Introduction
The king of a certain country came to town so a large banquet was organised in the king’s honour. Everything looked really impressive; it was a feast beyond compare. The king was expected to say a few words so he spoke to the master of ceremonies beforehand and asked whether, in response to the welcome speech, he should reciprocate with his short speech or his long speech. The master of ceremonies was a little embarrassed because he didn’t want to cause offence but he said "I think, your majesty, with it getting late etc. we should go for the short one."
So after dinner, and after all the usual tortuous and drawn-out words of protocol and greeting, the king stood up and said, “Thank you”… and then sat down again. Awkward silence. Nervous glances. Embarrassed giggles. Then, when everyone realised that was basically all they were going to get, everybody burst into rapturous applause!
The master of ceremonies went up to the king afterwards and asked him what he would have said if he had gone for the long speech. So the king said, "Thank you very much."
I have two possible sermons this morning, and I’m sure everyone’s hoping it's not going to be the long one.
On December 12th 1985 I became the happy and proud owner of my first car and this is what it looked like.
That is a Citroën 2CV. It’s a kind of cult car. The 2CV is the sort of vehicle you either love for its eccentric appearance or hate for its totally naff design. One day, I found the perfect window sticker for our old banger: It said; "Don’t laugh, Jesus went by donkey."
Which is a bit misleading actually. Yes it’s true; he rode into Jerusalem on one, on what we now call Palm Sunday, as we read earlier. But apart from the odd boat trip across the Sea of Galilee, this donkey ride is the only evidence we have in the entire New Testament, that Jesus ever travelled anywhere other than on foot. And even when he had to cross the Sea of Galilee, he sometimes preferred to take a stroll. But that's another story...
Why did Jesus deliberately choose to travel the 2 mile stretch between Bethphage and Jerusalem on a beast that looks like this?
Why? His entire travelling ministry up till this point had been carried out on foot. Was Jesus just exhausted do you think?
This was in fact the last leg of an 80 mile journey from Galilee to the capital city of Jerusalem, a journey which you can follow in chapters 19 and 20 of Matthew. We don’t always get this because we might not be familiar with the geography of the Middle East but it’s strange. It's a bit like walking from Sheffield to Middlesbrough, but taking a taxi ride for the last bit from Stockton onwards. It’s just a bit odd isn’t it?
1) God Keeps His Promises
Matthew tells us in v4 the background to all this. Eleven times in his gospel, Matthew says, "This took place to fulfil what was spoken through the prophet" and this is one of them. The messiah, when he comes, will enter Jerusalem as a king, humble, riding on a donkey, in fact on a young colt, the foal of a donkey.
And so as the crowds are looking up the road watching Jesus ride into down on this particular animal they're thinking, "This is it!" For centuries people had waited and longed for this day when the Messiah would finally turn up.
This is the path all Jews expected the Messiah to take as he entered the capital to take his crown and establish his reign. This was all predicted beforehand by the prophet Zechariah and here it is.
They’re thinking, “We’re watching history unfold before our eyes.” This is like the Berlin Wall coming down or the recent uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt. The old regime is going and we’re going to be free at last!
That's what was in their minds as these events unfolded. So they throw their coats down before him. It's the red carpet treatment. This is how you welcome royalty – you make a bit of a fuss don’t you?
Here’s the thing. God keeps his promises. When God says he’s going to do something he delivers.
So much of Jesus' life was exactly predicted years before. His place of birth, his family line, his betrayal by a friend, the precise sum he was betrayed for ("for 30 pieces of silver, not 29.99"), the manner of his death (having his hands and feet pierced), the place of his burial (a borrowed tomb donated by a wealthy man) and much, much more. All of it was prophesied. All of it came true. Not figuratively or symbolically. Literally and exactly.
And because Jesus rode a real donkey as the Holy Spirit had said he would 550 years beforehand, God wants you to know that he does what he says and he keeps his promises. He sticks to his word. He did then, he does now and he will tomorrow.
He will keep his promises to you. He will always be faithful to you. He will not change his mind about you.
2) Christ Knows Your Future
At the beginning of chapter 21 (verses 1-3), Matthew tells us about the unusual arrangements Jesus made for borrowing the young donkey.
He sends two guys on ahead to the next village, and says four distinct and separate things;
1) that they will find two donkeys,
2) that one will be the mother of the second,
3) that they would be tied, and
4) what to do in the event of the owner getting upset about having his livestock nicked.
