarcity, loneliness, isolation, hurry instead of rest, selfishness, discontentment, bitterness, grudges, unforgiveness, and bondage.

And so you can just look at these things and go, which traits more define your life right now?

And you can actually just do this piece by piece and just like go through the different aspects of your life and go, so whose kingdom are you experiencing with your money?

Go to this next slide here.

Whose kingdom are you experiencing with your money?

Are you experiencing a lot of freedom or generosity with your money?

Are you experiencing bondage and discontentment?

Well, then you should just look at that thing and be like, wait, whose kingdom am I living in?

Because I feel like Jesus is my king, but honestly, in this particular space of my life, I'm not experiencing his things that reflect his kingdom in this particular area of my life.

And it's like, okay, that's good to know.

Maybe there's repentance that needs to take place in how you actually do this thing.

Maybe you're ruling over this space of your life more than you think more than you actually realize.

You think Jesus is, but it's actually you're experiencing your rule, your reign in those spaces.

What about with your marriage?

Are you experiencing love, joy, kindness, or are you experiencing conflict, division, bitterness, unforgiveness, deception, rage?

Those things don't exist in his kingdom because they don't exist in his rule and reign as a king.

And so you get to look at it and be like, man, which one am I experiencing more?

In your family, are you experiencing reconciliation and peace?

Or is it grudge holding and bitterness?

With your children, is it gentleness and patience, abundance, or is it chaos?

With your fears, struggles, sins, are you experiencing freedom, hope, self-control?

Are you experiencing bondage to your sins, isolation from other people?

With your time, do you experience rest and goodness?

Are you experiencing hurry and stress?

With people in your life, do you experience community and restoration?

Are you experiencing loneliness and isolation?

We just get to visibly see if someone is your king, you will experience what their rule and reign is like.

And Jesus is like, here's what mine is like.

People love it, honestly.

They love it.

They're willing to die for it, actually.

I'm gonna go and die, and then they're gonna all gonna die for me.

Like they're gonna love it.

And in the midst of dying for me, they're gonna be like, oh, I wasted my life on this.

They're like, I would do it again.

I would do it again and again for my king.

He's been nothing but faithful to me.

He's been nothing but giving me the abundant life he promised.

I will absolutely lay down my life, be burned to the stake, have my head chopped off, or be crucified upside down.

I will absolutely do that for this man because he's been nothing but true.

And how could I ever deny how he's treated me?

And so we get to choose like which one is actually ruling our lives.

Now, before I sound like a legalist or someone who's completely out of touch with your emotions and what you're actually dealing with in your family, your marriage, and your relationships and all the rest of it, I do want to say two things about this.

Jesus says that the kingdom of God, the way that it functions in your life is like leaven going through dough.

Okay?

And so what he means by that is there are probably spaces in your life where Jesus rules and reigns as king and it's like set in stone and you got it.

And then there's probably other spaces in your life where he's not ruling and reigning over that.

And so you have these spaces where you've relinquished control and given Jesus surrender, like, hey man, this is yours.

You just do this thing.

Let's say it's with your money.

I've given you my money.

But honestly, I'm struggling to give you kingship over my thoughts or my anger or my patience.

Like, I just, it's hard for me to give you control over that.

And Jesus is like, the kingdom of God will eventually, as leaven works through the dough, it will eventually work through all areas of your life.

And your life will more and more slowly come under the rule and reign of Jesus in a slower bit.

And so it's very possible that there are spaces of like, Jesus is my king.

I just really struggle with this.

And it's like, that makes sense.

But it's still a place to recognize Jesus is my king here, but not here.

And it's still a place to recognize, so I need to repent of this.

He still wants to be king over that.

And we don't get to say, like, well, he's not really here, but honestly, I got that one.

No.

If he is king, then he deserves all of it and he should rule over all of it.

And you want him to do that as well.

And so there is a space where it's possible where it's like, I'm experiencing his king, kingly life here and his kingdom here, but I'm not experiencing it here.

That's very possible.

But it's still a space to recognize and go, but I do want him to rule and reign in this space.

So that's one thing.

Second thing is, if you've ever read the Bible and you see Job's life, Job had a hard life and God made Job's life hard.

Okay.

If you ever read that, go if you haven't read it, go read it.

God makes Job's life hard and he's done nothing wrong.

Okay.

I do believe that in the church and throughout church history, there are Jobs out there.

There are people who are just like, honestly, he is my king.

I am following him.

I'm doing it in every single aspect of my life, but I am not experiencing the kingly reign of Jesus.

I am not experiencing the kingdom qualities of Jesus in my life.

I honestly, I don't feel like I'm, I'm, I mean, I'm I know I'm a sinful person in general, but like, I don't think it's my fault.

I just think I'm experiencing spiritual warfare or just attack or there's just something happening, and God is just putting me through a space of suffering.

I believe that that stuff is true because if it exists in the scriptures, it has to exist in our lives as well, that it's possible to not be experiencing some of his, go back to the kingdom qualities.

It's possible to not be experiencing some of Jesus' kingdom qualities in your life.

And it's not because you're living outside or in rebellion of Jesus.

It's very possible.

However, too many people call themselves Jobs while they're actually rejecting Jesus as their king and going, God's just putting me through a season of hardship.

