4/2/23 A Timeless Coronation

“A Timeless Coronation”

Luke 19:28-44

Have you ever noticed how mankind is obsessed with Royalty?

Thanks to decades of Disney movies, generations of little girls have dreamed of becoming Princesses. From Cinderella to Snow White, from Ariel to Belle, there are no shortage of Princess stories.

As far as I can tell, the goal of becoming a princess is to find a handsome Prince (Or locate a frog somewhere to turn into a handsome prince), settle down in a nice castle on the edge of town and just live the life of royalty…whatever that entails.

When our daughters were younger, they enjoyed watching a movie series called “The Princess Diaries” about a teenager from America who finds out that she’s a real-life princess with family ties to a fictional European country called Genovia.

Even my wife – Yes, even level-headed Lisa – can sometimes be seen watching Princess movies. I think her favorite one tells the story of an ordinary farm girl from Wisconsin who falls in love with a guy from college who, of course, turns out to be – you guessed it – a PRINCE from some fictional country in Europe. I think it’s called ‘The Prince & Me’…Sorry, Lisa – You ended up with more of a peasant than a Prince!

Now to be fair, It's not just the females who can get caught up in the romanticism of royalty.

As a kid, I so wanted to be King Arthur – to confidently preside over the enchanting land of Camelot with grace and wisdom.

In grade school, my friends & I used to play a highly complicated game called ‘King of the Hill’. This “game” required absolutely no skill whatsoever as it was basically a wrestling match to see who could stay atop the berm behind the school. When the recess bell rang whoever was on top of the hill at that moment proudly wore the title of “King of the Hill” ….until the next recess.

….This is why girls get better grades in school than boys.

Stories having to do with Kings & Kingdoms fascinated me.

Then there were those movies where the powerful forces of evil (Bad Kings) needed to be defeated by the average-joe-turned hero. Those really spoke to me as well.

As a 10 year old, your pastor was Luke Skywalker with his flashlight lightsaber protecting the woods behind the house against all sorts of evil nighttime creatures – I would have even battled Darth Vader if he dared to cross my path…well, as long as he didn’t look too scary! 😊

Why do so many people have such an affection for royalty?

Royal weddings and funerals dominate the list of top 10 most watched live events as millions of people tune in to gaze upon the sight of these royal events.

Since the invention of the TV, one of the most compelling of those events has been that of a Royal Coronation.

A Coronation is defined as “The act or ceremony of crowning a king or queen.”

Coming up in about a month, the Coronation of King Charles III will take place at Westminster Abbey in London. Undoubtedly, Hundreds of millions of people will tune in to view this spectacle of pomp, power, and pageantry.

Today’s passage of scripture has to do with another Coronation – one that is infinitely more meaningful than any other in the history of the world.

Unlike every other royal Coronation throughout history, this one did not include the typical display of power and pageantry.

This coronation was different. This coronation was saturated with humility rather than pride. This coronation was filled with meekness rather than with brazen displays of power. This coronation of the true, timeless King – Jesus Christ – was very similar to his humble birth. Both were attended by lowly people and completely ignored by the nobility.

This coronation was, indeed, different. This was a timeless coronation. This King would preside over a Kingdom that will never end.

The scene in today’s passage takes us to Jerusalem where just prior to this, Jesus had healed two blind men and brought salvation to Jericho’s chief tax collector, Zacchaeus. Do you remember him? He was a “Wee little man…a wee little man was he.” (As the Sunday School song goes)

Now Jesus was about to enter Jerusalem to celebrate the Jewish festival of Passover for the final time. There was a large crowd following him and they were excited – there was a ‘feeling in the air’ that something big was about to go down this year during the Passover.

To that extent, they would have been right – there was something big that would soon happen during the Passover festival that year, but it would definitely not be what they were expecting.

It would have been about a 7-hour hike from the lowlands of Jericho up to the high country of Jerusalem – an elevation gain of about 3,500’. Jesus and his companions would have been tired by the time they reached Jerusalem. This did not seem to diminish the crowd that was eagerly hoping to see Jesus display his messianic power to all of Jerusalem. They were ready for God to judge Israel’s enemies and for Jesus to establish the glorious kingdom promised in the Old Testament scriptures.

