The King

Well, seven signs has been our series about the miracles of John, or miracles of Jesus, I should say, in the Gospel of John, which he calls signs. But today we reach a point where there are no more signs. Except one. A sign hanging over the head of Jesus as he dies. And you know what? That sign is really the key to unraveling the mystery of everything that happened between Palm Sunday and Easter. Each year many Christians celebrate both holidays without ever really seeing the connection. And today we're going to see how it all ties together.

Good morning. Thank you. My name is Mark, one of the pastors, and I want to welcome all of you here in the room on our live stream. We are so glad that you are with us. And if you joined us last week, we were in John 11 where Jesus raises a man named Lazarus from the dead. And in doing so, he sets off this tidal wave of belief and opposition. The religious rulers are freaking out. In fact, here's their own words from the end of John 11. It says, "Here is this man performing many miraculous signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him." Well, wouldn't that be terrible? And then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation. I mean, never mind that Jesus can raise people from the dead. You know, we don't want to lose our place. You know, our perch.

And bear in mind for this group, it's the chief priests and the Pharisees, their leadership, there's no separation between church and state or secular and spiritual. It's all just one. And so these signs, as they point to Jesus as the Messiah, they also point to him as King. And as everyone back then knew all too well, Caesar did not tolerate rivals. But then the day arrives, Jesus enters Jerusalem. Poems Sunday, as we call it today. Ratcheting up the inevitable collision between the way of God and the way of the world. And you know what? That collision isn't just something that took place way back in those days. It's a collision, a conflict that lives in every single human heart to this day. Where God's ways and the world's ways pull us in one direction or the other.

And so it would be wise for us today to ask God to reveal to us where we are and all that. What's the status of your heart, my heart? Are you willing to kind of lay yourself open to the Lord in his word and his spirit? Maybe it's just to simply and silently say in church no less, "Lord, I'm open to whatever you have for me today. I want you to show me Lord how your story and my story come together." And what does that look like in terms of its implications in my life right now?

Now the crazy thing about Jesus' story is that five days after entering Jerusalem, it looked completely over because Jesus was on the cross, dead, with this sign, "King of the Jews." Now how does someone who preached about loving your neighbor and reaching out to the poor and the weak, how does that person end up on a cross? Well, let's rewind the tape a little bit, shall we? Let's go back to one week earlier when Jesus is welcomed by this massive crowd. And in John 12 it says, "The great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm trees and went out to meet him shouting, 'Hosanna.'" Hosanna means save us now. "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the King of Israel." Blessed is the what? The King. "King of Israel, save us now."

Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it as it is written, "Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion. See your king is coming, seated on a donkey's colt." This whole idea of Jesus as king has been building for three years. This has been the theme throughout His teaching. Think about it this way, the four gospels in those gospels, Jesus speaks of church three times. He talks about salvation ten times. He talks about the kingdom one hundred times. One hundred times. Kingdom of God, kingdom of God, kingdom, kingdom, kingdom.

And when the people hear this, you know, they expect soldiers and banners and fortresses and armies because for centuries the Jewish people have been praying for the Messiah. This prophet, priest and king who God will send and he will free them from the foreign oppressors. But Jesus tries to correct this idea because the kingdoms of the world, that's their paradigm, are about power, right? Who has the power and how do you leverage that power for war? And they're also about pride. I mean it's like look at me, I'm at the top of the org chart on this big deal and also in the kingdom of the world they're about self-protection because you got to, you know, keep your place, guard your position.

Remember how the chief priests and the Pharisees respond when Jesus raises someone from the dead. It's not a joyous moment. It's a problem and so that leads to threats, right? You cross the line and I'm gonna get you and it happens between families, neighbors, gangs, nations. I mean here's what I think when I think of the kingdom of the world. Looks kind of like this, right? All these goats trying to see who can get the highest perch, right? Headbutting each other so they can find out who's gonna be king of the mountain and sadly humans do this with bullets and bombs, right? We're seeing this play out on the world stage right now, tragically.

But Jesus says the kingdom of God is very different. It's like service and instead of human power it's about God's power. In fact it's in my weakness, in your weakness as Paul says, that his power is perfected and it's also about humility because I realize I don't really have anything to offer God and yet he calls me into the service of his kingdom. In fact Jesus said in Mark 10, "Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant." And instead of self-protection the kingdom of God is about self-sacrifice. Again Jesus says in Mark 10, "For even the son of man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many." And instead of threats and aggression we overcome our enemies with blessing. Jesus says, "Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you."

