We've been hearing about it and talking about it for weeks. And now they are marching in. The U.S. and British Coalition tanks are rolling into Baghdad. They are rolling in with power and force. They are coming to conquer, whether they are wanted or not. And as they roll in, we have seen footage of thousands of oppressed Iraqis hailing them and rejoicing, because for them, this means freedom from the oppression of a cruel dictator. But plenty of others do not want them there, and they will fight against it, because they don't want their way of life changed, and they don't want these foreigners on their soil. But either way, the troops come marching in, with power and force, and it may bring about some good, but it will also bring about some bad. We live in a sinful, imperfect world, and there are many more evil solutions here than good ones. There is no such thing as a perfect outcome. This won't have one either.

We've been hearing and talking about something else for weeks, too. We've been talking for weeks now about why Jesus had to go to the cross. Well, He is here now, marching into Jerusalem, where He would find that cross. And Jesus also marches in like a King, a conqueror. But in a much different way than those coalition tanks. He doesn't come in power and force, but in humility and gentleness. And we also see some people hailing Him and rejoicing, because Jesus means freedom from oppression and a cruel dictator. But we also see plenty who are not happy Jesus is marching into Jerusalem and being hailed as a king. It will change their way of life. So they are going to fight against Him! Difference is, this one will have a good outcome!

What if Jesus came into Jerusalem with a show of earthly power instead of spiritual power? He could have. He had the angel armies at his disposal. With his divine power, He could have forced the world to obey Him, to proclaim Him King. It would have been no problem for Him to demand the obedience of all - the Pharisee, the Scribe, and the Roman alike. But could He have won our hearts? Would the Scripture - God's plan for saving the world - have reached fulfillment in his life? When Jesus came, He could have wiped out all disease and created a kingdom where bread was free. He had that power. But then our real problem would have remained. The spiritual battle would be conceded to Satan. We would still be dying in our sins. We would still be condemned to spend the length of eternity away from God and his joy.

So this King came the way He did for our good. The good of all. In the politics of the world, you never have solutions that are good for all. There are always losers. There is too much hurt doled out by every side in a conflict. And we will always have all sorts of different opinions on which rulers we should follow and which we agree with and which we honor. But we all have to agree there is ONE KING WHO DESERVES OUR HONOR.

And Who Is He? He decides to tell his followers and us exactly who He is. He directs two of his disciples to go ahead and bring back a donkey's colt for Him to ride into the city. He expects they will obey Him, as their Lord. He knows exactly where they will find this donkey, and who owns it, and how they will respond to it. And He directs his disciples to tell them that the Lord is the one asking for it! This is the first time He calls Himself the Lord! And if He knew all this was going to happen, then He also knew what was going to happen on Friday later that week. As God's true King, He deliberately sets in motion the final act of God's saving will, even though it will mean the cross for Him. And finally, by getting this donkey, Jesus will demonstrate to anyone who knows Scripture that He is the messianic King. 500 years earlier, Zechariah the prophet had said: "…See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey." Who is He? He is the true Son of God, the promised Savior and Messiah!

As the promised Messiah, He was also true man, a descendant of King David's family. And He acts like a true son of David, God's ideal king in the OT. Remember David's battle against Goliath? Everybody in the army was afraid to fight this giant. They were afraid because they saw the battle only in earthly, physical terms. They thought this was a battle that could only be won with earthly power. Goliath was over nine feet tall! Any regular sized man could not have even lifted his armor! Who could be a match for him? Every soldier in Israel looked at Goliath, shook his head, and said, "Not me!" All except for David. David knew that the battle was spiritual. His enemy had to be viewed in spiritual terms, because Goliath had defied the only true God. He shouted insults at Him. Because David perceived the battle in spiritual terms, he knew the victory could only be won with spiritual strength. He didn't need bigger muscles and armor. He needed the spiritual strength the Lord had promised to supply to those who put their trust in Him. Like David, Jesus also knew this upcoming battle was "the Lord's." Jesus was the true son of David, and the true Son of God - our Savior King. He deserves our honor!

So How does He Come to victory? Imagine this scene…It was Palm Sunday and Jesus was coming into Jerusalem. He was riding on a blazing white stallion and kicking up a cloud of dust as he rode along. He we looking for trouble. The people that he passed on his way were in awe of such a beautiful animal but they were even more awestruck by the man riding it. As Jesus passed by, you could hear the people say, "Who was that masked man?" There were bad guys on the loose and Jesus had a job to do. As he rode into Jerusalem he quickly sized up the situation and formed a plan to capture the ringleader of the troublemakers. His name was Diablo, or Satan. There was a short scuffle and Jesus won handily over Diablo. He hog-tied the devil and threw him in jail.

