An Unlikely Throne
Transcript
Good morning. We are going to be in Matthew chapter 27 today. We put extra Bibles out on the rows so that everybody could have one. So if you didn't bring one, we've got some on the rows for you to look at because we're going to be looking at a good bit of the text. We're going to be spending a good bit of time in Matthew chapter 27. So we are in our fifth week of our Kingdom Come series where we're looking at Jesus as king, where we're understanding that that Jesus is a king.
And here's the problem that we have with that. We don't like kings. Historically, as Americans, we haven't done so well with with kings. We don't have a very good track record with kings. So we might like kings in theory or we watch movies and it's interesting that there's kings.
But the truth is we don't like that idea. We don't like the concept of someone having that much power and authority, that a king can just do what they want so that when they speak things, they can speak things into law. There's nobody that like checks behind whether or not that makes any sense or is a good law. They just get to say, so we're doing right. It down. Boom.
Done. I just kinged it up like they get to do that. And we don't like that. We don't appreciate that to the point that anytime someone seems like they get too much power, we're just automatically suspicious of it. Like the mayor of West Columbia just kind of got into it with city council. So city council like stripped him of some of his powers.
So then he did something where we had to do like a runoff vote to give him more power that he wrote up. So the mayor was going to have not only the power that they took from him, but extra power. And West Columbia was like, no, you don't get more power. Quit fighting with city council about stuff like that was pretty much what happened. And so because we don't even want a mayor to have a lot of power. Like we would much rather diffuse power amongst a group of people because we think that's safer.
And the truth is that it is a safe way to operate when you have sinful people in charge of things. Anytime we've seen someone get ultimate power or a lot of authority, it tends to go poorly. And so we're automatically just kind of wary of this. But let me tell you what's true. We love democracy and we love a republic. We love the idea of being able to vote.
And but the best form of government is a benevolent dictatorship. Period. The best form of government is a wise and good king. Because then we don't have to have a bunch of elections and we don't have to worry about like if the king could actually be good. And the problem is we immediately go, yeah, but that's not going to happen. True.
But just go with me here. If the king could actually be good, if they were actually wise and benevolent and they were altruistic and they were just loving and made good decisions for the people, that's actually the best way to go. If they actually make things, it's not decisions that aren't just in their best interest, but in the interest of the people. I was talking to my cousin one time and I asked him what he thought was the best form of government. That's what he said. And I thought it was really weird.
But he said, yeah, benevolent dictatorship. That's what I'd be for. And it was like, I don't think that's a good idea. But I've thought about it more and I do think that's a good idea. The problem is you just wouldn't know if it was going to be benevolent. So dictators don't usually handle that well.
But that is the best way to have a government. So what we've looked at is that Jesus is a king. He is the king. The Old Testament prophesied eternal king. And so what we asked early on was, is he a good king? Like if he's a king and if his kingship is eternal so that it extends to us, is he a good king?
And more than that, like, because that's not really even the question. The question is, is he a better king than we are? Because our option when a king shows up, there aren't like dual kingships. When a king shows up, you're either under or over. Like you either submit or you fight. And so the question becomes, is he a good king?
Do we submit to him? Do we follow him in his kingdom? And so I just, thinking along those lines, wanted to talk about what makes a good king. And I've got some thoughts before we get into the text of what makes a good king. A king, a good king, takes on the plight of his people. So a good king knows what's going on.
He doesn't separate himself from his people. Like recently, I've seen a bunch of stuff about Kim Jong-un, who's been sick and I hadn't seen him for a while. And people are making jokes because he's got the best care that North Korea offers. And he's sick. And they're like, I don't know what's going on with the rest of the people in North Korea. But this isn't a good sign for them because he's separated himself so much from his people that he, what they go through isn't what he goes through.
But a good king is a part of his people and is among his people. There's a story, an old kind of story in China where they came to the king and they said, the people are starving because we're running out of rice. And the story goes that the king responded, well, let them eat meat. And I can just imagine the people being like, you don't have a clue, bro. Like, let me time you out for a second. We run out of meat before we run out of rice.
