A New King

Pastor Stan Mons

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pd2HogmPwhs

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Sermon Transcription:

Palm Sunday, the Sunday where we remember the journey that Jesus is on right before Easter—right before this incredible Resurrection Sunday that really changed the way that we did coming together as Christians. We didn’t really know what to do, because the Jews who were awaiting the Messiah were coming together on Saturdays, because that’s what the law had told them to do. And they were resting and coming together as best as they could—worshiping and seeking God, praying. They could never really quite get to Him—to the Father, to the Lord, to the Presence. Even in the tabernacle, and later on in the temple, there was a presence of God, but it was shielded away from the people. They knew the presence was there, but they could never really partake of the presence of God. They could never experience the presence of God. And here Jesus comes into a situation where the Jews are trying to serve God the best they know how. And they know of the presence—they can’t get in it—but they’re trying to do everything they can to do it right.

The title of this Palm Sunday message is A New King. A new king. I want to paint a picture for you, to understand a little bit of what was going on—mostly in the hearts and the minds of the people who were hoping for God to make somewhat of a new way through this Messiah that we were all waiting on. Because when you understand a little bit of what was going on in the average person’s heart and mind at that time, this story will make so much more sense. And it actually becomes really easy to understand what we can learn from this story for our today—what we can see about us and Jesus, and us and the Father at this point. If you would have been alive right then and there in Jerusalem for six to seven hundred years—think about that for a moment. For six to seven hundred years, they had been under oppression. That’s not even counting Egypt, where they were under the oppression of Pharaoh.

For six to seven hundred years now, they have been under oppression. They have not had their own king. They have not had their own leadership really being free to lead them in whatever way the leadership thought was right, or in whatever way the Scriptures that they had so far were instructing them to serve the Lord and walk in what God had for them—for six to seven hundred years. You would have believed that with all your heart if you had been alive right then and there, part of the people in Jerusalem. You knew you were part of the people of God—but for six to seven hundred years, it really didn’t look like it. Oppression after oppression: first the Babylonian captivity for seventy years, then the Medo-Persian rule, where they were in charge of the entire area, then the Greek rule, and ultimately now—while you are alive right then and there in Jerusalem—the Romans are in charge.

For six to seven hundred years: oppression. Not freedom. Not liberty. It wasn’t a proud thing to be known as a Jew. It wasn’t a proud thing to be known as an Israelite. Remember, those names literally mean something. To be an Israelite—that name literally means “prince with God.” That’s what it means: “I’m a prince with God.” And yet, I’ve been under oppression for six or seven hundred years. These people that don’t serve God seem to have access to all kinds of resources and power and authority over me—but I am really with God. It didn’t really look like it, for generation after generation after generation. And they’re trying to serve God to the best of their ability. They’re trying to bring their sacrifices. They’re trying to pray. They’re trying to praise God. They’re trying to keep the religion going, so to speak—hundreds of years. And yet, everyone has been hoping for freedom. Every generation, there was this hope for freedom. And even today—if you go with me back to that time in Jerusalem—even today in Jerusalem, there’s still a hope in the hearts of people for freedom after six or seven hundred years.

Why was there that hope in every generation, in those people? And why did everyone know about it?

The children sang songs about a coming Messiah. The adults had, by now, memorized all kinds of Scripture and stories of old that were told generation after generation. And even though there were six to seven hundred years of oppression, there was a story hidden away in the hearts of the Jews right there in Jerusalem that was so vivid and so alive that when Palm Sunday came, the entire city was in a riot. The entire city was moved, because everyone had a tiny bit of hope hidden away in their heart. Let me read to you why. I’m going to read to you a number of Old Testament Scriptures that the kids and the people would have memorized and known. And in their situation—six to seven hundred years of oppression—this is what they were waiting for: Zechariah 9:9: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your King is coming to you. He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey—a colt, the foal of a donkey.” Then we have Genesis, all the way from the beginning: Genesis 49:10. The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until He to whom it belongs shall come, and the obedience of the nations shall be His.

Then we have Numbers 25:17–18: “I see Him, but not now. I behold Him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob. A scepter will rise out of Israel. He will crush the foreheads of Moab, the skulls of all the people of Sheth. Edom will be conquered. Seir, his enemy, will be conquered. But Israel will grow strong.” There were all of these prophetic words that had been given to these people, and they carried some of those words in their hearts. And everyone knew—one day, a king is going to rise again, a king like David. And they would have remembered the glory days, if you will, of being part of the Israelites when David was king—when Jerusalem rose from the ashes into glory, when David instructed and prepared everything for his son to begin building the temple. When David was king, one day—the prophets had told us—one day a king like David is going to show up, and the nations won’t be able to stand before him. He will crush their foreheads. He will cause the scepter to rise and not to be moved from Israel. Israel will grow strong again. And there was something of an expectation in the hearts of the people, and they were taught it from very young: one day Messiah will come, and everything will change. One day we are going to be our own people again.