It's like, no, you're acting like an idiot.

That's why it's hard for you right now.

People might not say that to you, but that's why this is happening.

God is not causing you to suffer.

You're doing that on your own.

You've rejected him as king in this area, saying that he's putting you through something, and then you're actually suffering because you choose to live without wisdom.

And if you read the Proverbs, it tells you very, very clearly if you live without wisdom, your life's gonna go pretty poorly.

And so I do believe that there's a space where some people suffer, and it's like, God, why are you putting me through this?

And there's no answer for that.

But he is putting you through a thing to form you, to fashion you, to shape you, to help you to persevere and become more whole and complete.

That's biblical and he does those things.

But I think far too many people go, I'm just in a season of hardship that God has placed me in, and what they refuse to do is look internally at their own life and go, that's not happening because of God.

It's happening in spite of God.

He exists and wants to call you under his kingship, and you refuse him and reject him.

And so we have to be careful before we're like, I'm just suffering in God's name.

It's like, no, you're suffering in your name based on your decisions and the stuff that you're doing.

And so we have to be careful in that.

I mean that in love.

I love you.

Okay, there you go.

Whose reign are you experiencing in your life right now?

That's whose kingdom you're living under.

Normally, that's the kingdom, that's the king that you have.

And so you either live underneath, I'm I'm the I my king is the world, or the culture, or the political uh association that I have, or the uh whatever.

I don't know.

My king is money, my king is a relationship, my king is da da-da-da.

My king is me.

I just make all these things, and you will experience all of those things in your life, or Jesus is saying, I'm king, and if you will choose me as your king, you've seen the train of people behind me.

This is what your life will be like.

You'll experience these things.

So whose kingdom are you living under?

And that's the question that forces us to wrestle with.

Jesus is stating, just to wrap up, Jesus is stating that he is king and he wants to rule your life, but he will not abuse his leadership over your life.

He will use his authority, he will use his reign, he will never abuse it against you.

He will use it to bless you, he will use his everything that he calls you to do, even when it's confusing, every single thing that's like that's hard.

I can't believe that's one of his commands.

I can't believe like he does want to rule your life, but he will use his rule and reign to lead you out into freedom, away from bondage.

He will do that.

He will even lay down his power to serve you.

And Paul says he does this best, he's proven this best through the cross.

He has given up his power to actually bless you.

And so Paul says in Philippians 2, it was our call to worship, he says, Christ Jesus, look, he was very nature, he was God himself, but he did not consider his equality with God as something to be used for his own advantage.

Like rather, like he made himself nothing.

He took the very nature of a servant to serve us.

What do you do with your kingship?

What do you do with your power and your reign?

He's like, I'm gonna give it up so I can serve people.

He was made in human likeness, and then he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on the cross.

What will you do, king, to protect your people?

I will die for them before they die.

I will die for them before they die for me.

Like, that's what I'm gonna do with my rule and reign.

And so we have this space where you're going, like, he wants to be your king, he demands it, and there is no other option.

You can reject him or you can receive him as king, but you can't be like, I don't receive him as king, but I really like him as healer.

No, he does not leave you that option.

You can receive him as king or you can reject him as king.

But he's like, please receive me as king.

My life and the things that I will pour out into your life will be far better than anything you can find on your own.

And I have proven that to you, that I will use my kingship over you and the rule and reign over you in these areas.

If you will just trust me, you will experience something greater.

And I've proven that to you on the cross.

I will lay down my life to protect you, and I'm gonna do that as well in everything that I call you into.

And so if there are spaces in your life where you're like, he's king here, but not king here, repent of that and make him king.

Or if you're like, he's never been my king, I don't know if I trust him at all, then receive him as king.

Something's ruling your life and you're experiencing the qualities of that kingdom.

And he's going, I'm I'm just telling you, my life is far better.

My kingdom is far better than anything you'll ever experience.

And so make him your king, give him that authority, and then join in the train of people behind him going, like, I can't believe that this is what life is like under his kingdom.

This is amazing.

So glad he's my king.

Join that.

That's what he wants you to do.

Let me pray.

Lord Jesus, just different things that are happening in the hearts of um people and things that they're thinking and walking through in their own personal life and all of that.

God, I pray that you would pinpoint space.

Or you would help us to see very clearly.

You're not giving me authority over that.

You let me rule and reign in this particular one, but you're not doing this.

And you don't hate them or berate them, but you are calling them to make you king in that space.

You want to rule and reign over that, not to make us prisoners, but you want to rule and reign over that in order to lead us out into freedom, to lead us out into the abundance that you say that you claim to give us.

Came to give life and life in abundance.

But if you don't receive me as your king, you will not follow me out into abundance.

And so, God, I just pray that you would help us to not just call you king, but to live by it, to experience the freedom that you actually want to liberate us into and bring us into, to experience the life that you actually have for us.

And so, God, I just pray that you would help us with that.

Show us where can we, where can our lives become more filled with the kingdom of God?

Where in our experience and our day-to-day stuff, where can we give you more rule and reign, more space to lead?

I pray that you would point those things out to us and that we would just follow you obediently, trusting that whatever you're gonna lead us into is far better than what I could get on my own.

Help us in that, in Jesus' name.

Amen.