Meet Jesus: The King
Royal Reality
Jesus is King
Luke 19:29-40 29
As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, 30 “Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it.’” 32 Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 They replied, “The Lord needs it.” 35 They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. 36 As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road. 37 When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: 38 “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” 40 “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
Royal Reality
Jesus is King and worthy of praise!
Luke 19:41-44 41
As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 42 and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43 The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. 44 They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”
Perception - a thought, belief, or opinion based on appearances.
Reality - the state of things as they are, rather than as they are imagined to be.
Perception is the exact opposite of reality.
My perception of Jesus doesn’t change who He is, it only changes who I can become.
My perception of peace doesn’t change what God provides, it only changes what I will settle for.
Luke 23:26-31 26
As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. 27 A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. 28 Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ 30 Then “‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!”’ 31 For if people do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
Luke 23:32-43 32
Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. 33 When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. 34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. 35 The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.” 36 The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar 37 and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.” 38 There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. 39 One of the criminals who hung there, hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. 43 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” “Sir, you have lived in a world of brokenness and it has broken you, yet today you will be with me in a perfect paradise, the way the world was originally designed and in a relationship with me that you were originally designed for.”
Avoiding the choice doesn’t make the choice avoidable.
Your king choice is crucial because it determines who you live for, how you will live and the outcome of your life.
Each king choice comes with different outcomes.
Nobody as king – When no one is your king everyone and everything is your king. You will bow to the most powerful voice in the moment and lead a life of aimless ambiguity. This is no way to live and doesn’t lead to paradise.
Me as king – What you see is what you get. With this choice I am self-dependent and self-sufficient. I will only experience what I can self-generate and nothing more. This is a limiting way to live and doesn’t lead to paradise.
Jesus as King – I get paradise for a future and a present filled with the direction, peace and power. Even the imperfection and hardship of this current age can’t overcome the peace and power of Jesus as King! This is the way we were designed/created to live!
Reality
You have to choose a King.
Can you live subject to a royal who…
died so you could live a life more than you could have ever dreamed?
died so you could live in paradise after this life ends?
walked every dusty and lonely road you have walked?
has experienced every empty emotion, faced all the same opposition and didn’t fold?
doesn’t point but who leads?
doesn’t take but gives?
doesn’t overlooks but empowers?