2024
King Jesus
Passage: Luke 19:28-40
“On the one hand this looks like all other triumphal entries. Two hundred years
earlier Simon Maccabeus had defeated foreign armies and kept Israel independent and he rode in to Jerusalem with people shouting cheers and waiving Palm branches because he delivered them… This triumphal entry parodies the entries of kings and armies. Victors in battle do not ride into their capital cities riding on asses but on fearsome horses, but this kind does not, and will not triumph through force of arms.”
—Stanley Hauerwas
SERMON OUTLINE:
- A Parade
- A Paradox
- A Promise
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
Share a time when you experienced welcoming someone special. What action took place in order to welcome this person? What feelings did you experience?
Read Luke 19:28-40. What surprises, encourages, or challenges you from this passage? Is there anyone you identify with in this passage? Why?
The parade with palms provides a visual declaration that Jesus is King! This King is the perfect source of security and peace for all those under his rule. In what ways do you find it comforting and challenging to be convinced that Jesus is the King of kings?
Bob Dylan sang in Gotta Serve Somebody:
“Might like to wear cotton, might like to wear silk
Might like to drink whiskey, might like to drink milk
You’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You’re gonna have to serve somebody”
We are all serving somebody. What are you tempted to crown as king in your life? (Career, political cause, leisure & fun, family or idea of family, independence). These can be good things in their proper place but they cannot bear the “weight of the crown.”
Jesus came as a king, but a king like no other. He came in power, but not the power the world values. He came to die to take the wrath our sin deserves and restore what is broken in this world. In what ways does this encourage you to worship Jesus as King?
Consider the response of the people and nature in this passage to King Jesus? What does faithfulness and allegiance to Jesus look like in this passage?
In what ways do you need to realign (an act of repentance) your life (expectations, values, perspective, attention, etc.) with Jesus?
PRAYER
Share with your group how they can be praying for you: what is weighing on you from this past week? What are you praising God for from this past week?
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13)