Like, if we're complaining about rice, meat's been gone for a long time. Like, that's not an option. It's not like there's people starving in China and somebody's like, bro, I need rice. And they're like, bro, just eat some meat. No, I don't want meat. I don't want rice.
And if you offer me meat, I'm just going to starve. I need rice. Like, that's not how that happens. And so this king has no idea what's going on with his people. But a good king does.
A good king isn't sitting in a palace eating all the fine luxuries and allowing his people to starve. A good king starves alongside his people. A good king maintains justice. You don't live in fear where there's a good king. You don't live worried where your property will be taken from you. It's not set up to where someone's bigger, stronger than you.
They just walk into your house and they're like, hey, I own this now. You're like, but I live here. Not anymore unless you want to be my slave. Like, that doesn't work under a good king. People are punished for their crimes. That's why we have a fit every time we see a police officer shoot someone who's unarmed.
Because it goes against our sense of justice. It breaks down the system as to how it ought to work. And there's always extenuating circumstances and things. But cops just shoot and shoot people who are unarmed. And I love, like recently there was some stuff and people came on and said, well, nobody's talking about all the people who are shooting each other in inner cities. And it's like, right.
Because they're not cops. That's how that works. Like a teacher jumps up and slaps a kid. You don't go, yeah, but the kids slap each other some. It's like, no. Like, the system's breaking down here.
And that's why we celebrate when cops get it right. That's why we're excited when justice is maintained. That's why we love the fact that if someone steals your property, you have someone to call and say, hey. I mean, recently Matt's truck got broken into. And they stole a guitar, which was Raz's guitar, which is great. So, like, Matt's like, my truck got broken into.
But don't worry. They only stole Raz's stuff. And so later on, a couple weeks later, we get a phone call. And we're working on stuff. And Matt gets a call. And he's like, it's the Lexington County Sheriff's Department there at my house.
And so I rode over with him because I figured he's getting arrested. I'm like, you know, I guess you got warrants. They only do house calls for a few things, man. And so, but we showed up over there, and they had the guitar. And so we didn't tell Raz about it. We pawned it and split the money.
But, no, but they gave his guitar back. And we celebrate the fact that they got it right because maintaining justice is something that happens inside of a good kingdom. And so a king, a good king maintains justice. A good king also offers grace. So he doesn't just destroy everyone who, all of his enemies are the people who don't agree with him.
He offers grace. He offers mercy. He helps people who are down. There's some form of welfare system for people who are down on their luck. Like a good king is gracious to his people. Gives what is unearned.
A good king wars for his people. That's why when you watch movies like Gladiator and Braveheart and The Patriot and basically any movie that has Mel Gibson in it, that's why the hero is at the front of the battle. Like he runs in with his men, and the bad guy is like up on a horse watching. Like if the commander of the good army is in the fray, and the commander of the bad guys is like watching, and he's like, well, I guess we're losing. Whatever, I'm going to leave. And he like rides off.
Or he just tells them to shoot arrows or cannons into his own men because he doesn't care because he's not a part of it. And so a good king actually wars with and for his people. Like I was recently watching another Mel Gibson movie. We were soldiers, and he was talking to them before they left, and he said, I can't promise that all of you will come back. He said, but what I do promise is that my boots will be the first one on the ground and the last one's off when we leave. And there's just this sense of like, yes, that is how that's supposed to work.
If you're going to lead, you need to be a part of, in front of, warring with your people and not having them fight and sacrifice for you. The other thing that happens with a good king is that they can be trusted. You don't always know what they're doing. That's the way it works with the White House. We don't have all the information that President Obama has. I don't wake up at 5 o'clock in the morning and have people brief me on what's going on in remote parts of the world, but he does.