As a large crowd of people gathered to see what the commotion was all about, Jesus mounted his horse, and pulled on the reigns. The stallion stood on its hind legs, neighed loudly, and pawed the air with its front legs. When it stood as tall as it could stand, Jesus leaned forward in the saddle. Holding the reigns with one hand while lifting his white hat in the air with the other, He shouted with a loud voice. As Jesus rode off into the sunset, you could hear the William Tell Overture in the background. Du du dunt. Du du dunt. Du du dunt dunt dunt. Isn't that how you would have done it if you were Jesus? It's how I would have.

But this King is so different from the kings of this world. He does not ride a war horse or a chariot, but on a donkey's colt, a humble beast of burden. He was a different kind of King fighting a different kind of battle. And because of this kind of humility, He deserves our greatest honor! Because He came to willingly go to the cross and suffer the awful penalty that should have been ours. In order to conquer, He would have to allow Himself to be conquered. He did that for you and me. He entered that city, knowing full well by the end of the week, that He would be dying on a cross to take all of your sins and mine away. He did that so that all things would be well between God and us. He also knew that the real victory would be his. A week from today, He knew that He would rise back to life to prove He had won the ultimate victory as our ultimate King. Because this King is your King, you have life - now and forever - with God! Friends, this is one King who deserves our honor!

So How Should We Meet Him? Well, the people there on that Sunday who honored Him as their king grabbed whatever they could find to show Him their honor. They spread their own coats on the road ahead of Him. They also grabbed palm branches to spread on the road and wave to make a big spectacle and honor Him as their king. They called out "Hosanna! - Save us!" This was, in fact, royal treatment! So how should we meet Him? Grab whatever we can and use it to glorify Jesus! Praise Him and worship Him here and at home. Use whatever it is in your life that you have to glorify Jesus as your King! And don't let the cheering stop!

You know the rest of this story - that the cheering in Jerusalem did stop. On Friday of this week, Jesus was put to death after the crowd yelled for his crucifixion. Lest we be too critical of Jerusalem, ask yourself this question: What city even today would not be shaken by Jesus' entry into it? Imagine Jesus entering Toronto, New York, London, or Paris. Oh, I'm sure we'd welcome him with our hosannas - at first, anyway. We'd line the streets and strike up the band and have a grand parade right down Yonge Street. But I'm equally sure that, by the end of the week, we'd have Him nailed to a cross, too. Why? Because the Kingdom Jesus came to establish still threatens the kingdoms of this world - your kingdom and mine - the kingdoms where greed, power, and lust rule instead of grace, mercy, and peace. And who among us really wants to surrender our lives to that Kingdom and that King?

But friends, remember his love. Remember it was his love that moved Him to come into your heart and win it over, because He wants you to spend eternity with Him! And remember that He has forgotten about all your greed, selfishness, and lust. Remember the grace He has given you, and meet Him with your love and service to say "thank You" to Him!

A missionary in China calls herself "the Lord's donkey." She's a humble believer, "carrying" her Lord faithfully into town after town and training others to do likewise. The Lord has need of many such "donkeys" in today's world - humble people who will carry Him into their Jerusalem and make Him known. That donkey had to be untied before Jesus could use it. We too must be released from worldly attachments if we are to serve Christ. Are we willing to be the Lord's "donkey"? Or, are we at least willing to be like the people who donated their donkey for Jesus to use on this important day?...

Bill Wilson pastors an inner city church in NYC. His mission field is a very violent place. He himself has been stabbed twice as he ministered to the people of this community. Once, a Puerto Rican woman became involved in the church and was led to Christ. After her conversion she came to Pastor Wilson and said, "I want to do something to help with the church's ministry." He asked her what her talents were and she could think of nothing - she couldn't even speak English - but she did love children. So he put her on one of the church's buses that went into neighborhoods and transported kids to church. Every week, she performed her duties. She would find the worst-looking kid on the bus, put him on her lap, and whisper over and over the only words she had learned in English: "I love you. Jesus loves you."

After several months, she became attached to one little boy in particular. The boy didn't speak. He came to Sunday School every week with his sister and sat on the woman's lap, but he never made a sound. Each week she would tell him all the way to Sunday School and all the way home, "I love you and Jesus loves you." One day, to her amazement, the little boy turned around and stammered, "I---I---I love you too!" Then he put his arms around her and gave her a big hug. That was 2:30 on a Sunday afternoon. At 6:30 that night he was found dead. His own mother had beaten him to death and thrown his body in the trash… "I love you and Jesus loves you." …Those were some of the last words this little boy heard in his short life - from the lips of a Puerto Rican woman who could barely speak English. This woman gave her one talent to God and because of that, a little boy who never heard the word "love" in his own home experienced and responded to the love of Christ! He found a King who deserved his honor!

Because one woman was honoring the King who deserved hers. One family from Bethany honored Jesus as their king in the one way they could - providing Him a donkey. What can you give? What is your "donkey"? You and I each have something in our lives, which, if given back to God, could, like that donkey, move Jesus and his message further down the road! What better time to use our gifts than right now? This is One King Who Deserves our Honor! Amen.

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