Matthew 21.1-11
1 April, 2007

Our family had a birthday celebration recently. Along with my gift I wrote
this in a note, ‘Birthdays are a gift of Jesus to get us to stop and ponder
how much we’ve been blessed.’ Special seasons in the church calendar
function in much the same way. So, today we stop and ponder how we have been
blessed. Today, we consider Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. I’m going to focus
your attention on this idea of Jesus coming to be enthroned as king. ‘Say to
the daughter of Zion, “Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and
mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.” ’ This
is a rich topic, especially as we see the pathway to the throne traveling
through Calvary. To narrow it a bit I’m going to use an answer from our
Shorter Catechism as a guide. The Catechism is reflecting on what it means
that Jesus is a king. Here’s what it has to say. ‘Christ executes the office
of a king, in subduing us to Himself, in ruling and defending us, and in
restraining and conquering all His and our enemies.’ Let’s see what the
Spirit has to teach us about Jesus, our King.

Let’s start with this notion of subduing us to Himself. Did you ever think
of yourself as needing to be subdued? It really does make sense because we
all start out antagonistic toward God. Because of Adam, we all are, by
nature, sinners. Please remember that being a sinner is more than doing this
or that ‘bad thing’. Being a sinner is an attitude, a way of approaching
life that is rooted in a declaration of independence from King Jesus. So, it
makes sense that He has to subdue us to Himself.

Consider Saul of Tarsus. ‘But Saul, still breathing threats and murder
against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for
letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to
the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.’ [Acts 9:1-2]
This is a picture of a violent man. He thought that he was being faithful to
God by stamping out this Galilean heresy. Jesus didn’t see it that way.
‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ Saul needed to be subdued. And so,
Jesus slapped him down with a bolt of light and blinded him. Having stopped
him in his tracks, Jesus assumed control of Saul’s life. In this case we see
a violent man being treated violently. Sometimes Jesus subdues people in
this way. But not always. Consider Abraham. He is nothing like Saul, and so
we don’t see Abraham being slapped down. Jesus subduing of Abraham proceeded
rather differently. For one thing, He brought a crisis into his life.
‘Abraham, take your son, your only son, whom you love…’ In this crisis,
Jesus confronted him with a question. ‘Whom do you love more: Me or him?’
Subduing. Then there is Jacob. I have to include Jacob because our Sunday
School class is studying him. What did Jacob’s name mean? You can ask any of
the kids in my class, and they’ll tell you it meant ‘cheater’ or ‘deceiver’.
And Jacob lived up to his name. Just look at how he dealt with his brother
and father. I think Jacob’s motto must have been something like: ‘If I am
going to make it in this world, I’ll need to live by my wits.’ Jacob didn’t
get slapped down like Saul. There was no crisis question: ‘Me or him’ –
though there was this wrestling match. That was one place that Jacob learned
that living by your wits has its limitations. Subduing.

Jesus subdues us, changing us, bit by bit, from the independent sinners that
we are into faithful subjects of the crown. We become submissive servants –
His submissive servants. But it is important for all of you to see – and
this is part of being subdued – that we do not submit ourselves to Him
because of fear. We become a submissive servant, a faithful disciple,
because of love. Jesus tames our rebellious hearts so that we come to
understand who we really are and how we live best. He does this because He
loves us, and as we see this more and more clearly, we respond with a
growing love of our own, a love that has its roots in a subdued heart. We
come to understand that He is the King, we are His subjects and that’s how
life works best. He subdues us.

