Blessed Is the King

Luke 19:28-44

Key Verse 19:38

"Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"

Today we would like to think about why Jesus Christ is the blessed king. In Hebrew the word "blessed" has the meaning of "happy, fortunate, [or even] to be envied." As used in the Bible, the word "blessed" is the opposite of the word "cursed". 

The key verse (which comes from Psalm 118:26) says that Jesus is the blessed king. In what respects is Jesus the blessed king? 

First, Jesus is a righteous king

Look at verses 28-34. “After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, ‘Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, “Why are you untying it?” tell him, “The Lord needs it.”’ Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, ‘Why are you untying the colt?’ They replied, ‘The Lord needs it.’”

When a king (or a president of a nation) comes to his town, normally he does so secretly, perhaps riding in a bullet proof limo. But Jesus did the opposite. He came publicly. He rode a colt, the foal of a donkey. 

A question arises in our mind. Why did he choose a donkey? The way he provided for himself is also truly miraculous. Why did he do this? Each time we see Jesus doing one thing or another we see Jesus doing it for a reason, and Jesus never does anything which is not needed. So what need did Jesus have that he came up with a donkey at this particular juncture of his ministry? Zechariah 9:9 answers the question. Zechariah 9:9 reads, “Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” 

This passage tells us that Jesus chose the donkey to fulfill the prophecy made by Zechariah. Zechariah lived about six centuries before the Christ. Six centuries is a long period of time. It is longer than six hours, six days, six weeks, six months, six years, or six decades. Yet, even six centuries before the event, the prophet Zechariah foresaw the Savior of the world coming to Jerusalem riding on a donkey which no one has ever ridden. By riding on a donkey, Jesus then fulfilled God's promise to send the Savior.

Why then did God choose to send the Savior this way? Again, Zechariah 9:9 answers the question, that is, to describe the characteristics of Jesus as the king. In Zechariah 9:9 he points out Jesus is a blessed king for he is a righteous king. 

In Hebrew thought, one of the key characteristics of one being righteous (if not the chief characteristics of righteousness) is giving, rather than taking. The spirit of giving (and one's capacity to give) depends on (and stems from) one being in the right relationship with God the Father. God is the origin of all creation. God created the sun, moon, sky, mountains, rivers, and everything else. Zechariah saw that the first quality of the Messiah should be that of giving. 

Jesus' public ministry thus far demonstrated that Jesus maintained a right relationship with God the Father. Jesus dearly loved God and God loved him dearly. In fact, the two loved one another so much that Jesus even declared that the Father and the Son are one and the same (cf. John 10:30). 

And Jesus was able to give to all that are needy. No one single individual who came to Jesus to have his or her need filled went away without getting the need fully filled up. His capability to give to all who are needy is the first and foremost important quality as the blessed king. 

This then alludes to the truth that Jesus is the king who makes man to be truly rich. You may possess billions of dollars. But still, when you do not own Jesus, you still remain a pauper. But once you meet Jesus, all of sudden you become truly rich, richer than anyone in the whole world. Mr. Zacchaeus is a good example. Being a chief tax collector, he became as rich as Bill Gates. But he was not happy. Yet when he met Jesus in person while he was hanging on a tree like a Chinese Panda, all of a sudden his status changed from that of a pauper to that of a royal prince. In a joyful eating fellowship, then, he was so satisfied with the fellowship with the Son of God that he declared that he would give out even the half of his possessions! 

Second, a king who has salvation

Zechariah gives us another reason why Jesus is the blessed king, that is, he is the king who has salvation. Look at Zechariah 9:9 again. “Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

Zechariah says Jesus has salvation. What is salvation? In view of Matthew 1:21, salvation means saving people from their sins. 

Recently, a 28 year old elementary school teacher (male) has been charged with molesting a ten year old girl, but police and schools are looking for further victims because the man claims that he molested between 100 and 200 students in 13 schools since he became a teacher three years ago. 

A son of a medical doctor got involved in internet chatting. Then he was arrested by undercover police as he went out to have sex with a teenage girl. He is now serving a term in a prison somewhere in Texas. 

According to recent statistics, over 2,000 children are missing “every day”. The chance that your child will become a victim of a sex-offender is 1 out of 3 for girls and 1 in 6 for boys. An organization called the "National Alert Registry" maintains a website “RegisteredOffendersList.org". 

Will the law enforcement or efforts such as maintaining a sex offenders list web site help solve the problem? It may to a certain extent. But the ultimate solution is not found in just "punishing" the criminals. 

What a sinner needs is a liberator who will set him "free" from the bondage of the power of sin and death. Regarding the power of sin, Proverbs 5:22 says, "The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him; the cords of his sin hold him fast." Who then will save him from the snare of sin? No one but Jesus Christ, for the Bible says, "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved" (cf. Acts 4:12).

St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430) is a good example. Although he was a man of high mental caliber, despite his efforts, he could not set himself free from his lust problem. But in Jesus, when he was reading Romans 13:13-14, he met the Risen Jesus in person and received complete release from the bondage to his lust problem. After having been set free he led a monastery movement, providing the church of his generation with a powerful momentum for a great spiritual revival.

Third, a gentle king

Zechariah presents the third reason why Jesus is the blessed king, that is, his gentleness. Again, look at Zechariah 9:9: "Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey." See your king comes...! Then Zechariahs describes his character as a "gentle" king. Here the word "gentle" describes a character trait. The word "king" refers to a title or a position. And it is hard if not impossible for anyone to be a king and at the same time "gentle" in the full sense of the word gentle. 

