Palm Sunday and the challenge to Know Christ as King

If I was to ask you to introduce yourself this morning to someone you didn’t know in Church I wonder what you would say about yourself.

Perhaps you would give your name,  a little bit about yourself, what you do for a living, how long you may have been coming to this church, 

But I wonder if by the end of the conversation whether the other person would really know you?

Last weekend we were away with friends who we have known for a very long time some 30 years now and although we don’t seem them very often these days the depth of the relationship was obvious as we spoke, laughed and travelled together.

It takes time to truly know someone and to grow in that relationship with them.

We have been thinking as a ministry team of what we can teach on a Sunday and in mid week groups as we approach the interregnum and beyond, what will best help us to seek a vision for the future here, and as we have thought about it I was struck powerfully by the call for us as Christians to Know God.  Paul says in Phillipians 3: 10  I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection,    and it is this desire that I think we need to grow in all of us- to desire to know God-

This is both about our own discipleship and about sharing in Christ’s mission for the world. So what does it mean to know Christ?

At a basic level it is about our own personal relationship but this is not something that is static – if we take discipleship seriously then this should be ever changing and developing as we travel our lives with Christ by our side.

So knowing Christ is about intellectual knowledge in our deepening of understanding and intellectual enquiry as to the deep questions that we are posed from the bible  - Who really was Jesus, what did he mean when he said I am the way, the truth and the life, how does this knowledge influence my thought processes and actions

But knowing Christ is so much more about head knowledge, it is something deep seated and all about heart knowledge as well. As we grow in our relationship with him we begin to know him at different levels of understanding. As we grow in our relationship with him we begin to see the intricacy of our lives being woven together in a unique and beautiful way with Christ as the master weaver of the threads.  Knowing Christ involves our prayer lives, our quiet lives, our times of reflection and how we deal with the stresses and strains of life.

And knowing Christ is all about relationships with each other and the world outside our life as a church. Knowing Christ involves us learning together what it means to be Christ’s disciples at a very deep level, what it means to love each other as Christ himself loves us. Knowing Christ is as much about our relationships with each other as it is about our relationship with Christ himself.

And in order to make Christ known we need to be growing in our knowledge of Him. It is not a one comes first and once we have that sorted we can move on to the next part of the jigsaw puzzle. It can’ t be that because in many ways we would never get there – it takes a life time to truly know Christ. But when we are on that journey it is a gospel imperative to begin to make Christ known in the world. But we begin that because we have begun to get to know Christ ourselves and want to share the amazing news/life/blessings that this entails.

So as we move out of Lent and into Easter we are going to be thinking about this in our sermons – we are going to be thinking as we read the resurrection accounts what each teaches us about Knowing the resurrected Christ, and then in our small groups we are going to be thinking how we can deepen that relationship with continuing to think about prayer.

Jesus asked his disciples the question who do people say that I am- and then more challenging to them – who do you say that I am?  When we look at Jesus presented to us in the Bible who do we think he is?  Today’s story is a great challenge to us as we see Jesus presented to us as a King riding into Jerusalem- to the jews of the day a deeply significant event- they shouted Hosanna to him thinking he was one thing and then when he didn’t live up to their expectations a week later they were shouting crucify.

So as we think about  deepening our understanding of who Jesus is – what sort of King is Jesus?

And as we answer that question we are left with many more as his Kingship challenges us if we accept the invitation to be part of his radical and life changing Kingdom, because as we look at Jesus today and see him riding into Jerusalem on a donkey we are left with the picture of a King of surprises.

Jesus’ Kingship is surprising in that it is so different to the idea of Kingship and power in the world today. Jesus rides a donkey not a symbol of power and authority but a symbol of humility and peace.
If he had come to be a wordly King with power and with view to conquer by force he would have been on a white charger or war horse- but here he is on the back of a donkey a symbol of peace.

We know this fulfils prophecy, prophecy written in the book of Zechariah 9– “Rejoice o daughter Zion! Shout aloud O daughter Jerusalem!  For your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey.”  But this prophecy continues with the reason why the Messiah will come— “he will cut off the war chariot from Ephraim, and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall command peace (shalom) to the nations; his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.”  

Yes the Messiah shall come as a King on a donkey but he wasn’t coming to bring freedom from oppression as they anticipated – he was coming as the Prince of Peace, and the people didn’t get it.

Take for example the waving of the palm branches. This had a specific symbolic meaning. It was used to celebrate the Maccabean victory less than two centuries before, when the Jewish Maccabees militarily conquered and retook Jerusalem from pagan overlords.   It was what the crowds hoped for when they saw Jesus riding into town on a donkey, which reminded them of King David or King Solomon and their ceremonial ridings into Zion. 

The people waving their palm branches had one expectation but Jesus came not to meet their expectations but to meet a more profound need.

Jesus raised the hopes and expectations of his own disciples who thought that he was coming to town as the new leader the new King perhaps they thought they would have pride of place in the new government.  Perhaps it is not surprising their lack of understanding when things changed during the next week.

Jesus was a King of surprises his Kingship was radical and he had already shared this with his disciples yet they didn’t appear to understand. His manifesto was contained within his teaching most notably that on the mount when he shared the priorities of his Kingdom.

Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
⁴ Blessed are those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.
⁵ Blessed are the meek,
    for they will inherit the earth.
⁶ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be filled.
⁷ Blessed are the merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.
⁸ Blessed are the pure in heart,
    for they will see God.
⁹ Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God.
¹⁰ Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹ “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.¹² Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

When we read those words we are challenged in our discipleship –– these are the characteristics of his Kingdom – meekness, righteousness, mercy, peace, and in turn persecution and rejection.

And the challenge then to us is how do we display these characteristics in our daily live

Jesus came to bring this peace to the world.  Peace in our hearts and lives. The events of this coming week as we look to the cross show his love for us and by the cross we are able to know forgiveness and peace in our hearts as we find access to God again.

As we enter Holy week we look to the cross and we see God’s amazing love for us all.

But as we see the prince of peace the King of all Kings riding on a donkey we are challenged to think of what it truly means to be part of His Kingdom.

If we take this seriously then our lives as individuals and a church will be radically changed because this is about putting the characteristics of Christ’s kingdom into practise. Jesus as the King of Kings rules over the world and shows himself to the world through his people.  

As Tom Wright writes: “When God wants to change the world he doesn’t send in the tanks. He sends in the meek, the mourners, those who are hungry and thirsty for God’s justice, the peacemakers, and so on. Just as God’s whole style his chosen way of operating, reflects his generous love, sharing his rule with his human creatures, so the way in which those humans then have to behave if they are to be agents of Jesus’ lordship reflects in its turn the same sense of vulnerable, gentle, but powerful self-giving love.”

We have seen examples of this throughout the centuries as Christians have stood up for the Kingdom values and have led in the move to change the world – the abolition of slavery, the ending of South African apartheid the setting up of the hospice movement – all these have been led by members of Christ’s Kingdom taking his Kingdom values seriously – showing by example of the Kingdom of the prince of peace who came riding on a donkey.

So as we look at Jesus on the donkey riding into Jerusalem  we can hear his question to us - Who do you say that I am?  If we have begun to know him as the Prince of peace then we can not fail to be challenged to consider the implications of his Kingship on our own lives. 

If others are to know Christ as the King of their lives how can they see him reflected in my life? Do I display a Kingdom of peace in how I live and interact with others?  

Perhaps this week as we journey with Jesus towards the cross and pause at its foot on Friday to see the enormity of Christ’s love for us we can be challenged in our own discipleship to Know Christ as the prince of peace in our lives and live by his Kingdom values.