And these aren't just little sayings, these are the descriptors of the citizens of the kingdom of God. This is how they roll, this is how they live and throughout the ministry of Jesus he is preaching this difference between these two kinds of kingdoms and let me ask you this, aren't you just so tired of all this? Aren't you ready for something different? I mean to quote Tim Keller, you know what happens in the kingdom of the world is there's just constantly one kind of revolution after another but the same things, these same things, they always stay at the top. It's just really the kind of the personnel that changes. It's not a real revolution because you know one group comes in and they kick out the leadership and yet the power and the money and the politics, that all just kind of stays the same until the next group comes in and then there's just a new set doing all of these same things.

But Jesus is not about just kind of putting his guys into this place, Jesus is talking about ushering in a completely new way of ordering reality where human beings actually live like the way God has attended us to live all along. We actually become more human in the process as we live as a part of the kingdom of God. However, at his triumphal entry the people are expecting a king that's on the that side of the ledger you might say, on the left side of the chart, the kind of kingdom that they've ever and always known and so for them the Messiah is going to be guy with a better army and smarter generals and sharper spears. That's why they're singing songs about how Jesus is their new king. Jesus is saying he's a king. He's acting like a king. Well, how do you think that goes over with you know the king? Not too well.

In those days in Jerusalem the power was held by the Roman governor and then there was also a very wealthy priestly class. We've already seen them kind of emerge in the story and it's sort of like how it's going in Russia right now where you have a president and then there are the oligarchs right and there's somewhat of an uneasy alliance between them and so the head of state in order to maintain their support keeps them rich and happy and that's kind of how that alliance works. Well, it was similar back in the day between the Roman governor and the wealthy priestly class and it's one of these people or this group I should say that bribe one of Jesus own disciples to betray him, Judas, right? And so on the night that he's betrayed it says, "Judas came to the garden guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns, and weapons." Right? Of course they were because that's how it's done.

"Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest servant cutting off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus." And there it is. "Peter has heard Jesus talk about the kingdom for three years, the kingdom of God, but when push comes to shove, what is his first instinct? Grab the sword. And he lofts off this servant's ear." I mean obviously he wasn't just aiming for the ear, right? I mean this could have been really bad and John kind of tells on him in this moment as John kind of does like, "Man, you can't even like, you know, really hit someone with a sword. He just kind of, you know, cut off his earlobe or something like that." But we gotta ask ourselves at this point, you know, are we any different than Peter? I mean really? I mean we say we're all about forgiveness and the Jesus way of things, but just a little provocation. And what happens? Well, how comes the what? The sword or no, in our context, the keyboard, right? You know, "Dear so-and-so, let me tell you what I really think about you." Or it's our phone and a text or social media, or "Cancel you" or whatever. Again, that's the way of the world.

But to Peter and to Judas and to all of us by extension, Jesus commands, "Hey, put your sword away. Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?" In other words, my kingdom is so much different than all of that. And yet, as they arrest him, they bring him to Pilate, the Roman governor. Now Rome was the ultimate example of the kingdoms of this world. I mean it was this uncontested superpower for centuries. And why? Because they just ruthlessly crushed any and all who dared oppose it. And so they bring Jesus to Rome's representative in Jerusalem, that's Pilate, and he is not a nice guy.

Living at the same time was a man named Philo, and this is what Philo wrote and writes about Pilate's rule. He says it was full of bribery, insults, robberies, outrage. This is the government, okay? You know, you might complain about the Planning Department or something like that, but this is what Philo has to say about Pilate's regime. Executions without trial, constantly repeated, supremely, grievous, cruelty. It's like every adjective he can think of. In fact, it even got to the point where Caesar Tiberius, okay, the big guy, personally wrote Pilate saying, "Basically, dude, man, you are stepping over the line." I mean, even by Roman standards, you got to kind of reel it in. And he tells him, "By the way, stop upsetting the locals."

And so Pilate's really on thin ice. I mean, he sees Jesus, and on the one hand, Caesar has told him, you know, personally saying, "You know, no more hasty executions, Pilate," because he had a long list of people that he had crucified prior to Jesus. And on the other hand, Caesar has told him, "Again, don't rile up the local people. I just want to keep things calm." And now the locals are asking him for what? A hasty execution. And why? Well, again, watch this, because king or kingdom is used 18 times in these next verses. He says, "Pilate went back inside of the palace, summoned Jesus, and asked him, 'Are you the good teacher of the Jews?'" No. "Are you the king?" This is what he really cares about.

