#Sermon 5.

#Sermon 5.

CHRIST IS THE KING

“Rejoice, O people of Zion! Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem, look your king is coming to you. He is righteous and victorious, yet he is humble, riding on a donkey’s colt” — Zechariah 9:9 NLT

Text: Matthew 21:1—17

Jesus Christ came to the world first as Saviour and will come again as King. His kingship had been prophesied by many prophets as an unbiased and righteous ruler who would come from the lineage of King David. For many years, Israelites have had wicked and bad Kings who were characterized by terror, anarchy, injustice and mayhem. To comfort God’s own children who had been subjected to the brutality and wickedness of the worldly kings, Prophet Zechariah proclaimed to his people saying: “Rejoice, O people of Zion! Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem, look your king is coming to you. He is righteous and victorious, yet he is humble, riding on a donkey’s colt” — Zechariah 9:9 NLT.

For someone to tell somebody else to rejoice, it may be that such a person is passing through some series of hideous problems of insecurity, relentless failures, wars, injustice respectively. This was and is still the problem the world is facing today. Sins were and are still rampant and nobody was able to rescue the world from sins. Not even Isaiah, the prophet of God who heard what God was asking: “Whom shall I send and who will go for us?” — Isaiah 6:8 KJV, was able to die for the sins of the world. Despite that he said LORD, send me here I am, the question was not directed to him, but of the heavenly BEINGS and was fulfilled by our Lord Jesus who spoke in parables — See Isaiah 6: 8-10, Matthew 13:14-15, Mark 4:12, Luke 8:10.

Christians should rejoice because:

Our King is righteous: Jesus Christ is not like the worldly kings who kill in order to be enthroned. He is not like King Ahab who killed the poor Naboth and took his land from him. He is neither like our political leaders who embezzle and drain off public money for their own personal aggrandizement nor like our community kings that oppress the poor. The scripture plainly affirms that our king is righteous which means our Lord Jesus Christ will rule in righteousness and win all the battles of this world. This will mark the end of the wickedness of the world. Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins— Psalm 7:9 KJV.

Our King is humble: Our King teaches us to be humble as a character trait to attain spiritual exaltation from God. He is humble so that he will meet our need. He humbled himself for our sake and not his. Thus, our righteous king rules for the interest of his people and for the glory of his Father. He humbled himself to wash the feet of his disciples and mandated them to do same to others. This means, as our king is humble he that follows him must be humble too. Therefore Christians should rejoice because we have no intimidating King. Our king is merciful and gracious to forgive.

Our king is victorious: He is victorious in everything. Every power bows down before him. By his simple command, demons run away, and mountains melt like wax. He cures every kind of disease. At the point of his trial, he healed the high priest’s slave boy whose ear was cut off by Peter, and he was submissive to give his life for us and resurrected and asked, Death is swallowed up in victory, O death where is your victory? O Death, where is your sting? — 1 Corinthians 15:55. Thus he is victorious over death. Our victorious King says if anyone believes in him even if he dies, he will live again because he is the resurrection and life —.see John 11:25. Of all the Kings that ruled all over the world, where are they now? Our King is eternal and victorious and anyone who is victorious in obeying him shall eat from the tree of life.

Our King came to do what the law could not do: The law has no power to save souls. For the law of the life-giving Spirit in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. For God achieved what the law could not do because it was weakened through the flesh. By sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh— Romans 8:2-3. Our King came so that the righteous requirement of the law will fulfill in us. Earthly kings make laws that will favour them, but our righteous God came to show mercy to all.

One thing is crystal clear in the life of Jesus Christ. We should know that this King of kings came from a very poor family, a family the society despised and rejected. He was born to a carpenter’s family and unfortunately, his adopted father, Joseph, died very early. At the tender age, he became the bread winner of the family. Today, the whole world is rejoicing and celebrating him as the King of kings. As the king of kings, he has nothing so that we may have it in abundance. He rode in a borrowed ass. By asking two of his disciples to go to the nearby village as they approached Bethphage to untie the ass, it potently shows that our king has foresightedness in the things of the world and beyond. He is Omniscient in his divine nature. He really knew that there’re a donkey and its colt somewhere ahead of them which his disciples knew not. By asking his disciples to untie the donkey and its colt, it means that he has untied those who are savagely encaged by satanic and demonic powers. And I proclaim into your life that whatsoever that is subjecting you to spiritual bondage is broken in Jesus name. Amen.

As our king set out to ride on the ass (which symbolizes his righteousness, purity, un-defilement and as someone coming for peace and not of war) his disciples and many others started to take off their coats to spread them on the ground and others went out and cut off palm fronts and did likewise. As our king rode to Jerusalem, his followers began to sing angelic songs proclaiming him, the King, shouting: “Hosanna, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the LORD”— Mark 11:9. This glorious proclamation implies that our king Jesus Christ is divinely blessed because he came in the name of God. He has everything and is the king to him power of death and life lies in his righteous hands.

Our King came to abolish the false religious practices in the house of God. He drove away those who were using the temple of God as a market place. Some people are like those religious Pharisees. Such people that commercialize God’s church, leading God’s children astray will face the wrath judgement of God. Their doom is near if they repent not from their wickedness. Church is established with divine motive to be the house for prayers and worship. But today, we can see with our eyes people who are bean cheated in the church. Church becomes a place where money is preached and no one cares to hear the word of God. It has become a place where prosperity is preached and preaching of repentance is viciously dashed to the wall — Matthew 21:12-17.

Our king of kings came to solve our problem in order to meet our human needs —Matthew 21:15: He came to bring the good news to the poor, to release the captives, make the blind to see, setting the afflicted and oppressed free thereby bringing God’s favour to the needy— see Luke 4:18-19. Our king’s loving kindness is completely in a mutual opposition with earthly kings who care not for the welfare of the poor. The rich man in the bible ignored the poor Lazarus in his palace but the son of the Great Numen welcomes everyone, feed them and healed them all of their diseases.

Brethren, as we celebrate the triumphal entry of our Lord Jesus to Jerusalem today, may we be more courageous to work hard and wait earnestly for his second coming and future glory, amen!