And then he makes decisions based off of that. And we go to war, don't go to war based off of that. And with a good king, what you see is you see all these other things. You know that they maintain justice, that they don't have a sacrifice for them, but they sacrifice with and for us. And there's just this sense of, I don't know what they're doing, but I know we can trust them. And that's what it looks like in the kingdom with a good king.
I don't know why we're doing this plan. I just know that this king is trustworthy. And so we're going to look, and what we've asked early on was, is Jesus a good king? And today we're going to kind of look at and try to answer that question. We're looking to see if Jesus is a good king. So we'll be in the end of Matthew's gospel.
And what we know is that Jesus is the ruling, reigning, forever king. He's the king of the universe who's created everything and rules and reigns over it. And here's something we know about kings. Kings love their thrones. They do. It's like people with cars now.
So like, you know, the show like Pimp My Ride or whatever. Like kings used to do that with their thrones. So if you look them up online, there's some very elaborate, intense, cool thrones. Like King Ivan the Terrible, his whole throne was made out of ivory. So ivory's hard to come by, so he made his whole throne out of it.
Like there's the king of Denmark had his whole throne made out of narwhal tusks. Which narwhals seem like they're made up animals because it's like a whale unicorn thing. And so like you see him in the movie Elf and you're like, I'm pretty sure that's fictitious. And then you look it up online and they actually exist. Just for the record, narwhals are real. And he made his whole throne out of narwhal tusks, which is pretty gangster way to make a throne.
And so, yeah, the king of Ivan the Terrible had his whole throne made out of ivory. Solomon in the Bible had his throne made out of ivory and then coated in gold. So it didn't even matter. Like he just had to tell people, I don't know if you know this, but under all that gold, there's ivory. Like it just, you know, take your word for it. But it's like, but he had it coated in gold and he had it seated up six steps.
And there was two lines, gold lines next to it. And there were lines on every step that went up to his throne. Because kings love their throne. But here's what we see of Jesus. Isaiah 6 says that Isaiah sees God high and lifted up, seated on a throne, and that there are angels worshiping him. And then John tells us in his gospel, chapter, so y'all know who it's coming from, chapter 12, says that Isaiah saw Jesus.
So that Isaiah sees Jesus high and lifted up on a throne, ruling and reigning as the God of all creation. Philippians 2 tells us that he was equal with God, but did not see equality as a thing to be grasped, but rather humbled himself and lowered himself and came to earth. What we see in Jesus is that he doesn't love his throne, he leaves his throne. That the throne of a king is where their seat of power and authority is and that Jesus leaves it. And so what I want us to know before we get into this text is we're looking to see, is Jesus a good king? And we're also looking at the fact that as we read through this, I want us to have firmly set in our mind that this is the king.
Jesus is the ruling, reigning king of the universe. So when we watch movies and a king leaves his palace for a little while and goes and lives among his people, we're like, oh, look at this, like he's learning what it's like. When you watch Undercover Boss, it's that same thing where the CEO of a company is figuring out what it looks like to go pick up trash. And we're like, good, he needs to learn what that looks like. And what we see in Jesus is that he leaves his throne and he joins his people. And we'll read about him now in Matthew chapter 27.
I'm going to pray. We're going to hop in and we're going to look at the ruling, reigning king of the universe as he was in life on earth. God, I pray that through your Holy Spirit, you would apply your word to us today. That you would teach us, that you would firmly plant in our minds the picture of the ruling, reigning king of the universe as we read through this text. That we would not be able to escape the drastic reality of what Jesus deserves and what he receives. Speak to us today in Jesus name.
Amen. We'll start in verse 11. So this is Jesus after he's been arrested, after he has been taken before the Sanhedrin, which is the ruling body of the Jewish people. And they've taken him now to Pilate, who is a governor over Judea area. Now Jesus stood before the governor and the governor asked him, are you the king of the Jews?
Because that's what they brought him in saying he was the Christ. He says he's a king. So he says, are you the king of the Jews? And Jesus says, you have said so. But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he gave no answer.
