Home • Preaching the Word • Luke
A King Like No Other
"After He had said these things, He was going on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. When He approached Bethphage and Bethany, near the mount that is called Olivet, He sent two of the disciples, saying, "Go into the village ahead of you; there, as you enter, you will find a colt tied on which no one yet has ever sat; untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, 'Why are you untying it?' you shall say, 'The Lord has need of it.'"
So those who were sent went away and found it just as He had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, "Why are you untying the colt?" They said, "The Lord has need of it." They brought it to Jesus, and they threw their coats on the colt and put Jesus on it.
As He was going, they were spreading their coats on the road. As soon as He was approaching, near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen, shouting:
"BLESSED IS THE KING WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, "Teacher, rebuke Your disciples." But Jesus answered, "I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!""
Matthew 21 tells us that when Jesus entered Jerusalem the city was stirred, and they were saying to one another, “WHO IS THIS?” So today, we ask,
Who Is This King?
In this passage and in the church calendar we come to the climax of the Christian calendar. It is holy week where we celebrate the death and resurrection of our Lord. This day, we come to focus on Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem for the last time in His earthly ministry. In Luke 19, we find Jesus and His disciples entering into Jerusalem for the Passover. But while Jesus knew exactly what was going to happen to Him, His disciples were hopeful that Jesus was going to overthrow Rome, take His crown, and sit on His throne over Israel. However, He was not going to become the earthly king His disciples expected. Jesus was entering into Jerusalem to receive a crown of a different sort—a crown of thorns.
Who is this king who passes up the rule of this world with all its pleasures to take on a crown of thorns? Philippians 2:6 says that this king, “though He existed in the form of God, He did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped…but He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
This King is a King like no other and a king worthy of all our praise.