Verse 36. Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is not of this world." And Jesus is essentially saying to Pilate, "You know, there is a power stronger than Rome. And there is a force that is stronger than hate. There is a strategy, strategy stronger than fear." It's the kingdom of God. And Pilate's like, "Well, that sounds kind of crazy to me, but it doesn't sound all that threatening either." And so he goes back out and tells the crowd, "It is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at a time for the Passover. Do you want me to release the king of the Jews?"

They shouted back, "No, not him. Give us Barabbas." Now Barabbas had taken part in an uprising. Okay, that, you know, Barabbas is kind of like their Rambo, right? Yeah, again, you see the contrast between these two kingdoms. It says, "Then Pilate took Jesus and had them flog." Flogging was this terrible torture that involved a whip with multiple strands of leather and it embedded in the leather with sharp metal or glass or ceramics and it was designed to just lay a person open, which is what they did to Jesus. "The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe." A crown, a purple robe, those are symbols of what? Royalty.

"And went up to him again and again saying, 'Hail, king of the Jews!' And they slapped him in the face." Even the soldiers know that this king claim is really what brings about this punishment on Jesus and so they're just having a time with it, mocking him. Verse 5, it says, "Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, 'Here is the man.'" And maybe he's thinking that, "Well, now that I've humiliated Jesus, that will be enough." But as soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, "Crucify, crucify!" Now again, this is very important because the Gospels, the New Testament, doesn't just you blithely lay the death of Jesus at the feet of the Jewish people. It's far more complicated than that. It's really these corrupt officials and the Romans and all who follow the way of the world. All.

And as Paul reminds us in Romans 3, "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." And by the way, in the Greek, "all" means all. Me. You. Meanwhile, however, in Luke it says that there are people of Jerusalem who are weeping over what's going on. But the power brokers, they're unnerved. And you can sense this in verse 10. "When to Jesus Pilate said, 'Don't you realize I have power either to free you or crucify you?'" And Jesus is just unfazed. "He answered, 'You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.'" And at this it's like Pilate's confidence just starts to wane. He's knocked off balance. It reminds me of what happened in Tiananmen Square back in 1989. You remember? When this lone man stops an entire column of tanks. And that's kind of Pilate right here.

I mean, he even tells the chief priests, you know, he wants to let Jesus go, but then they turn up the pressure and it comes to the clincher right here. "If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar." Anyone who claims to be king opposes Caesar. So again, it's right back to the king thing. "Shall I crucify your king?" Pilate asked. "We have no king but Caesar." The chief priests replied. Basically they're saying, "You can't have it both ways. You can't have two kings. You're either following the way of the world or the way of Jesus." And that's when Pilate hands Jesus over to the Roman soldiers. And there they crucified him. And with him two others. One on each side and Jesus in the middle.

And then there's one last bit of irony. Because often when someone was crucified they would put a sign above them that would spell out their crime as a deterrent to others who might think of doing the same. And so to mock Jesus it says, "Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened it to the cross. It read Jesus of Nazareth." The what? "King of the Jews." I mean even in his death this message comes through that from the very beginning to the end he claimed to be king. Now what the high priests and the crowd and Pilate and even Peter did not get was that Jesus was in fact leading a revolution. People say, "Well he was crucified because they thought he was leading a revolution." No they crucified him because he was leading a revolution. It just wasn't the kind of revolution that they expected.

Look back to this chart on page one. Because you know this is not the kind of kingdom nor is it the kind of king that you can stop with swords and spears is it? You can't stop it with bombs and guns because it is part of God's eternal kingdom. Even when the crowd doesn't get it or Peter or Pilate or the priest and you know what so often even to this day his followers still don't get it. I mean think about it. If anyone has ever told you why they don't go to church or why they left their church, if you dig down into the reasons of that aren't they talking about these things over here? Someone who held on to power or someone was puffed up or they just pushed others out of their way and even threatened people in the name of Jesus. That's the kingdom of the world and so no wonder people find themselves longing for the church to be the church, to bear witness to the kingdom of God.

I'll tell you a story. You know you've heard the name Eugene Peterson. He's one of the great Christian pastors, writers, scholars of our time. He's also the guy who wrote the message paraphrase. You're familiar with that I'm sure. He talks about how he grew up in a very devout fundamentalist Christian home but when he started first grade he said it was the first time that he met non-christians first grade and it was at that very same time that a second grader in that school named Garrison Johns picked Eugene out to be his victim. As Eugene writes, "I had been prepared for the wider world of neighborhood and school by memorizing bless those who persecute you and turn the other cheek." I don't know how Garrison Johns knew that about me. Some sixth-sense bullies that had this I suppose.

