Sermon - "Hail, King of the Jews http://dl.dropbox.com/u/23575548/110417Matthew28.mp3"
In the name of ┼ the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Hail, King of the Jews! We gather around, eager to see what will happen when our king comes to us, humble and gentle, seated on a donkey.
Hail, King of the Jews! We watch as our Lord enters the temple to take worship back from those who would sell it for a price.
Hail, King of the Jews! We see our Lord celebrating the forgiveness of God with his disciples.
Hail, King of the Jews! We will watch as Jesus is betrayed and arrested by a troop of several hundred soldiers who are sent against him as a military force coming to seize a king.
Hail, King of the Jews! Jesus affirms his identity as the Christ before the Jewish elders as the last of his disciples with him is denying ever knowing him.
Hail, King of the Jews! Pilate the governor begins to recognize Jesus as the Christ, the king of the Jews, even as the Jews who are gathered around call for the release of a criminal and the execution of Jesus.
Hail, King of the Jews! The title becomes a term of mockery and shame as the soldiers dress Jesus in royal robes of scarlet and put a crown of thorns on his head, anointing him with spittle and his own blood.
Hail, King of the Jews, the one who gives his "back to those who strike, and [his] cheeks to those who pull out the beard; [who hides] not his face from disgrace and spitting" (Is. 50.6, ESV).
Hail, King of the Jews, who is led out to death, given a cup of wine mixed with gall, and who, too weak to carry his execution device, is helped along the way by an onlooker.
Hail, King of the Jews, whose royal insignia is a sign above his head on the cross, whose royal retinue is two criminals also condemned to death, whose audience mocks him.
Hail, King of the Jews, forsaken by God the Father, bearing the sin and condemnation of the world.
Hail, King of the Jews, who consciously gives up his life when all is completed.
Hail, King of the Jews, who is buried in a borrowed tomb.
Hail, King of the Jews, whose resurrection is so powerful that the dead around him cannot remain dead but themselves emerge from the tombs.
Hail, King of the Jews, whose blood shed on our behalf washes us from sin.
Pilate claimed that he was innocent of Jesus' innocent blood. The people asked that Jesus' blood may be upon them and their children. May it ever be so, that Jesus' death may be applied to us as we behold the true King of the Jews.
Wash us from our sin, our Lord. Cleanse us and make us partakers of your resurrection, for you yourself are the resurrection and the life. Amen.
--
Dave Spotts
blogging at http://capnsaltyslongvoyage.blogspot.com
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