One day we are going to be free. Now, with all of that on your mind—and the situation of six to seven hundred years of oppression ongoing—the heart of the people still having a bit of hope, a bit of understanding, small glimpses of what it will look like when this King shows up—with all that in mind, we now arrive at Matthew 21. And we’re going to start at verse 1 in the story:

“Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, ‘Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Loose them and bring them to Me. And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, “The Lord has need of them,” and immediately he will send them.’” All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: “Tell the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly and sitting on a donkey—a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”

So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them. They got so excited they couldn’t contain themselves. Finally, Jesus is about to do it. I’ve been walking with Him now for three years. It hasn’t always been easy. Not everybody liked me for following Jesus, but I believed He would be that Messiah. I believed He would be that King. Now He’s asking for that donkey. We’re approaching the city of David. Would this be the moment that Jesus is going to deal with that oppression and boot the Romans out? Have you seen how many people follow Him when we all get together? When He starts to heal people, thousands show up from time to time. I think He can do it. I think the people will be on His side. They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them. Go ahead, Jesus. Verse 8: “And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road. Others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road.”

You see, everybody understood what was happening. They’d heard about this Jesus. They believed maybe He was a prophet. Others weren’t so sure. Some dared to whisper “Messiah” here and there. But almost everybody had heard of Him. Almost everybody knew of the promises that one day a King will arise again, and He will come to Jerusalem—He will come to us sitting on a donkey, sitting on a colt. And here this Jesus has been really stirring the pot. He doesn’t really seem to be on the side of the religious elite. He seems to be on the side of the people. And now—there’s Jesus, riding on a donkey. And people get excited. They take their coats off and put them on the ground, as they would do for a new coming king. They pluck branches down and put them on the ground, so the king would not ride in the dust of the earth. And Jesus slowly but surely makes His way toward Jerusalem. Verse 9: “Then the multitudes who went before, and those who followed, cried out, saying, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!’” We’re almost free now. Finally—the King has come. And then they get to Jerusalem.

Verse 10: “And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, ‘Who is this?’ So the multitude said, ‘This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.’” Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. See, we don’t read of anybody trying to stop Him. He has a multitude of people gathering around Him, stirred up all around Him, because they believe this may just be the King that delivers us from the Romans. And nobody dares to stop Him—nobody. And He just goes into the temple and casts those tables over. And He said to them, verse 13: “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of thieves.” Now watch this. “Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them.” The blind and the lame were not allowed to be in the temple.

Then the blind 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 and saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant. And they said to Him, “Do You hear what these are saying? Do You realize that they are thinking that You are the Messiah? Do You realize that these promised Scriptures are coming to the people’s minds when they see You, and they’re treating You like it? Do You understand, Jesus, what is going on right now?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes. Have you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise’?” Here we have all of Jerusalem in tumult. All of Jerusalem is stirred up. Not everybody realizes what’s going on, but a lot of people do—and they’re super excited. They’re fully impassioned. They’re fully engaged, because a new King is taking the city.

He came riding into the city on that donkey. He came riding into the city under the shout: the Son of David is now arriving back into the city of David. Finally—the prophecy. I’m alive while the prophecy is coming to pass. They were so excited. They were fully engaged. But this King who came into Jerusalem that very day—this King was not seeking to fight a physical fight. People didn’t realize that at the time. This King who came into Jerusalem right then and there was seeking to fight a spiritual battle that will affect you and me forever. Because what do we see Him do? All of a sudden, in the temple, the lame and the blind came to Him. Now, the lame and the blind were only allowed in the outer court of the temple. It was also called the Court of the Gentiles—the worst of the worst in the eyes of the Jew, the furthest removed from God. That’s where the lame and the blind may be.

Even though they were born Jews, if you were lame or blind—and in many cases there was nothing they could do about it; many were born that way—you couldn’t even get close to the presence of God. You were not allowed to see or be close to the sacrifices. You could not be part of the praise. You couldn’t even come into the temple. You could only be like a Gentile. You could only be like a sinner, if you will—not like a part of His people. But when this new King comes into the city, all of a sudden the lame and the blind come to Him in the temple. And sometimes you and I can feel a little bit like those who are blind or lame—because of what we carry with us, or sometimes because of what we’ve done, or how we feel about ourselves, or things that we cannot do. We can’t really read the Bible right. We can’t really seem to muster up a proper prayer life. We can’t really stay away from sin. We can’t really clean up our own mouth. We can’t really do those things. We’re kind of dysfunctional believers. We do believe in God. We’re kind of getting around the people of God, but it almost feels like we’re not fully part of what God is doing in our generation—like we’re not fully part of the things of God.

