Latest / Exploring The Holy Scriptures with Rev Dr David Wright / A King comes gently!

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A King comes gently! · Exploring The Holy Scriptures with Rev Dr David Wright

0:47
SPEAKER_00: Welcome, sisters and brothers, and peace be with you.
0:53
SPEAKER_00: May the words of my mouth and the meditations in our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord our strength and our redeemer.
1:04
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
1:08
SPEAKER_00: A few years ago a well known public figure was scheduled to visit a city after a crisis.
1:17
SPEAKER_00: The streets were lined with police vehicles.
1:21
SPEAKER_00: Security teams arrived in advance.
1:25
SPEAKER_00: Motorcades rehearsed their routes.
1:28
SPEAKER_00: When the day came black cars with tinted windows swept through the streets.
1:36
SPEAKER_00: People caught only a glimpse.
1:40
SPEAKER_00: The visit was impressive, powerful, controlled.
1:47
SPEAKER_00: That same week a local volunteer quietly showed up at emergency shelter.
1:56
SPEAKER_00: She carried groceries in the trunk of her small dented car.
2:02
SPEAKER_00: No sirens, no security detail, no flashing lights.
2:10
SPEAKER_00: She carried bags inside, sat at tables, listened to stories, and prayed with those who were frightened and displaced.
2:23
SPEAKER_00: Both visits were responses to a crisis, but only one felt personal.
2:33
SPEAKER_00: Only one felt close.
2:40
SPEAKER_00: When we turn to Matthew's Gospel chapter twenty one verses one to eleven, we see another arrival into a city, a city tense with expectation.
2:56
SPEAKER_00: It is Passover in Jerusalem, the population has swelled, the Roman authorities are on edge.
3:04
SPEAKER_00: The people are restless, longing for deliverance, and into that charged atmosphere comes Jesus.
3:16
SPEAKER_00: Matthew tells us that Jesus sends two disciples ahead to find a donkey and a colt.
3:24
SPEAKER_00: This is no accident, no improvisation.
3:27
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is intentionally fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah.
3:34
SPEAKER_00: See, your king comes to you gentle and riding on a donkey.
3:42
SPEAKER_00: In the ancient world, kings rode on war horses when they came for battle.
3:50
SPEAKER_00: They rode donkeys when they came in peace.
3:55
SPEAKER_00: Jesus chooses the donkey.
3:59
SPEAKER_00: He comes gently.
4:03
SPEAKER_00: And yet Matthew calls him king.
4:08
SPEAKER_00: This is the paradox of Palm Sunday.
4:12
SPEAKER_00: This is a message for our world today power wrapped in humility authority clothed in gentleness.
4:27
SPEAKER_00: The crowds spread their cloaks on the ground.
4:32
SPEAKER_00: They cut branches from the trees.
4:35
SPEAKER_00: They cry out Hosanna to the Son of David.
4:39
SPEAKER_00: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest.
4:47
SPEAKER_00: Hosanna means save us now.
4:54
SPEAKER_00: They're right to praise him.
4:57
SPEAKER_00: They are right to see something royal in him.
5:01
SPEAKER_00: They are right to sense that God is doing something decisive.
5:09
SPEAKER_00: But what kind of salvation are they expecting?
5:14
SPEAKER_00: Many hoped for a political revolution, a Messiah who would throw Rome out of their land, a king who would restore national glory, a leader who would crush enemies.
5:36
SPEAKER_00: They wanted the wars.
5:40
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus came on a donkey.
5:47
SPEAKER_00: This is the paradox of Palm Sunday.
5:52
SPEAKER_00: This is a message for our world today power wrapped in humility authority clothed in gentleness.
6:05
SPEAKER_00: Matthew says When Jesus entered Jerusalem the whole city was stirred and they asked Who is this?
6:15
SPEAKER_00: That question echoes across history.
6:19
SPEAKER_00: Who is this?
6:23
SPEAKER_00: The crowd answer This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.
6:30
SPEAKER_00: A prophet?
6:32
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
6:34
SPEAKER_00: But more than that.
6:36
SPEAKER_00: Matthew has been telling us from the beginning this is Emanuel, God with us.
6:44
SPEAKER_00: This is the son of David.
6:47
SPEAKER_00: This is the king.
6:51
SPEAKER_00: The city is stirred, but not everyone understands.
6:58
SPEAKER_00: Perhaps this is still true today.
