The Rest of the Story: A King—Whose Idea Is That

The Rest of the Story: A King—Whose Idea Is That? = = John 12:12-13, 18:33-34

Palm Sunday—the day they welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem as a KING! Our children re-enacted that excit= ing day for us as worship began this morning.&= nbsp; We call it “The Triumphal Entry” and in John’s Gos= pel, we find the account in chapter twelve (John 12:12-13):

12The n= ext day the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was on his way= to Jerusalem. 13They= took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,
   "Hosanna!"
   "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!&qu= ot;
   "Blessed is the King of Israel!"<= /p>

Well, they were happy about his arrival, but a lot of = other folks in Jerusalem had problems with so much fanfare and celebration related to Jesus. They were determined to put a stop= to it. And in our next passage f= rom John’s Gospel, over in chapter 18, we find Jesus at the palace of Pilate, the Roman governor for the region.

During the previous night, a group of soldiers and rel= igious establishment types, with the help of Judas, of course, had found Jesus in = Gethsemane. They arrested him and took him before the High Priest. Since they were not allowed to kil= l him, though, they carried him to Pilate and told him that Jesus was claiming to = be their king—which sets up this encounter:

John 18:33-34 33Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, "Are y= ou the king of the Jews?"

34"Is that your own idea," Jesus asked, "= or did others talk to you about me?"

It seems a little awkward, this encounter between a go= vernor and a king. The king outranked the governor, though from their conversation, you would never know it! And = when the governor asked the king if he really was a king, he replied, “Who= se idea is that—yours, or somebody elses?’ We’ll get back to that!

The angry mob that brought Jesus to Pilate wanted him = put to death. Pilate took Jesus inside to question him—to get away from all = the noise, for one thing.

Pilate also knew that none of the High Priest’s = crowd would actually enter the Palace—especially not with Passover so near. That would make them un= clean, you see. Oh, they could call = for Jesus’ death…but what they couldn’t do was enter the hous= e of a Gentile—go figure!

Anyway, in the quietness of the palace, Pilate questio= ned Jesus: “Are YOU the king of = the Jews?” Was he smiling, or laughing? Did it = just seem ridiculous? Here was Jes= us, hands tied behind his back, crowned with thorns, blood trickling down his cheeks, exhausted from a long night of being roughed up by soldiers—h= ow could this man be anybody’s king?

Besides, it was a loaded question. If Jesus said “Yes,” he would be charged with insurrection against Rome—which will get you crucified= . If he said “No,” he would deny who he was and his reason for b= eing in the world.

Tough spot to be in.&= nbsp; But then Jesus surprised Pilate with a question of his own: “Is this business of me being a king—is that your own idea, or did others talk to you about me?” Jesus is saying, “Pilate, do= you believe it is even in the realm of possibility that I am a King, or are you just repeating what someone else told you?”

You know, the only kind of kingdom Pilate had ever bel= ieved in was one that was ruled with an iron fist. That’s all he had ever known= . A kingdom of the heart never cross= ed his mind. A kingdom based on love= and not power—that was not even in his realm of possibility. Jesus knew that when he asked the question, that there was no way Pilate thought he could somehow, some way, = be a king.

So why did Jesus even bother to ask the question? To buy a little time, maybe? Could be, but I think it goes deep= er than that. This is a question= , not just for Pilate, but for all of us.

Jesus wants y= ou and me to search OUR souls and discover how much of what we say we believe is merely a repetition of what others say—and how much of it comes from = deep within our own hearts. Wh= en it comes to Jesus, are we merely conforming to what others say, or are we truly convicted in what we say.

There’s a big difference! I grew up in a Christian home with= a mother and father who not only taught me about God and made sure I was in church every time the doors were open, they also lived the Christian life before me daily. They loved t= he Lord and they loved others. They found their places of service in Christ’s Kingdom. They gave generously= and taught me to do the same.

At the age of nine, I felt God tugging at my heart. I knew my sins needed to be forgiv= en, and that Christ had died for me, and I walked the aisle at my home church in Simpsonville and publicly professed my faith and was baptized.

But just around the corner was adolescence—that awkward stage of leaving childhood behind in order to begin to embrace adulthood. Part of that proce= ss is to question anything that any adult ever told you, especially your parents = and anyone else that is an authority figure in your life. It’s all part of taking responsibility for your own life, becoming your own person.

It may seem for a while that the people who love you m= ost cannot be trusted. You reject what they tell you in favor of what your peers say, or something you picked up on the internet or the TV, or what some mov= ie star or punk rocker says.

Most young people go through something like that. I know I did—a time of questioning—a time of realizing that what mom and dad and my preacher= and Sunday School teachers had said was not enough. Now it was a matter of what I say,= what I believe, what I trust to be true.

I went through some tough years of questioning before settling in my heart and soul, thi= s is what I believe. This is what I trust to be true. And I recommitted my life to Jesus Christ, embracing Him afresh as Savior and as Lord of my life. Never again would my relationship = with Christ be based just on what others have said. Now it is fully what I say, and wh= at I believe, and what I live and put into practice in my life.

Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king?” And Jesus responded, “Is tha= t your idea, or is it just something that somebody told you?” It makes a difference, friend. No matter how old we are, it makes= all the difference in the world—for now, and for eternity, the answer we = give to this question. Who is Jesus Christ to you—in= your heart—in your life? Is = he your king?

It’s impossible to be a follower of Jesus Christ= based on someone else’s answer to that question. It must be our answer, our belief,= our commitment of all that we are to him.

Either Jesus Christ is our king or not. I can’t make that decision f= or you. Your mom or dad, nor grandma or your favorite uncle cannot decide for you. Whether you’re eig= ht or eighty, this must be your decision.

Did you notice that Pilate tried to dodge the question= ? No one can really do that after encountering Jesus, but he tried. “It was your own people who handed you over to me,” Pila= te said (v. 35).

What was he really trying to say? “I’m not responsible—I’m not to blame for this—I don’t h= ave to decide about who you are and what my relationship with you will be. This is all their fault, not mine.” That sounds = like us, doesn’t it?

So what if I’m making a mess of my life? So what if I’m living far re= moved from God’s will? Maybe I’m not instilling the right values in my children or setting the rig= ht example for them—what is that to you?

And when things or people don’t’ turn out = so well, we look to blame somebody else. We blame our parents, our friends, the school system, the = church and its staff, our boss or our spouse.= If we’re not happy, or successful, or content, it’s got = to be somebody else’s fault.

If my children are in trouble, it could not possibly be because I’ve abdicated my role as a parent by giving in instead of guiding and disciplining---by assigning blame rather making my child own up= to his responsibilities—or by purchasing yet another toy to occupy my ch= ild’s mind and time rather than spending that time with him myself. It’s got to be someone else’s fault!

Pilate c= ould be considered the patron saint of those who always find someone else to blame. “What’s happening to you, Jesus, is simply not my fault,” says Pilate. Somehow, that has such a contempor= ary ring!

Friends, the God who gives us these lives also gives us responsibility for them—for our own lives, and the lives of anyone el= se He places in our care. And Je= sus, although merciful, gracious and kind, he loves us too much to let us off the hook. “What about you,&= #8221; he wants to know, “who do yo= u say that I am? Am I YOUR KING?”

And our reply doesn’t require a lot of wordsR= 12;but it does require some. Romans 10:9 says, “If you confe= ss with your mouth ‘Jesus is Lord’ and believe in you heart that God ra= ised him from the dead, you will be saved.” By the way, Lord and King can be u= sed interchangeably—they both mean basically the same thing—the person who is in charge of your life.

In Matthew 10= :32, Jesus says one of our favorite Baptist verses: “Whoever acknowledges = me (confesses me) before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven.”

In Baptist life, we have public professions of our fai= th, followed by a very public baptism. And hopefully that is followed by a lifestyle that brings honor to Christ—walking the walk, in other words.

If following Jesus ends with walking down the aisle and being baptized—if that’s as far as we get, we’ve never re= ally begun. Jesus warned us, “many will say to me ‘Lord, Lord,̶= 1; and I will have to say, ‘I never knew you.’”

So what do you say?&n= bsp; Is Jesus Christ your king? If He is, this relationship will affect every aspect of your life. It will make a difference, for instance, in how you treat others, begin= ning with the members of your own family, because you know that everything you s= ay and do is a reflection on your king.

If Jesus is your king, it will affect your financial decisions—it will change the way you handle your money because you understand that you are to serve your king and serve others in his name through the way you manage the resources he has entruste= d to your care.

His kingship in your life will influence your selection of friends, but at the= same time, it will cause you to reach out to those whom others refuse to befriend—because that’s the kind of king he is.

Are you getting the picture—that making Jesus yo= ur king will influence every choice you make in life—where you go, what you do, the kinds of sights and sounds you choos= e to absorb into your mind and the substances you consume into your bodyR= 12;because you realize that your mind and body are a castle for the king—and you refuse to let anybody trash the place!

Do you get this? Do you know what Jesus is asking here? You don’t take saying y= es to Jesus lightly. If Jesus is= your king, he will transform every aspect of your life—“for anyone who is in Christ Jesus is a new creation.”

So how about it, young people / adults? / Pastor and s= taff?

What do you say deacons and SS teachers, musicians and missions leaders and members of the church in general?

Early in the week, they welcomed Jesus by waving palm branches and shouting “Hosanna to the king.” By weeks end, they were calling fo= r his death. Now we would never do = a thing like that—but we can be just as fickled as them with the little games= we play with the Lord and with one another.

At least everyone could tell where they stood. Sometimes with us, you cant’ tell. Who is Jesus—no, really, who is he to us?

Is he our KIN= G? What would those closest to you sa= y?

But again, nobody can answer that question for youR= 12;or for me. What matters is what = you say, and what I say—through the words we speak, and through the lives= we live.

We know where we stand. Those closest to us know. Most important of all, the king knows. Jesus Christ knows already.

So we might as well be honest. Is Jesus Christ the ruler of our lives? Is he Lord of all? On this Palm Sunday, is he our KIN= G? Jesus is listening and watching--w= hat do YOU say?