That’s exactly how the lame and the blind would have felt. And the religious people—they weren’t doing anything about it. They were making sure not to get too close or too friendly with those people. And there comes Jesus. And in a moment’s time, every reason, every restriction, every opportunity for somebody to stop the lame and somebody to stop the blind from coming into God’s presence—in a moment’s notice—it’s removed. They come to Jesus in the temple. He heals them. Now they’re simply allowed to be there. He restores their sight—now they’re simply allowed to be there. And all of a sudden, a child begins singing. And another one joins them. And a song begins to rise up right there in the temple. And it’s not led by the priests, and it’s not led by the people that have served God so fervently and tried to keep the law. It is children that begin to sing. They see what this new King is about to be doing in the lives of those who could never change the things that stuck to them. A song begins to rise up because there’s a new King now, and the oppression begins to lift. The children can see it. The adults are all confused or getting angry—even the religious. They’re getting angry that Jesus, You let all this go on.

They didn’t even dare to bring up that He flipped the money tables over. But now that the kids are beginning to sing, and that He is being sung as the Son of David, they say, “Jesus, put a stop to this.” They can’t see that this new King is beginning to lift an oppression that goes far beyond what the people of God were enduring physically under the Romans. This new King causes a song to be sung—a new song to develop and to rise to heaven over the very place where we meet with the Heavenly Father. That’s what the temple represents. That’s the place where the sacrifice would be brought and sin was atoned for. That’s the place where the ark was housed. That’s the place where the presence of God was residing. That is the place where the bread of the testimony was presented fresh every time. That place receives a new song when it receives a new King. Luke 1:52 reads this: “He has brought down rulers from their thrones, but has lifted up the humble.”

This new King has taken down other kings. This new King has taken down rulers from their thrones. And it causes the children to sing. It causes the lame and the blind to now be able to get close to the presence—and into the presence—of the Father, being able to be a part of the altar service. And Jesus cleans the temple. Nobody responds to Him in it, but we read it—He cleanses the temple, the very center of getting close to God, the very center of knowing God. That’s what happened at the temple. The people would come together because there was nowhere else to go to get close to the Lord. And Jesus begins to cleanse that place where we get close to God, where we get to see Him. And He has this incredible statement: “My house shall be called a house of prayer.” There’s a new King in town. “I’m going to bring about this miracle, because My house will be called a house of prayer—and I will clean it up Myself.”

What is He saying?

See, those money changers—they weren’t all there with bad intentions, but they were serving the law. And because some people couldn’t afford as much as others, there were animals of all different price ranges available for you in the temple. And you would come, and you would take your money, and you would actually buy temple money. So you would exchange your normal money for temple money, and you’d get some temple money. And with that temple money, you could buy the animal that you could afford and bring that to the priest as a sacrifice for the wrongs you had done that week—or maybe even that day. And people are scrambling—especially the poor—to try and make this thing happen somehow: that my sins could be atoned for, somehow that I could be clean enough to come before the Father, clean enough to come into the house of God. Many a person has felt that: “Am I clean enough? Am I clean enough to even go to church? Am I clean enough to even expect God to show up when I pray at home? What do I do? How do I fix it? How do I get sin to not stick to me, or to move away from me, so that I don’t go back to the same mistakes?” And Jesus comes into the temple, and He turns over that table.

That means no more sacrifices in the temple. Nobody can buy a sacrifice now. He turns over that table, and He says, “I am doing away with all of this. I don’t want anybody worrying about sacrifice anymore.” And then He says, “My house will be called a house of prayer.” In other words, there will now be conversation again between the Father and sinners saved by grace—sons and daughters of the living God. There will be conversation, and not a habit of religion or empty religion where we’re just going through the motions, trying to do what’s right, trying to stay away from what’s wrong, and trying to somehow be good with God, if at all possible.

He turns over the tables of the money changers, and He, in other words, says: no more price to pay for sinners to come into the presence of God. No more sinners working off their ability to come into the presence—going to work to make money to somehow pay for a sacrifice.

He says, “No more. There’s a new King now.” He says, “You made it a den of thieves.” In other words, a thief is an abuser—a thief wants to take. He says, “You made it a den of thieves.”

These people are not helping the sinners get to the Father. They are taking. They are placing a burden of brokenness on the people that I love the most—the people that need My sacrifice the most.