The truth, however, is that Jesus was walking to his death. In less than a week, he would be hanging on a cross, dying for the sins of the world rather than ruling the world through political power. He would be conquering death, an enemy infinitely deadlier than any rival nation, rather than mounting a political campaign against Rome as so many people had wanted and expected.

The triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem unfolds in 3 scenes: The preparation, the adoration, and the condemnation.

The first few verses of our passage for today describe the preparation.

In verses 29 & 30, wee see Jesus telling two of his disciples (Possibly Peter & John) that they will find a small donkey in a village on the outskirts of Jerusalem (Probably Bethphage) that has never been ridden, and to bring it back to him.

Jesus tells his disciples that someone will probably ask them why they are taking the donkey, to which they are to reply, “The Lord needs it” (In Verse 31)

These prophetic statements demonstrate the omniscience of Jesus and undoubtedly served as a reminder to his disciples that their Rabbi was more than just a Rabbi….their teacher was more than just a teacher – he had complete knowledge of future events.

Verse 35 describes the scene after the disciples return with the young donkey. The disciples throw their cloaks on the donkey’s back producing a makeshift saddle for Jesus to ride the lowly creature into the great city of Jerusalem.

The question so many people ask is this: why did Jesus choose to enter Jerusalem on a Donkey? Why not a beautiful horse…a powerful & mighty stallion?

Perhaps no one told Jesus that if he really wanted to make a grand entrance, one should consider riding an elephant! Now that would be huge…and memorable!

…Or maybe ride a lion that had been tamed, or even a strong ox would have been more impressive than a Donkey!

So why did Jesus choose a donkey to ride into the City of David?

Well, for starters, it was prophesied centuries earlier that Israel’s king would enter Jerusalem on a humble donkey.

The Old Testament Zechariah writes: “Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” (Zechariah 9:9)

Secondly, Jesus knew the symbolism of the moment even though no one else really understood what was happening, or what was about to happen.

The symbolism of a horse would have conveyed a message contrary to Jesus’ earthly mission.

Horses in 1st century Jewish culture were admired for their beauty, their strength, their majesty, and perhaps most importantly, their ability to provide victory in war……Now, there will be a time when Jesus will indeed appear riding a powerful and majestic battle horse with a spiritual AND political agenda, but this was not that time.

This was a time for meekness. This was a time for gentleness. This was a time for submission. This was a time for humble servitude.

The donkey was actually the perfect animal for Jesus to make his messianic appearance in Jerusalem.

It’s been said that while horses pull the royal chariots in a parade, donkeys pull the daily food cart from the field that keeps the king alive.

It was the donkey that did much of the hard work in biblical times but really never received much recognition for its efforts.

I once knew someone who owned two cars. One car was an immaculate, late model chevy corvette and the other car was a 15-year-old rusted out Ford Taurus. The Corvette stayed in a garage for much of the year and only came out for special occasions. The Taurus, however, was the vehicle that got him to work and back every day. It was this old, ugly, rusted out vehicle that made it possible for him to make the money he needed to afford a very expensive corvette.

Do you see the illustration here? The Taurus was the daily grinder while the corvette got all of the attention.

Jesus was about to fulfill man’s greatest need – a path to spiritual righteousness – through beatings, whippings, nails through his hands & feet, and a spear thrust into his side. His very life would be offered in place of ours….and yet he would never receive the due credit for his efforts.

In retrospect, the donkey was actually the perfect animal for Jesus to be riding into Jerusalem because it symbolized the humility of Jesus’ birth, his life, his ministry, his death, his burial, his resurrection, and his ascension. Jesus did the hard work for us – he pulled the heavy weight so we don’t have to.

Donkeys are different from horses in ways that are not obvious as well. Donkeys are brave animals that will stand their ground and fight against threats while horses are generally skittish and will often flee from confrontation. Donkeys were relied upon to protect herds of sheep from predators such as coyotes because they would rather fight than resort to running away.

Likewise, Jesus stood his ground for us - he did not back down and fall into sin when tempted by Satan in the desert or when he was filled with anguish at the thought of going through with the Father’s plan of redemption.

The donkey was indeed the perfect animal for Jesus to ride into Jerusalem because it perfectly symbolized his humble and unappreciated mission.

Scene #2 in our passage this morning is the adoration.

Verse 36 describes people spreading their cloaks on the road in a symbolic act of submission, placing themselves under the king’s feet as it were.

