The kind of King Jesus is

Notes from a sermon preached at Resurrection Lutheran Church in Malvern, Ohio, Sunday, April 17, 2011

When Jesus rode into Jerusalem that first Palm Sunday the people shouted "Hosanna to the Son of David!  Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord!", just as they did when the kings of Israel rode into Jerusalem in days of old.  But what kind of King is Jesus?

He is a humble king.  He rode into Jerusalem on a donkey and its foal.  Not on a majestic, snorting warhorse like a Roman king would, but on a donkey - tiny, meek - humble.  A working-man's animal.  A blue-collar beast.  There were no preparations - no mounted guards, no marching band to practice, no red carpet to clean and roll out, no flower girls.  Just cloaks, dusty with road dirt, and palms snapped impromtu from branches along the road.  A humble king - one you might get close to - one you might not fear.

He is a caring king.  Once He got to the temple, the blind and lame came to Him and He healed them.  He didn't send them away or turn His back - He healed them.  Gone were the blindness and the cataracts and the styes; gone were the limps and the sciatica and the turned ankles; gone was every big and little infirmity that the people came to Him with.  Nothing was too small, too insignificant for Him to care about.  Nothing still is.  He cares about the pain a sliver in your finger causes you just as much as He cares about the suffering of the people of Japan.  You don't need to hesitate to come to Him because your need seems less important than another's - it's you He loves, and you can bring Him anything for healing.

He is a child's king.  He didn't stop the children from running around in the temple area, shouting "Hosanna to the Son of David!"  He welcomed them into His arms and onto His lap.  He blessed the ones that were brought to Him.  He didn't go down to their level, but raised them up to Himself.  And He has done that for us, too, and called us the "children of God." 

He might be a dangerous king.  Dangerous if you think "church" has to be a certain way.  Dangerous if you think "praise" has to take a certain form.  Dangerous if you think some people are more important than others.  Dangerous if you think "behaving" is something of value.  Watch out!  He might overturn something you value and send your treasure scattering in the wind.

But He is, finally, a loving king.  Loving those who know they are in need of His love, and those who think they aren't.  Loving those who are hurt and wounded, and those who are hale and hearty.  Loving the mature and the immature; the powerful and the powerless; the children and the adults.  Loving the world so much that He came not to rule it, but to die for it, to give Himself for it and for us, from His unimaginable love. 

And because of that love and that gift, "God has therefore also highly exalted Him and given Him the Name that is above every name.  That at the Name of JESUS every knee should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." 

That's the kind of king Jesus is.