What He’s really saying is: “I don’t want sinners to pay for friendship with the Father. I don’t want sinners to pay anymore for nearness to God.” He says there is a new King. This King paid the price Himself to lift the oppression. And I want you to bear with me on this—we’re going to see this on our journey to Easter. Jesus would be taken out of the temple. Jesus would be taken out of the city. Jesus would be taken out of the midst of the congregation of the people. Jesus would be taken out of the place of worship, out of the place of prayer. He’d be cast out of Jerusalem—cast out of the presence—so that it would never happen to you. That’s what He came to do. He came to make sure that the lame and the blind would never hear anything again about not being allowed to come into the presence. Whatever sin may have put your knees out of joint, so to speak—you can’t walk the spiritual walk because you’re stuck—Jesus, the new King, came into the city, came into our hearts, to make sure that nobody who has wronged, nobody who is not good enough, would ever be cast out of the presence of the Father ever again.

He was cast out on our behalf. Remember that strange Scripture. I will read it to you again. We read it in the book of Numbers. Numbers 25:17–18—I will read it again: “I see Him, but not now. I behold Him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob. A scepter will rise out of Israel. He will crush the foreheads of Moab, the skulls of all the people of Sheth. Edom will be conquered. Seir, his enemy, will be conquered—but Israel will grow strong.” Sometimes you can read a promise like that and think, “Oh, wow.” But remember, the Israelites expected a physical fight and a physical victory over the Romans who were oppressing them. But Jesus became King to win an eternal victory for your life and mine. Let me take you back to a promise that God made to Satan, the enemy of your soul—Genesis 3:15:“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will crush your head, and you will strike His heel.”

You see, the Word is literally foretelling, time and time again, that Jesus is going to win a spiritual battle—and that He’s going to crush the head, that He’s going to crush the very skull of the enemy of your soul. The very King who came to Jerusalem came to crush an enemy that has been seeking to oppress you. That enemy seeks to accuse you day and night and remind you of the sins that you have, making you feel like you can kind of come to God—but you have to stay in the outer courts, where the bad people are—because you are not clean, you are not washed, and there are all kinds of things wrong with you. He accuses you night and day. And our Lord, our King, paid the price and won the victory for your freedom, your healing, and your restoration—that you may never be cast out. Never be cast out of the presence of the Father. That’s what He came to do. Jesus was done, church. He was done with everything that was keeping people out of the presence of God. He couldn’t have made it any more clear. And if you would stand with me for a moment, I want to ask you this: If that enemy that Jesus came to crush as King—if that enemy, somehow, some way (even though he may use your mistakes to do it), with his filthy mouth—if he somehow makes you feel that in your spiritual journey with God, in your journey as a believer, compared to other people, you’re going to miss out. You’re going to miss out on the presence. You’re going to miss out on the praise. You’re going to miss out on the sacrifice.

You’re going to miss out on the healing. You’re going to miss out on the things that other people seem to have access to in the presence of God. If you feel like the enemy is trying to attack you—invite Jesus to come into the Jerusalem of your heart. Because when Jesus takes the throne, the lame and the blind can come. Not only can they come—they can stay now. Amen. They can stay now in the presence of God. They can stay now and stand forgiven before the Father. They can stay now and be at home in His presence and not feel awkward about it.

If the enemy has you somehow feeling like, because you’re not perfect, you’re going to be cast out from the favor of God—and that the favor of God is not going to rest on you, or on the work of your hands, or on the journey ahead—you always feel like you’re about to make the next mistake, about to slip out. If you feel like you’re going to be cast out from the victory—that you’re just going to have to survive and barely get by in the outer courts of the temple—but you won’t have the full victory that you’ve been asking for. If you feel that you’re going to be cast out from having answered prayers like other people do.

Today, I want to invite you to believe that King Jesus came to win for you—that you may never see defeat, that you may never be cast out. If you feel that you need to believe that today for the first time—or again—and to say, “Lord, I’ve been struggling in some areas, but today I’m saying it for the first time. Lord, today I’m saying it again: Lord Jesus, I believe that You came to win for me so that I would never be defeated.” If you want to say that to Him this morning, would you come and join me here at the altar? I’m going to say it to Him—I’m sure going to say it to Him:“Lord Jesus, I believe You came to win for me so that I will never be cast out.” A King has come to Jerusalem—but not to build a physical Jerusalem. He came to build a spiritual Jerusalem, where nothing keeps people out of the presence of the Father, where nothing keeps people unforgiven.

This King paid the price. This King became an outcast so that anyone can now come to the Father. This King turned over the money tables and said, “I want nobody to pay anymore—I’m going to pay.” I want to pray with you online, that Jesus may come into your heart and flip the money tables over—that Jesus may teach your heart that there is nothing He wants you to pay for anymore, that there is nothing He wants you to sacrifice for anymore in order for you to be right with the Father. Jesus is done with it. He has become King. He has become the outcast. He has become the suffering servant so that you could stay in the temple—you could stay in the presence of God—you could stay near to Him and never feel like you’re going to miss out, never become an outcast ever again.

-Pastor Stan Mons