Sermon Tone Analysis

“The King Rides”

/Series//: Make a Connection with Christ/

West Side Baptist Church

April 9, 2006

Pastor Scott Thielen

 

Text: Zechariah 9

Idea: Jesus is the only King who can bring true and lasting peace

!

Introduction

!!! Hook—“Taxi”

Have you ever ridden in a car with someone who was a crazy driver?

I saw that elbow over here!

* I remember one day in Seattle, when I was new to my ministry there, I had arranged to go to lunch with one of the men on my church staff, an older gentleman.

He worked part time as our minister of visitation.

And I wanted to get to know him better, so he arrived and offered to drive.

* Now, I’m not a great passenger, but that drive to the restaurant is a trip I will never forget.

When we approached his car I could tell I was in for a wild ride.

I don’t think there was a square inch of his car that wasn’t banged and dented and scratched.

It looked like he drove for rent-a-wreck!

* Well, we made it safely to our destination and back, but it wasn’t without much prayer.

* What I learned that day is that he couldn’t see.

In fact, he had been driving with an expired license for years because he couldn’t pass the vision test!

* Now you understand why I prefer to have the steering wheel in my own hands!

I had a similar experience in Osaka, Japan.

* Back in 1995, I was invited to Kobe as an ambassador for the city of Seattle—a sister-city—to bring hope as a pastor following the horrible earthquake in that city that killed over 5,000 lives and injured another 26,000.

* To have a greater personal impact I took my two oldest children with me.

Chris was 10 years old and Danielle was 8. 

* We arrived late at night after about 14 hours in the air.

Then, to get from Kansai International Airport to our hotel in Kobe, we were transported in a taxi.

This taxi was nothing fancy.

In fact, it was nothing more than a Toyota Camry.

* Has anyone here ever ridden in a taxi in Asia?

I hear it’s worse than New York City.

What an experience!

The driver drove so fast and erratically that it became easier to just encourage my kids to close their eyes.

That was another wild ride!

!!! Need~/Common Ground—“Jesus Taxi”

Well, today is Palm Sunday, the day we celebrate Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem before His death.

And you might be wondering what a taxi has to do with Palm Sunday.

Did you know that Jesus rode a taxi that day?  That’s right!

I never knew this fact.

Recently, Pastor Jason and Judson had the opportunity to travel to Israel and to experience life in the middle east.

* They were able to see the lay of the land, to imagine what it would have been like for Jesus to approach Jerusalem that day.

* As they toured the area, they made an astounding discovery: Jesus rode a taxi on the way to Jerusalem.

* They figured this out as a young boy was trying to get them to pay for a donkey ride.

After some persistence, they heard the boy say in English: “Jesus Taxi.”

That’s right.

To get people to ride the donkey, he was calling it a “Jesus Taxi.”

But apparently Judson didn’t fall for it.

But I did hear something about a camel!

!!! Transition

Well, the boy had the right idea, didn’t he?  Palm Sunday is an important day because the Jewish people saw Jesus coming as their promised King.

I don’t know if you’ve ever been in the presence of a king, but it’s a big deal.

Kings are royalty, and they command a certain respect.

A good king is something to celebrate.

*We call this “Palm Sunday” but it could have been called by other names:*

* It could have been called Cloak Sunday

People were laying their cloaks and robes on the ground, providing a kind of red carpet for the honored King’s procession.

* It could have been called Passover  or Passion Sunday

This was the Sunday which began the week leading up to Passover, on Thursday.

* It could have been called Donkey Sunday

Jesus taxi (pretend to call in the donkey)

*But we will stick with “Palm Sunday.”*

In the spirit of that day, since we don’t have palm branches for everyone, let’s improvise.

* When I am at a sports event and something exciting happens, I have no problem jumping up, sticking my hands in the air, and giving out a huge shout.

That’s just what an excited person does.

As Jesus passed by on this donkey, these people were ecstatic!

So, let’s give it a shot.

Everyone stand.

Today we’ll use our hands as palms.

* Fingers extended, arms waving, let’s imagine what it was like that day to witness Jesus approaching Jerusalem as the promised King.

Seriously, history is full of characters who have been evil, wicked kings.

The Bible tells many of their stories as well as the good ones.

But a good king is someone people will follow.

A good king cares about the welfare of his people.

And that’s what the people in Jerusalem saw in Jesus that day.

In a few moments we will turn back to the writings an Old Testament prophet named Zechariah.

But first, to understand the significance of that prophecy, let’s read the story of that day years later when Jesus made His way to Jerusalem the Sunday before His death.

!! §         Read Luke 19:28-40.

*Several observations about this scene before we turn to Zechariah’s prophecy.*

#. */Notice that this celebration is spontaneous, not staged./*

There was no marketing campaign to get the right people there.

In fact, Jesus was the only one who knew what He was about to do.

#. */Also, I want you to be aware that all four accounts of Jesus’ ministry include this event in their gospels./*

I’ve listed the parallel passages in the notes for you.

(Parallel passages:  Matthew 21:1-11; Mark 11:1-10; Luke 19:28-44; John 12:12-19)

#. */Finally, I want you to notice that these events occurred during preparation for the Passover feast in Jerusalem./*

Passover was an annual event in Jerusalem when Jews and God-fearers from around the world would make their journey to the great city of David to worship the one true God.  \\ \\ You’ll remember that Passover commemorated the miraculous deliverance of Israel from slavery in Egypt.

It is a holy time of remembering how God protected those families who obediently placed the blood of an animal on their doorposts.

As the angel of death moved through Egypt, he would pass over those homes marked by this blood sacrifice and spare their lives.

\\ \\ What’s interesting about Passover at this time is that scholars estimate that hundreds of thousands of people would have been in Jerusalem to participate in the special ceremonies.

That means that the normal population of the city would have swelled to huge numbers, and all these pilgrims would have been keenly looking for God’s deliverance from the Roman oppression.

!!! Connection with Christ

A lot of people don’t understand the connection between the New Testament and the Old Testament.

And that’s the reason for these messages leading up to Easter.

It’s so important that we can make a connection with Christ, from the Old to the New.

When Philip is approached at a “chariot stop” by the curious Ethiopian official, what does he do?

Acts 8 tells us:

Then Philip began with that very passage of scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.

Acts 8:35 NIV

Where was Philip reading from?