Jesus is the King of Peace (Luke 19:29-44)

On Wednesday, I gave the pre-Easter talk at a local aged care home. Below is what I said, which has leaned a bit on a previous talk I have given from Mark's account three years before (and that was based on a youth talk a few years before that one)

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Jesus Prepares to Enter

In 11 days time, on April 13, is Palm Sunda,y where we remember the start of Jesus’ last week in Jerusalem. However, it is interesting in Luke’s account there are no mention of Palm branches. "The narrative might better be called the triumphal procession" (The Gospel according to Luke The Return of the King (19:28–44))

Way back in the 9th chapter of Luke, Jesus had “resolutely set out for Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51). Jesus had always been aiming to come to this city. And so now, as the moment arrives, as Jesus plans to enter Jerusalem, He makes some plans with His disciples. He sent them ahead to find a colt so he could ride on it for His grand entrance. And all of what Jesus said in the process would happen, happened. It went just as He had told them.

Have you ever made or seen a grand entrance? It could have been at a wedding. Just before the bride enters, sometimes they re-shut the double doors at the back, the music goes a little quieter but then bang the doors open, the bride is there all dressed in white and the music swells. When Princess Diana got married, the train of her dress was about 7 and a half meters long. She knew how to make a wedding entrance.

In Jerusalem that week, there would have been two grand entrances into the city.

From the west came Pilate, draped in the gaudy glory of imperial power: horses, chariots, and gleaming armor. He moved in with the Roman army at the beginning of Passover week to make sure nothing got out of hand. Insurrection was in the air with the memory of God’s deliverance of the Hebrew people from slavery in Egypt. (Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year C, Volume 2 Homiletical Perspective)

And here in our story, from the East, we have Jesus not with an army, not on a horse, not with any armor, but on a donkey with his twelve disciples. Jesus did not come in much pomp and ceremony, but in humility. On a young donkey, and yet people here hailed Him as King.

Jesus Proclaimed as King of Peace

Throughout Jesus’ life, Jesus has been healing people and giving them a glimpse of His power over the Devil, disease, and death, but strangely at some points He has also been telling people to be quiet about it. But now, when Jesus comes to Jerusalem, the crowds treat Jesus like a king, like a king in the line of the great Jewish King David, like a king who has come to save them from oppression and slavery. And Jesus doesn’t tell them to be quiet about it. Jesus doesn’t tell them to stop because they are right on the money. Jesus is a king and not just any king.

The naysayers, the Pharisees in the crowd try and hush things up. They ask Jesus to settle His disciples, and Jesus replies, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out” (Luke 19:40). This is an important moment and even nature itself knows and needs to praise Jesus as “the King who comes in the name of the Lord”.

Jesus is not only in the royal line of a great king, He is more than that. If you have eyes to see it, Jesus is claiming to be the great king that had been foretold hundreds of years before Him. The Old Testament, from Genesis to Malachi, has been looking forward to a messiah, for a king to save them.

The most relevant Old Testament prophecy in this passage is from Zechariah where we are told that a great king will come on a donkey, not just any donkey but a colt, that is a young male donkey. In Zechariah, it says that riding on this donkey will a great king who is righteous and victorious and humble and they will proclaim peace to the nations (Zec 9:9-10)

Jesus is this humble king. Jesus humbled Himself for us so that we can be saved. Jesus is God and left heaven for us, to become a servant to die on a cross in our place to save us from our sins and He was victorious and brought us peace.

In our passage, the crowds shout two things:

“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” [and] “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” (Luke 19:38 NIV)

They call Jesus a king, and they mention peace.

Have you called out to Jesus to save you? Is He your King?

You may wonder why Jesus should be your King?

Well, Jesus is like no other King. He is better than any king that has ever live and that will ever live. He has come to bring us peace.