7:01
SPEAKER_00: We can be stirred by Jesus, moved by his teaching, touched by his compassion, and yet still misunderstand who he truly is.
7:17
SPEAKER_00: This is the paradox of Palm Sunday.
7:22
SPEAKER_00: This is a message for our world today power wrapped in humility authority clothed in gentleness.
7:37
SPEAKER_00: Let's come back to that contemporary contrast that I mentioned at the start of this message The motorcade king, loud, distant, powerful, untouchable.
7:52
SPEAKER_00: We often want a God who will crush our problems instantly, a Messiah who will fix our circumstances without troubling our hearts.
8:07
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus does not conquer Rome.
8:12
SPEAKER_00: He comes to conquer sin.
8:17
SPEAKER_00: Jesus does not come to seize a throne, he comes to embrace a cross.
8:25
SPEAKER_00: Within days, the same city that shouts Hosanna today will cry crucify him.
8:36
SPEAKER_00: Why?
8:38
SPEAKER_00: Perhaps because Jesus refuses to be the king they demand.
8:44
SPEAKER_00: He will not lead an armed uprising.
8:48
SPEAKER_00: He will not meet violence with violence.
8:54
SPEAKER_00: He will not save them in the way that they expect.
9:00
SPEAKER_00: Instead he saves them through surrender.
9:06
SPEAKER_00: This is the paradox of Palm Sunday.
9:10
SPEAKER_00: This is a message for our world today power wrapped in humility authority clothed in gentleness.
9:24
SPEAKER_00: Make no mistake Jesus is a king.
9:32
SPEAKER_00: Gentleness is not weakness, it is strength under control.
9:38
SPEAKER_00: The same Jesus who rides the donkey will cleanse the temple.
9:45
SPEAKER_00: The same Jesus who weeps over Jerusalem will stand silent before Pilate.
9:53
SPEAKER_00: The same Jesus who is crowned with thorns will be raised in glory.
10:02
SPEAKER_00: His kingship is real, but it is unlike any other.
10:11
SPEAKER_00: So what about us?
10:14
SPEAKER_00: The question for us is this What kind of king do we welcome?
10:25
SPEAKER_00: It is easy to wave the palm branches in a crowd.
10:30
SPEAKER_00: It is harder to follow a king to the cross.
10:36
SPEAKER_00: We like the celebration.
10:40
SPEAKER_00: We struggle with the surrender.
10:44
SPEAKER_00: We want Jesus to fix our world.
10:48
SPEAKER_00: He wants to change our hearts.
10:53
SPEAKER_00: We like the transformation.
10:57
SPEAKER_00: We struggle with the surrender.
11:01
SPEAKER_00: We want deliverance from discomfort.
11:05
SPEAKER_00: He offers deliverance from sin.
11:10
SPEAKER_00: Ah we like the smoothness.
11:13
SPEAKER_00: We struggle with the surrender.
11:17
SPEAKER_00: We want visible triumph.
11:21
SPEAKER_00: He walks the path of sacrificial love.
11:26
SPEAKER_00: We like the winning We struggle with the surrender.
11:34
SPEAKER_00: Let me close by saying that when Jesus truly enters a life, he does so gently.
11:45
SPEAKER_00: But his presence changes everything.
11:50
SPEAKER_00: He enters not on a war horse of domination, but on a donkey of humility.
11:58
SPEAKER_00: He knocks.
12:00
SPEAKER_00: He does not batter down the door.
12:03
SPEAKER_00: He invites.
12:05
SPEAKER_00: He does not compel.
12:09
SPEAKER_00: But when we open the gates, the king truly arrives.
12:16
SPEAKER_00: The motorcades of this world impress us.
12:21
SPEAKER_00: They display power at a distance.
12:25
SPEAKER_00: But our king comes close.
12:30
SPEAKER_00: Jesus rides into Jerusalem not to display might, but to offer mercy.
12:39
SPEAKER_00: Jesus comes not to take life but to give his own.
12:46
SPEAKER_00: Jesus comes not to sit on a golden throne but to hang on a wooden cross.
12:59
SPEAKER_00: This is Jesus.
13:04
SPEAKER_00: This is the King who comes gently.
13:11
SPEAKER_00: This is the Saviour who comes in the name of the Lord.
13:16
SPEAKER_00: And today, as surely as on that first palm Sunday, Jesus comes to us, not with sirens and spectacles, but with humility, peace, and saving love.