That's not all there is to Jesus’ kingship. Listen again. ‘Christ executes
the office of a king, in subduing us to Himself, in ruling and defending us,
and in restraining and conquering all His and our enemies.’ The next key
word to consider is ‘enemies’. You have enemies. Too many folk miss this and
look at life saying something like, ‘Well, every day can’t be sunny and
bright. We all have some bad breaks.’ And so, according to this, our
problems hit us because of bad luck or the like. But that’s not true. You
have enemies. First, there is your sin. ‘Well, that’s no enemy. It’s not a
person.’ If you ever really wrestled with your sin then you know that it is
an enemy, intent on destroying your soul. And you all have heard about
people who have lost the battle with their sin. Their lives have been
destroyed by their sin and that beyond repair. Your sin is your enemy. Then
there is death. Here is another enemy intent on destruction. We do not
understand nearly well enough how tremendously afraid people are when it
comes to death. And they should be! Try to imagine what dying and going to
hell might be like. It really is something to fear. Death is also an enemy.
And then, lastly, there is a person, Satan. He is an intelligent enemy, a
thoughtful enemy. In a sense, sin and death are blunt objects that simply
crush. But Satan is different. He is much more precise. He understands you.
You hope to get out of this place alive. You hope to make it to heaven. So,
he and all who are with him (quite a group) are doing all that they can to
make sure that that doesn’t happen. If you are tempted into having that
extra piece of cake, it’s no big deal. If, however, Satan can tempt you into
getting off the path to heaven, now that really is a big deal. And don’t
think he can’t do it. He is doing his best to make sure you don’t make it.
Sin, death, Satan; you have enemies. Do you think that you are able to deal
with them and actually overcome them? That sounds like Jacob living by his
wits. You have enemies. But – you also have a King. Because you have given
yourself to Him as a faithful disciple, He gives Himself to you. He promises
to defend you and to restrain these enemies of yours. But it’s not that He
hopes to fight to a draw. He also promises to conquer them. Sin and death
and Satan, and all who are with him, will be destroyed. Jesus promises to
wield His kingship for your good, defending, restraining, and yes,
conquering. However…

I own this movie titled ‘Gladiator’. It’s quite good on lots of levels. It
takes place in the glorious days of Rome. A skilled general is betrayed and
sold into slavery where he is forced to become a gladiator. Over time many
of the other gladiators recognize his ability as a leader and hold him in
great esteem. After time in the minor leagues, this group of gladiators find
themselves in the great Coliseum, the focus of thousands of eyes. They stand
there not knowing who or what they will have to fight, but they wait, on
edge. The gates burst open. Chariots come charging at them at full speed. A
handful of gladiators on foot against powerful warriors mounted on chariots.
As the chariots charge the general shouts a command. Some of the men heed
what he says and assume a defensive stance together. They handle the charge
well and are safe. But there are other gladiators who do not listen. They
try to take on the chariots, and they are slaughtered. Jesus will defend
you, and restrain and even conquer your enemies – if you submit to His rule.
His kingship is a place of safety for you. The danger still lurks but by
submitting to His rule you will be brought safely through. Everything hangs
on being subdued by Jesus and thus learning how to submit to Him. If you
submit to His rule, you will be kept safe. If you don’t, you will die.

So, what do you do now? Is it a time to be anxious about what happens next,
to worry about being able to perform well, a time to be afraid that you’re
going to blow it? Does it all depend on you? Absolutely not!! Go back to the
beginning. What is Jesus doing with you? He is subduing you. He is training
your heart to submit to Him because of love. And what do you have to do in
response? That’s easy: Expect Him to do it all. And that’s reflected in a
prayer like this ‘Lord Jesus, I want to be a faithful disciple. I want to
have my heart subdued by You. I want to submit to your rule. But I am so
weak. Help me lest I rebel! Protect me from myself!’ And what do you think
He will do with such a prayer? It’s times like these when you can see if you
really believe in the grace of the Gospel. Do you save yourself, or is it
Jesus who saves you? If your hope is in yourself, you will fail. Jesus will
save all by Himself – or not at all. Relax and trust Him when He says, ‘I’ll
take care of everything.’ Now, will there be times when you falter and sin?
Certainly. That should be obvious. But does Jesus then disown you? No, He
has sent His Spirit who wisely picks a few of these times of faltering and
sin, and He points them out to you. His goal in this is quite positive. His
goal is to teach you from your mistakes. When He does this, listen to Him.
And then repent. And when you’re finished doing that, believe the Gospel
when it says that all of your sins are forgiven. We are saved by grace.

Let me close with a simple exhortation. When life gets hard because of the
difficulties of this life – difficulties that come at you because of your
enemies – stop and talk yourself. Tell yourself something like this, out
loud if need be: ‘Jesus is my King. He has promised to subdue my heart and
get me through the battlefield of this life. He has promised to get me Home.
’ It will do you much good if, from time to time, you stop and remind
yourself of this. Repeat it to yourself, believe it and then rejoice.