And the thing is it all comes to pass exactly as Jesus said it would. Jesus sees it all before it happens. He knows.
Some of you might be asking yourselves this morning “Where is my life going? Does God really care about what I’m facing at this time? Does he even notice?”
I read a book on holiday this week by Francis Chan called “Crazy Love.” In that book Chan tells the story of Jamie and I thought I’d share it with you this morning.
When Jamie was 23 years old she flew from the USA to Tanzania with $2000 from her savings account. She planned to stay until she ran out of money, at which point she would come home.
Jamie was overwhelmed by all the needs she encountered so she started praying that God would allow her to make a radical difference in just one person’s life. After about 6 months she met an 8 year old girl at church who was carrying a baby on her back. Jamie learned that the baby’s mother was dying from AIDS and that she was too weak to care for him.
Jamie began to buy formula for the little boy called Junio to provide him with the nutrition he needed. At the time he was half the size of a healthy baby. Jamie really loved baby Junio.
She wondered if she was being foolish - a 23 year old single, white American entertaining thoughts of adopting a baby. Besides, she didn't even know if the Tanzanian authorities allowed international adoptions. Eventually she discovered that the country didn’t allow international adoptions.
However, because she had lived there for over 6 months she could establish residency. Before Junio's mum died from AIDS she came to Jamie and said "I have heard how you are taking care of my son and I have never known such a love - I want to be saved." And she became a Christian. Just before she died she said "I know that my son is taken care of and I will see him in heaven someday."
Jamie spent 6 months going through the adoption process and then 5 more months working to get Junio a visa. When she finally got home to the USA she had been gone for a year and a half. Junio is now 5 years old, totally healthy and HIV negative.
When Junio's mum was pregnant with him she took a morning after pill late in her pregnancy in order to abort him but instead it induced premature labour and because Junio was so small no bleeding occurred during his birth, thus he did not contract HIV from his mother. What was intended to end his life, God used to save it.
Since adopting Junio, Jamie has got married, had a little girl and is moving back to Tanzania with her family to work with Wycliffe to translate the Bible for a group that has never heard it before.
What I love about that story is that it shows just how God watches over our lives and how he can transform any bad situation into a good one when faith is present.
So for those of you who are asking yourselves this morning “Does God really care about what I’m facing at this time? Does he even notice?” I want to say “Yes, God does notice and he does care and he knows in advance every twist and turn your life takes.
It’s because the Lord knows your future from all eternity that you can count on Proverbs 3.5-6.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.
3) The Holy Spirit Is Looking for True Worshippers
God keeps his word and God knows your future. This is the last thing I wanted to say; the Holy Spirit is looking for true worshippers.
Let's try and get hold of what the atmosphere must have been like on Palm Sunday. There was shouting and yelling (verse 9). Verse 10 says, "the whole city was moved, was stirred." Verse 8 says that there was "a very large crowd."
How many do think might have been there? Seven or eight hundred? Maybe a couple of thousand? The first century Jewish historian Josephus wrote about Passover festivals in Jerusalem at this time and said that as many as two and a half million would have been in Jerusalem in the weeks surrounding the feast. So in all likelihood, this is a very big crowd of people making a very big noise around Jesus as he heads for the city.
They acclaim him. They shout "Hosanna", which means, "Save us, now." They expect him to enter the city, turn right towards Pilate's Antonia fortress, climb on a stallion and lead a victorious uprising against the Romans.
But he doesn't turn right at all. To everyone’s dismay he turns left into the temple precincts and drives Jews out of God's house. What a shock it must have been. What a letdown. No wonder they decided to do away with him. In five days he would be dead and buried.
In less than a week, a large crowd moves from shouting "Hosanna to the King," to screaming, "Crucify Him! We have no king but Caesar."
How fickle can the human heart be? How totally worthless is human applause! How fleeting is worldly acclaim!
God isn't taken in by hollow praise. Jesus, as he rode into town that day, wasn't thinking, "Wow it’s nice to be popular!"
Jesus sees right through lip service from lukewarm churchgoers. The Holy Spirit is looking for worshippers with souls on fire, who adore Christ in spirit and in truth, whether they feel great or feel terrible – because he is worthy of praise – always!
Are you one of them? Have you got a heart for God – the God who knows your future inside out and who will keep his promises to you as long as you live?
Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 17th April 2011.
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