Then Pilate said to him, do you not hear how many things they testify against you? But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge. So the governor was greatly amazed. All right. I want us to picture this. Jesus is in front of a governor.
A governor of not even like a really well-to-do area of the Roman Empire. Colossians 1 says that Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn among all creation. For by him all things were created in heaven on earth, visible or invisible, whether thrones or rulers, dominions or authorities. All things were created through him and for him. And they exist by him, that in him all things hold together. So this is the creator of the universe standing in front of a governor to be sentenced.
On trial in front of a governor. Not even Caesar, which would have been humiliating, embarrassing, and laughable, but in front of a governor. Creator of the universe. And he doesn't defend himself. He sits in silence. John tells us that at one point Pilate looks at him and because he won't defend himself, because he won't make any argument against the claims that they make against him, even though they make a long list of claims, outlandish ones.
Pilate looks at him and says, do you not realize I have the ability to release you or crucify you? And Jesus responds, no you don't. Jesus says, you only have the authority that's been given to you by my father. You have no authority over me because Jesus is the ruling reigning king, but he stands before a governor to be sentenced. Fifteen. Now at the feast, the governor was accustomed to release.
There's a big Jewish holiday going on. It was accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted. And they had then a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. So when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, who do you want me to release for you? Barabbas or Jesus who is called Christ? So he just calls out the two prisoners that were most well known.
Who do you want me to release? Barabbas, this notorious criminal, or Jesus who's called Christ? For he knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up. Besides, while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, have nothing to do with that righteous man. For I have suffered much because of him today in a dream. So his wife had had a dream where apparently it was obvious to her that they shouldn't do anything to Jesus.
There's a spiritual reality to her dream, which is a real thing about dreams, not about all dreams. So sometimes my wife will wake up and she'll be giving me a dirty look and I'll be like, what? And she's like, you were doing a bunch of junk in my dream. And I was like, well, I was behaving myself while I slept. But his wife sends him a thing saying that God had spoken to her.
Something had happened through this dream. And she says, have nothing to do with this righteous man. For I have suffered much because of him today in a dream. Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. The governor again said to them, which of the two do you want me to release for you? And they said, Barabbas.
Pilate said to them, then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ? They all said, let him be crucified. And he said, why? What evil has he done? And they shouted all the more, let him be crucified. So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but that rather a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd saying, I am innocent of this man's blood.
See to it yourselves. And all the people answered, his blood be on us and on our children. Then he released for them Barabbas and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified. So he stands in front of this crowd and he says, who do you want me to release? This notorious criminal who we know is an insurrectionist and murderer, Barabbas or Jesus, the Christ, the king. And they say, release to us Barabbas and kill Jesus.
And he says, why? What has he done? And they say, we don't care. Crucify him. His blood be on us, not on you. Crucify him.
Kill him. And to the point that a riot was breaking out. That they're beginning to realize that he's lost control of this crowd so that he placates them by killing Jesus. And what it says is that he scourged him, having scourged him, which means that he was beaten by Roman guards who had made a profession of torturing people. So having been tortured, Jesus was delivered over to be crucified, which means that they're going to take him and they're going to nail him from a cross beam through his hands or his wrist right here.
And through the top of his feet, they're going to drop that beam in the ground and he's going to hang there until he dies. A lot of times people were crucified without having been scourged. Jesus was scourged first, which means they took a cat of nine tails and ripped his back and flesh open so that you'd be able to see his ribs. And they would throw salt in it to burn the wounds, make it more painful, but also to stop the bleeding so that he would last longer for them to continue beating him. So that's the state Jesus is in.
The king of the universe. Beaten. Tortured. And heading to a cross. 27. Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor's headquarters and they gathered the whole battalion before him.
So every soldier there. And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him. And twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head. So they take a crown of thorns and they stick it down so that it stabs into his head. And they put it on his head and they put a reed in his hand, in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him saying, Hail, King of the Jews.