By definition a king is the one who is in monopoly of power and authority. Because a king has power and authority, with his absolute power and authority, it is very easy for him to crush his subjects, especially those who are in opposition of him. 

Among the Twelve disciples of Jesus there was a man named John. On the surface he looked quite and gentle. One day, however, as Jesus and his company needed to pass through a town called Samaria, the people of Samaria said, "No. This is our territory. You cannot pass through our territory." John knew that Jesus is a man of great power. So he said to Jesus, "Lord do you want us to call fire down from heaven and destroy them all?" (Luke 9:54). But Jesus turned and rebuked John. Then they went to another village. 

On another occasion, while a mob of soldiers came to arrest Jesus, Simon Peter became mad at them. Immediately, he drew his sword and cut off the right ear of a man (whose name was Malchus). But in meekness Jesus rebuked Peter and said, "Put your sword away. Shall I not drink the cup my Father has given me?" (John 18:10).

Thanks to Jesus' good influence as the gentle king, later both John and Peter became gentle shepherds. And John became the apostle of love. Peter became an apostle who exhorted Christians not to retaliate against those who persecute them (cf. 1Pe 2:23).

Fourth, a humble king 

The fourth reason that Jesus is a blessed king who can enable his followers to be truly blessed is his humility. In the Bible passage we just read, we see Jesus coming to Jerusalem riding on a donkey. In the Bible land, they used donkeys as a means to carry burdens—and so donkeys are symbolic of humility and service.

The Bible has a number of interesting ways to get the message across. And one of the ways is to use animals, such as a donkey (a young colt). This donkey which no one has ever ridden might have looked cute. Yesterday, one pastor I know went out to a Swap Meet and bought a bunny. It is a few weeks young. Its color is pure white. The eyes, nose, and everything looked so cute. He looked into the eyes of the bunny, they looked so pure that he bought not just one but two bunnies. But obviously you cannot ride a bunny. So Jesus chose a young colt. Why a young colt? The answer is obvious. It is to get the message across, that is, we have a king who is humble, pure, and burden-carrying. He came to carry our burdens. Worldly kings exact services from their subjects, but Jesus came to serve many. And while serving his public ministry he served people God's truthful words in the spirit of God's love and power. 

At the last summer Bible conference we had fellowship with Missionary John Lee of Odessa. When he first went to Odessa robbers came around, stripped him down, and robbed him of all he had. At first he became angry. But he remembered Jesus who served sinners like him, even to the point of becoming a kernel of wheat falling to the ground. Then in all humility, to this very day, he is serving college students. Thanks to his service powerful shepherds like Shepherd Matthew are growing up. So far he is the tallest shepherd among all the shepherds in UBF, for he is taller than Abraham Lincoln. In the past, he had the dream to become the president of Ukraine. But thanks to Jesus, he is now feeding sheep following Jesus' example.  

Fifth, a miraculous king (35-37)

Look at verses 35-37. "They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road. When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:" 

This passage offers the fifth reason to say that Jesus is a truly blessed king, that is, he performs miracles. What sorts of miracles did he perform? All different sorts: he changed water into wine, he fed more than 5,000 people with five Big Mac's and two filet minion, he walked on the surface of water, he drove out 6,000 demons by allowing them to get out of a mad man into a bunch of pigs, and much more. 

A miracle means to cause something unusual to happen, like altering the order of nature built in the universe God created, so it would work differently than the way it normally would. For example, according to the order of nature, the sun rises from the east and sets to the west. Suppose, however, the sun rises from the west and sets to the east. What will you say? You will say, "Wow! It is a miracle." Yes, indeed. But Jesus can do this. 

A week ago a friend of mine visited a lumber store. Then a gentleman wearing sun glasses approached a worker taking a break smoking. He said, "Hi, buddy. How are you doing? What is going on?" “Not much”, the man said. Then the guy wearing sun glasses said, "I know what you are trying to do: live right, work right, and die anyway, right?" 

That is right. But in Jesus the natural order of a man's life like this reverses. In Jesus we are no longer pessimistic. Why? It is because Jesus is a blessed king who came to remove all the curses spelled on us and replace curses with God's blessings such as the life which is resurrected in a glorious state, as glorious as that of Jesus' risen body. 

Sixth, peace in heaven and glory in the highest (38-43)

The sixth reason why Jesus is the blessed king is to be found in verse 38. Let us read this passage. “‘Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ‘Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!’” Here “peace” has to do with relationships – the relationship between men and nature, the relationship among men, and the relationship between God and men. Glory goes to the value of human beings. In Greek the word “glory” has the meaning of weight or value (of God). 

These words then tell us that in Jesus we have the blessed hope to restore a perfect relationship with our neighbor, with the nature God created, and a perfect relationship with God the Father. 

In Jesus we also have the hope to recover the true value of a man. God created man to be the crown of creation. But as Romans 3:23 says, due to sin, man fell short of God’s glory. So men ended up living even worse than animals. In Jesus, however, this kind of lowly state can be fully overcome. We all can rise to God’s glory, rendering glory to God fully in and through Jesus Christ. 

Seventh, the day of God’s coming

Lastly, let us read verse 44. “They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you.” This passage is surprising because Jesus openly suggested that he himself is God. So the time of God’s coming sheds God’s hope upon us for all of us to meet God in person.  By definition God is infinitely perfect. As God made us in his image we have the desire to rise to God’s infinite greatness. In Jesus then we have the hope to meet God in person fulfilling the dream for all of us have. 

In conclusion, we learned that Jesus is the blessed king who came to richly bless people. May the Lord bless us to open our hearts and fully accept Him and live under His blessings, sharing His blessings with many.

One word: blessed is the king