It is really interesting, when Jesus was born the angels praised God and said

“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” (Luke 2:14 NIV)

When Jesus was born, the angels gave glory to God and proclaimed peace on earth, and here at the end of His life, the people praise God and sai,d “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”. Heaven sings of peace on earth. Earth echoes back, “Peace in heaven.” (Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year C, Volume 2 Pastoral Perspective)

The Romans were very proud to have brought in the "Pax Romana", that is, peace across the Roman Empire, but it seems Jesus whole life has been book-ended with praise of peace on earth and in heaven. We have our choice to make, "Pax Christi or Pax Romana" (Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year C, Volume 2 Homiletical Perspective)

Christ or Caesar. Peace with Christ or peace with the powers of this world.

Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Jesus conquers all enemies, including Satan, He has no rival, He has no equal and one day all knees will bow to Him, and all tongues will confess He is King.

And Jesus is a good king. He is infinite in his wisdom, perfect in His character, merciful and just in all His rulings, He is the only true God and the only man who raised Himself from the dead. He is from everlasting to everlasting, from beginning to end, Jesus rules over all things, all places and all people. Is He your King?

Jesus promises to bring comfort to the suffering, to wipe every tear from the hurting, to give rest to the tired and to give everlasting life to those who trust Him. Do you trust Him? Is Jesus your King?

Have you ever heard some misguided person say that “all religious leaders were really the same”? Would you tell them that Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords? Have you heard some nice well-meaning person say, “Jesus was a good moral teacher”? You can then tell them that Jesus is more than that, Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. If on TV you see some disaster or crisis that looks hopeless, remind yourself that Jesus is King and ruling over everything.

Have you accepted Jesus as your King? Have you welcomed Him to take the direction of your life?

Jesus Pained by Rejection

Halfway down the Mount of Olives, there is a small chapel in the shape of a teardrop. It is called Dominus Flevit (Latin for “the Lord weeps”). It is the traditional location where Jesus wept over the city. (Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year C, Volume 2 Pastoral Perspective)

We are told in verse 44 that Jerusalem’s problem was that it “did not recognize the time of God’s coming”. Like the Pharisees in this story, they couldn’t see Jesus as the King. They couldn’t see how Jesus, could bring peace. Because they couldn’t see how peace could be achieved in Jerusalem, they would face war and destruction. And in 70 AD the city would be destroyed as Jesus had said. As Jesus knows what will happen to the colt, He knows what will happen to this city that will reject Him.

Jesus is the peace of the world—not any peace, but the peace that only he can give—and that peace cannot be found apart from the journey that leads [inexorably] to Golgotha, (Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year C, Volume 2 Theological Perspective)

This peace Jesus brings isn’t the absence of war or the aftermath of a military conquest. Jesus brings peace between humanity and God. We can have peace with God, for in Jesus, He will wipe our sins away from God’s eyes so He can see us as His pure and perfect children.

The story goes that when Dante faced exile in Italy, he romaed around the country looking for someone to take him in. When Dante knocked at the door of the Franciscan monastery at Lunigiana he was asked, “What do you want?” He replied, “Peace!” (1000 Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching What Do You Want?)

We all want peace. We all want a settled pace, a secure place, that no matter what happens to us, we can be at rest and not anxious. In Jesus, we have the King who brings peace. Even when things are in turmoil, when things are uncertain, we can be confident that because of Jesus, we have peace with God. We are no longer enemies with God, but His friends, and we can find an eternal rest with Him.

Picture a massive hurricane raging over the ocean. On the surface of the sea, the violent winds whip the water into giant waves and create a scene of havoc and chaos. Yet, a mere twenty-five feet below the surface, the waters are clear and calm. The fish there go on living their lives totally unaware of the thunderous tumult just above them. When there is “depth,” there is peace. So it is in the Christian life (1500 Illustrations for Biblical Preaching Peace)

As we approach Easter, let's reflect if Jesus is King over your life? Do you have peace with Him? Will you look with eyes to see that Jesus is the King, who comes and saves us from sin and Satan and death? Who comes to bring us peace with God. Jesus is the King who is sitting at the right hand of the Father and will come back again to judge the living and the dead, and those who trust in Him will be gathered up and be with Him, in His new Kingdom forever. That is the hope we have, for all who trust Jesus as their King, we will have peace, forever. Amen.