One of the only times Jesus was ever treated appropriately as a king was while he was being mocked by a mob of soldiers. You see, they gave him a scarlet robe. And the book of Revelation says that when he returns, he will have a scarlet robe, but it'll be a robe that's been dipped in blood. They gave him a crown of thorns, but the book of Revelation in chapter 19 says that when he returns, on his head, he'll have many crowns. Because he's not just the king of the Jews, as they mockingly say to him, but he's the king of kings. Meaning he rules over all governments, all kings, all rulers forever.
Including the Romans. They put a reed in his hand, but Revelation says that he'll have a sword coming out of his mouth, which is to strike down the nations. Which seems to be that he's going to destroy his enemies through the power of his word, which is how he creates and moves and works. And that he'll rule the world with an iron sepulter. So they give him a reed to hold in his hand, but he'll have one of iron.
And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, Hail, king of the Jews. And they spit on him, and they took the reed and struck him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him. As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name, that compelled this man to carry his cross. Seemingly because Jesus could only carry it so far, having already been tortured. Stayed up all night being beaten by Jewish people on their trial and then was handed over to the Romans in the morning.
33. And when they came to a place called Golgotha, which means place of a skull, they offered him wine to drink mixed with gall. But when he tasted it, he would not drink it. And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots. Then they sat down and kept watch over him there.
And over his head, they put the charge against him, which read, This is Jesus, the king of the Jews. That was the charge against him. He had declared that he was a king, and they killed him for it. He declared that he was Christ, and they killed him for it. Christ means leader, ruler, one who was going to set up a kingdom. They knew what had been promised.
They knew what was being said. They knew why he was being killed, and they labeled him as such. Jesus was appropriately labeled. The crime against him was true. He was the king of the Jews. But not just the Jews, everybody.
Jesus Christ, king of the universe, leaves his throne in heaven, is born in a manger, lives a perfect sinless life, and this is how he dies. Acts says he dies at the hands of lawless men. That he was destroyed, crucified, murdered. King of the universe. He didn't love his throne and hold on to his throne, but he heads to a cross. He deserves a throne.
He deserves praise. He deserves honor. He deserves worship. He deserves glory. And instead, he takes shame and defeat and torture and pain and leaves his throne and heads to a cross. So the question is, is Jesus a good king?
Does he meet the criteria? As we read through this, is Jesus a good king? We said that a king takes on the plight of his people. And the Bible tells us that Jesus died to pay for our sin. That he joined us in our mess. That he didn't sit far off and declare to us, work it out, fix it yourselves, be really good.
But no, he joined us in our mess. That he walked through life and lived as we couldn't live. And that he died in our place. That he went to the cross because he is a good king who joins in and takes part in the plight of his people. That he doesn't have his people sacrificed for him, but he sacrifices for his people. He said that he maintains justice, that a king is just and fair.
The cross is a pure, unadulterated declaration of the justice of God. Because sin will be paid for. So much so that Jesus, God of the universe, would pay for it himself. You see, when we talk about a king has justice, that sin is paid for, that wrongs are righted, that crime does not go unpunished. And that he offers grace, we see perfectly in the cross that Jesus does both. Perfectly that he does both.
I'm going to read something from Romans chapter 3 just to put this picture in our brains. It says, That's all of us. All of us fall short. This is Romans 3. And are justified by his grace as a gift. Which justified means made right.
So Jesus makes us right by his grace. Through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation. Which means that he was destroyed on behalf of wrath. Of God's wrath in our place. That we deserve wrath, but Jesus took it. That's what propitiation means.
Propitiation by his blood to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness. Or another way to say this is justice. Because in his divine forbearance, he had passed over former sins. It looked like, as we read through the Old Testament, that people got off. That people who sinned and deserved to be destroyed didn't get destroyed.
People who rebelled weren't. That justice wasn't maintained because God let people go. And what we see in the cross is that justice is maintained. Sin will be paid for. He had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time.