Verse 37 states that all of his disciples began to praise him with loud shouts of adoration as Jesus crested the hill at the Mount of Olives and began the gentle descent into Jerusalem.

The reason we refer to today as “Palm Sunday” comes from John’s account of this same scene when he says in verse 13 of chapter 12 “They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna!” Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” Blessed is the King of Israel!” (John 12:13)

The term “Hosanna” was an expression of adoration and praise conveying the idea of salvation. Unfortunately, the crowd was not anticipating spiritual salvation but salvation from Roman oppression.

Palm branches symbolized victory, joy, and celebration. The last time palm branches had been used in this way had been to celebrate the political victory of the Maccabean forces as they temporarily recaptured Jerusalem from Syria during the period of time between the Old & New Testaments.

It was evident that those in attendance were looking at this event as the beginning of a political movement. A political movement in which Jesus would be their King who would soon release them from the bondage of the Romans as the Maccabean revolt had done some 100 years before. What could be more joyous than this…they thought.

Mark 11:10 records this scene by describing people shouting “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

Remember the feeling you had a few days after 9/11 when President George W Bush was standing at ground zero. Someone handed him a bullhorn and he said the following words to the crowd of rescue workers, firefighters, and police officers: “I can hear you! The rest of the world hears you…and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon.”

Remember the emotion that welled up inside you when you heard those words?

That was what the Jewish people were feeling when they saw Jesus riding into the great city of Jerusalem. Their political messiah had finally arrived – soon Israel would be a sovereign nation again and the hated Romans would be a distant memory.

If only they had understood the true mission of the messiah – they could have participated in a kind of celebration that would have transcended petty politics. A celebration that meant hope for their eternal salvation!!

Lastly, the final scene in our passage for today speaks of condemnation.

Verse 39 describes the Pharisees, Israel’s supposed righteous religious leaders, as being outraged over this attention given to Jesus. They commanded Jesus to “rebuke his disciples” to which he responds in verse 40 “If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

This verse is one we’ve often heard, but it also is one that gets misunderstood as well. Jesus is fully aware that the shouts of celebration will indeed be quieted when people (Including his own disciples) realize that his mission was not of a political nature whatsoever. When Jesus tells the Pharisees that the rocks will cry out, he really is not talking about adoration and praise, he is speaking of all of nature affirming the righteous judgement that will soon befall the nation of Israel.

The Greek verb for “Cry Out” literally means “Scream” – and not in a joyful type of celebration, rather, a scream of pain and sadness.

This is why (In verse 41) Jesus begins to weep over the city of Jerusalem and his fellow Israelites’ rejection of his offer of the kingdom.

Jesus was literally sobbing over the hypocrisy, shallowness, and rejection from his Jewish brothers and sisters.

As verse 42 says, Jesus’ countrymen could have had peace with God if they had only accepted the spiritual teachings of Christ, but instead, they rejected his message, and in so doing, they rejected eternity with their long-awaited messiah.

The Jewish religious leaders and many ordinary Jewish citizens had officially rejected the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God had come to visit them in the flesh, yet they refused to submit to his teachings and authority.

God’s wrath would soon be upon them – both spiritually and politically.

The final two verses of the chapter (Verses 43 & 44) provide a horrific glimpse into the future as the Roman Military would completely destroy Jerusalem in the year AD70, along with the traditional Jewish religious system.

In 40 short years, the Jewish people would no longer exist as they had for the previous 1,500 years. Under the direction of the Roman ruler Titus, hundreds of thousands of Jewish men, women, and children would be killed through starvation and the sword.

The Jewish religion would never be the same either. There would be no more temple, no more Pharisees or Sadducees, no more priesthood. It would all be over.

What’s left of traditional Judaism would morph into a system of local Rabbinic leadership in areas where Jews were currently living.

The Coronation of Christ in our passage for today was a misunderstood event by everyone in Jerusalem…except Jesus of course. He knew exactly what was happening and what needed to happen next in order to accomplish the mission that only the sinless King of Kings could carry out.

Don’t miss the opportunity to know the savior like so many people in Jesus’ day had.

He is still offering the riches of His Kingdom to us today – If you haven’t already submitted to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in your life, you have the opportunity to come to him right now.

Don’t delay – It will be the most important decision that you will ever make!!!

Let’s Pray.