"Most after news after school he would catch me and beat me up. He also found out I was a Christian and he taunted me with sissy Jesus. I arrived at home most days bruised and humiliated. My mother told me this had always been the way of Christians in the world and then I had better get used to it. She also said I was supposed to pray for him. One day I was with seven or eight friends when Garrison caught up with us and started jabbing me and that's when it happened. Something snapped. For a moment the Bible verses disappeared from my consciousness and I grabbed Garrison and to my surprise and his I was stronger than he was. I wrestled him to the ground sat on his chest pinned his arms to the ground with my knees and he was helpless. He was at my mercy. It was too good to be true. I hit him in the face with my fists. It felt good and I hit him again. Blood spurted from his nose a lovely crimson in the snow. This is like the message Bible guy writing this.

I said Garrison say uncle. He wouldn't say it. I hit him again. More blood. Then my Christian training reasserted itself. I said say I believe in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. He wouldn't say it. I hit him again. More blood. I tried again. Say I believe in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior and he said it. Garrison Johns was my first Christian convert. Well you know we can all be that way especially when the crowd comes after our Jesus right or we feel attacked for our faith and we go back into defense mode exactly like Peter and just like Peter usually our attempts to defend Jesus are about as useful as cutting off the ear of a servant. You know we managed to be annoying but not all that effective right. Jesus says to us over and again put away your sword. Put away those words. Put away those thoughts. I'm here to lay down my life. Follow me.

Now we're gonna get to Christ's triumph over death next weekend right. But for now and in these days approaching Good Friday I want to encourage all of us to remain at the cross and to consider the sign and ask myself this this man who died under this sign is he your king? Is he your king or is he our mascot? I think over and over again the Bible asks us. It thrusts this question upon us too in fact. The first is you have to ask yourself who is my king? I mean really have I made Christ my king not just my Savior follow me because I think that term has lost its pungency its power it has become in our culture simply about heaven someday and in the meantime I just kind of build my own little kingdom.

But is he your king right now? Do you take direction from him now or do we take our orders from Caesar or some power broker in the kingdom of the world or the kingdom of the media or the kingdom of whatever? Who's my king? And second question is this what's my kingdom? I mean do I live in service of the kingdom of God? Am I an ambassador like Jesus reaching out to those who are in need whether they're they're sick or they're poor or they're somehow marginalized one way or another because that's what Jesus was about doing as he advanced his kingdom.

Just this week René was telling me telling me about a letter that his sister Heidi got from a missionary in Ukraine a woman who reaches out and serves children with developmental disabilities. Can you imagine what that's like for those kids right now? This woman wrote a multi-page letter about all of the suffering and horror that she has witnessed but then she says this "I see how God is working through his people throughout the country the church in Ukraine is boldly sharing and showing the love of Christ to see the body of Christ united in prayer and fasting singing hymns in the underground subway stations helping their neighbors it is a picture of heaven in the midst of war and that is what it looks like to live out our calling isn't it? As citizens of his kingdom even when and while being threatened just as Jesus did because when you realize that Jesus is my King no matter what that he loves me that he gave his life for me that my King loves the poor and the meek and calls me to do the same and that in his power I can be an ambassador in his kingdom talk about a royal calling right?

You wonder does my life have purpose? Can I make a difference? This is the calling that Jesus beckons us to. Now again the best is yet to come. Jesus rose from the grave and defeated death and someday he will return in glory and and his kingdom will be restored to perfection. Amen indeed but in the meantime let us never forget that our weapons are not of this world because our kingdom is not of this world. Our weapons are love and prayer and grace and service and mercy if he is our King. Amen?

Let's pray. Heavenly Father we we thank you for gathering us together today. We thank you for the amazing good news of Jesus Christ who not only calls us but welcomes us into the kingdom of God. I pray that that would take away our breath today. I pray that all other competing issues or things or priorities would pale in comparison to all that you have in store for us. And Father before we can be a part of making things right in this world you need to make things right in our world in our hearts. And so Lord we come before you and Lord I pray that for each one of us if there are our things whether they're attitudes or grudges resentments anger whatever it might be that they keep us from living out the full potential that you have for us as individuals as a church Lord I pray that we would be willing to let those things go that we would repent of those things.

For some of us it may be the very first time some of us may be realizing Lord the only thing I have to offer right now is is my sinfulness and I realize Lord that I've been living in opposition to you and so Lord I want to confess that and I want to follow you wherever you lead and if that's you he hears you he knows the attitude of your heart he is here in our midst right now. Father I pray that this week would be a week where you impress upon us the mystery the wonder of the fact that your son Jesus Christ did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many including us may we revel in that truth and made inform and infuse everything that we say everything that we do for it's in his name we pray amen.