So that he might be both just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. What that means is this. Every sin will be paid for. All rebellion will be paid for. The question is, will it be paid for by us or by Jesus? Every time someone has wronged you.
Every time someone's stolen from you, taken from you, abused you, hurt you. And there's that moment in you, there's something inside of you that cries out for justice and punishment. The cross adamantly declares that there will be justice and punishment. But there's also grace. That Jesus would take the justice and punishment that we deserve and he would take it on himself so that we can have freedom. So he does both.
And just for those of us in this room who've been hurt, who've been harmed, who've been assaulted, who've had people rob us. Know this very clearly. Justice will be paid. And it'll either be paid on them, on those who harmed and hurt us, or it'll be paid on Jesus. And for those of us in this room who are in rebellion, who have harmed and hurt, who have stolen from God, who have fought against him. Know this.
Justice will be paid. Either by you, either by us, or by Jesus. But we're offered free grace because of what Jesus accomplishes on the cross. So he's a king who maintains justice and offers grace. We said that he wars for his people, that he steps in, that he leads in the battle, and that's exactly what Jesus does. That he went to a cross on our behalf.
That he didn't sit far back and declare that we had to go work it out. Christianity following Jesus isn't about us warring for ourselves. It's not about us earning it on our own. It's not about us achieving anything. It's not about us being very moralistic or doing our religious duty or showing up to things so that God gives us points. We don't fight this battle for ourselves.
Jesus stepped in and fought it on our behalf. And we're brought in by his victory. That Jesus has already won the war in our place and we just get to live in light of what's already been accomplished for us. Because he went to battle for us. Ultimately, a good king can be trusted. We so often have no clue what God's doing.
When there's pain, when there's hurt, when there's harm, when we're confused, we have no idea what he's up to. But the cross answers the question of whether or not God can be trusted forever. We look at the cross and we know that God is good and that he's for our good and that he can be trusted. We don't know what he's doing all the time. But we know he's good.
We know he's for our good. So much so that he would die for us because he loves us and he cares for us, which means he can handle all the rest of it. But Jesus stepped in our place and can be trusted because he went to the cross for us. Where we see Jesus's power and authority is not a throne. Where we're given the clearest image and picture as we read through scripture to know that Jesus is in charge and that he rules and that he reigns. It's not him seated on a throne.
He doesn't sit on a throne and hand out edict after edict for us to behave. For how we should follow him. For what his good subjects look like. Where we see Jesus's power and authority is on the cross. Where he's high and lifted up and deserving of honor and glory and worship. The king of the universe isn't on a throne but on a cross.
That Jesus left his throne so that we could be brought back to him. And he went to a cross. That that is his unlikely throne. Because he didn't come to set up an earthly kingdom but he came to destroy our ultimate enemy of sin, death, hell, and Satan. And he went to a cross on our behalf. Then he was buried.
Three days later he rose again. And he is seated on a throne. He does rule and reign over all of eternity. And one day he will return. To bring his church home. And to pay for, to punish the rest of sin.
But we see him high and lifted up and glorified on a cross, not a throne. That he went to a throne by way of a cross. That the one God of the universe who deserved all honor and all praise and all glory and all worship and all followership forever. Took on our plight. Fought for justice to offer grace. Won the battle we could never win.
Proved that we can trust him. And was highly exalted on a cross. Not sitting in luxury. Declaring that we have to work really hard to follow him. And that we get to, by faith, follow him. As he pays for our sin.
The band's going to come back up. And we're going to praise Jesus. Who paid for our sin. Who is a good king. And who is worth following with everything that we have. With all of our lives.
Forever. Father, we thank you for your grace. We thank you for the love that is offered to us through Jesus. God, I pray that you would continue to teach us how to worship and follow you as a king. As the ruler of all creation. Who, instead of destroying us when we rebelled, joined us and was destroyed on our behalf.
We praise you. We thank you.