Matthew 21: 9
Remembering Palm Sunday, A.D. 27

Hosanna to the Son of David! 
Blessed be the One who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest!

I. THINK ABOUT THE HISTORICAL EVENT

1. It is sometimes lost in reading these passages that the action was a deliberate re-enactment of the coronation of King Solomon, recorded in I Kings 7: 33ff.  It was in the midst of a palace revolt when David was a very old man and nearing the end of his life.  And David, in order to foil the intention of the conspirators, had Solomon made the next King-in-waiting by public acclamation -- the way in which a King was "crowned" (as we in modern times and the people in Medieval times would say). 

2. In support of this understanding of the passage, the reaction of the religious enemies of Jesus in Matthew 21: 16 shows it to be true -- even if we moderns, who do not know the customs of ancient Israel, fail to see it.  The hostile observers were said to be "indignant, and according to v.16: "they said to (Jesus): Do you hear what these are saying?  It was not that they were saying "He's a jolly good fellow" or "Hurrah! Hurrah!," but they were acclaiming him the Messiah, the King of Israel," who is in our age recognized as the Great King over God's people for as long as time shall last!

II. NOW THIS KINGSHIP WAS REALLY A DIFFERENT KIND OF KINGSHIP THAN THEY WERE USED TO AND, PERHAPS, EXPECTED, BUT IT WAS AN INFINITELY BETTER KINGSHIP!

1. It was and is a spiritual kingship, though we who are pre-millianarians believe that it will have a quasi-political significance in the Millennium, when there will be an earthly rule of Christ over all the nations, probably administered by the resurrected and glorified saints, as we will be in that time. 

2. But this kingdom for us, now, is essentially a submission to his Lordship, even as we who are Christians, have submitted ourselves to his Saviorhood -- whether or not all of us fully realize the full significance and outcome of that Kingship/Lordship.  He is King right now in the lives of all who have accepted him as Savior!  And this is part of the Gospel!

III. NOW, JUST WHAT DOES THAT MEAN IN PRACTICAL TERMS?

1. It is not just a matter of grand, dramatic, Palm Sunday pageants, put on in magnificent temples of worship -- which are more reminiscent of pagan temples than of the humble churches founded by the Apostles of the Lord. 

2. I find it interesting that the Apostles usually changed the word from "kingship" to "Lordship," probably to avoid the antipathy that both Romans and Greeks had toward the idea of kingship, which both peoples thought to be tyranny.  There were a lot of dirty words in Rome, and Rex was certainly one of them, as was baseleus, "king," among the Greeks.  But the Lord Jesus -- King Jesus, if you please -- is not only not tyrannical, but a blessing that will not end in this life, but will go on and on and on into eternity, years and centuries and millennia without end.

3. Several things are included in that kingship, that lordship:

One of them is his representation of the Divine Trinity.  His "Kingship" means his pre-eminence in the Godhead.  Though, in eternity -- beyond time, God the Father will be pre-eminent, in the present age, God the Son is the pre-eminent member of the Godhead.  I have spoken about this recently and will not repeat myself.  Suffice it to say, we are not just theists or spiritists, but we are well-called by that name of " Christian," a name by which the disciples of the Lord were first called in Antioch, according to Acts 11: 26.

Our dear Lord Jesus Christ is the image of the blessed Triune God, existing in incarnate form, through whom we understand and approach the Father and the Spirit.  We glorify the whole Trinity when we glorify the Son, the Second Person, who is our Savior and Divine Sovereign.

These ancient people, on that first Palm Sunday, waved their palm branches and cried out "Hosanna!  Hosanna! Hosanna to the Son of David!"  And we do the same in hymnody and in prayers of praise and thanksgiving!  He is our King!  He is our Lord!  He is our divine Sovereign!

And in a sense, we imitate his lifestyle -- not that we go about dressed in imitation first century clothes made out of old bathrobes and pj.'s -- but we represent him as if we are emissaries of his Kingship in such things as his love for all who will receive it, his concern for others, his effect upon secular history where, in a large part of the world, even the calendar testifies to him!  This headship over our lives calls us to imitate his life upon the earth, representing our King! 

He was the perfect demonstration of what is called "common grace" because the whole world benefited even in the secular-culture aspects of society through his coming.  Look at North America, the British Isles and much of Europe and see how the coming of Christ has benefited humanity in general.  These parts of the world, in their best constituents and their best years clearly saw Jesus as their King and they intended to follow their king in the way that they lived their lives, involved in society in a such a manner that was not hidden away in monasteries and hermitages, but, as subjects of Jesus, involved with the general society, living for him, as their dear Lord -- their King.  And this will be true in your life also, so far as Jesus is king of your life.

And as we look back over history, we see that the efforts of Christ's subjects has a significant salutary effect upon society in the realms of government, living standards, civic integrity and even the advance of real civilization.  These have been a secondary response to his kingship.

But his Kingship/Lordship also calls us to obedience regarding specific commands, whether they are recorded in the four Gospels, as quotations from the Lord's teaching during "the days of his flesh," or were delivered by the Apostles, who were appointed his personal successors, and who had authority to speak in his behalf -- or even in the moral commandments of the Old Testament, which was under his kingship, unbeknownst to most of the people of that time.

Our obedience to the King is evidence as to whether he is, indeed, our king and our Savior.  Of course we continually fall short, because we are not yet made perfect in holiness and will not be, until we go to be with him.  Thank God that there is forgiveness for the sins and inadequate obedience of Christians, and not just a one-time forgiveness, after which there would be no more forgiveness. 

We continually follow the Lord's instruction in his sample prayer, in which he instructed us to have the functional equivalent in our prayers of "forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors."  And the most godly saint has reason to pray in this vein -- not chanting the model-prayer outline, thoughtlessly, but praying as he meant us to do, using it as an outline of specific things to pray for -- not just ripping off the phrase "forgive us our debts," like nuns chanting the rosary, but specifying our sins, repenting of them and confessing them and rejoicing in his atonement which covers them.

If we were perfect, it would be assumed that we would always obey our Savior and King, but we are not perfect and test his grace repeatedly.  And he demonstrates great grace toward us whom he loves; great grace that is unfathomable.  But even in that grace, that amazing grace, we are called to obey our divine sovereign!

The communion, which we celebrate this morning on this first Sunday of the month, speaks to this.  The cup is a celebration of, and confession of, his Saviorhood -- as the divine sacrifice "who bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we being dead unto sin might live unto righteousness."  He said: "This cup is the New Covenant in my blood, which is poured out for the remission of sins."  It is a confession of, and a repentance for, our sins; and a sign given by the dear Lord of the forgiveness of those sins.  The bread is a celebration of and confession of his divine/human person and also of his kingship over our lives, as well as his saviorhood over our souls. 

Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Triune God! Hosanna in the highest!"