I was a child when Princess Diana got married, and I remember watching what seemed like an all-day wedding ceremony on television with my mom, and I wondered, what is the big deal about this? And it seems that then, for my entire lifetime, our culture has been enamored by the lives of kings and queens. A March 9th article in the New York Times is entitled, Why Are We So Obsessed With Royalty? This week, the author says, 17 million people in the United States tuned into Oprah Winfrey's interview with Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex. Later in the article, she quotes one professor from New York University as saying, I suspect that some people are simply drawn to the glamour of royalty and the fantasy that some very, very special people are living opulent, extravagant lives, and this could be a way of transcending our mundane realities. Perhaps that's why the two or three times I stop by the grocery store on the way home from work each week, there is always a tabloid with the face of either Prince William or Prince Harry. And perhaps this longing to transcend our mundane realities explains why television streaming services simply cannot keep up with the demand to create more and more series on the lives of kings and queens. In another older article, a different writer asks the question, if the rich are different from you and me, how much more different than our royalty? In fact, we have even less in common with kings and queens than we do with the rich. Most of us possess at least some measure of wealth, clothing, shelter, food to sustain us, and perhaps resources enough to enjoy some of the small luxuries of life. We are different from the rich, not in kind, but in degree. When it comes to royalty, however, the lives they lead would seem as strange to us as if they were creatures of another species. Kings and queens are so far above us. Their lifestyles are so glamorous, so completely on a different level. that we cannot relate to them, nor can we imagine that they could ever relate to us. How completely different is King Jesus. How utterly different is King Jesus. When Jesus entered Jerusalem on the Sunday before, his crucifixion on what is now known as Palm Sunday, he offered himself to Israel as their king. But he didn't come with pomp and circumstance. He didn't come weighed down with gaudy robes and a crown of jewels. He came as a humble servant, a gentle king. A peacemaker between God and man. The Lamb of God sent to atone for the sins of man. Some saw him for what he was and they worshipped him. Others were utterly disappointed that he was not the lofty king Messiah that they had envisioned. Their expectations were utterly unfulfilled. He was not the king they expected him to be. And so they rejected him. The Gospel of Mark describes it this way in chapter 11, beginning in verse 1, If you're not there, you ought to be by now. Mark 11 verse one is where we are this morning. Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples and said to them, go into the village in front of you and immediately as you enter it, you will find a colt tied on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, why are you doing this? Say, the Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately. And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street and they untied it. And some of those standing there said to them, What are you doing untying the colt? And they told them what Jesus had said and they let them go. And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it and he sat on it. And many spread their cloaks on the road and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David. Hosanna in the highest. And he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. And when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the 12. In this passage of scripture, there are three ways God expects you to act toward King Jesus. Number one, recognize the King's deliberate preparation. Now as you notice in verses one through six, there is an incredible attention to detail that Jesus has prepared all ahead of time There is no detail that is too minor. In chapter 10, we notice that Jesus was walking ahead of his disciples and so now they've drawn near to Jerusalem because as we noted earlier in the Gospel of Mark, now Jesus has deliberately shifted his attention to Jerusalem for the sake of fulfilling the Father's plan for his death. And so approaching Jerusalem now, he sends two of his disciples on ahead to the village to get this cult that had been prepared ahead of time for the Lord Jesus. This had not only been prepared ahead of time let's say a week or two, but at least 500 years ahead of time. Because according to the prophet Zechariah, the Messiah would offer himself to Israel while riding on the foal of a donkey. a donkey being a royal animal in David's day. So this was not an insult. This was an appropriate animal for a king to ride on. And Mark says that this was an animal that had never been ridden on before, which was very appropriate because An animal that had never been used for any common purpose was an animal that had been preserved for a sacred purpose. This animal had been saved for this moment. So Jesus says, go into the village, not just any village, but the village. You will find a colt tied No one's ever sat on this colt, untie it, bring it to me. Someone's gonna ask you, what are you doing? Why are you stealing my animal? But assure them it's okay. The Lord has need of it and then there'll be no questions. Do you see the deliberate preparation of the Lord Jesus? No detail was left unplanned. Kent Hughes writes in his commentary, in all of this we observed Jesus's painstaking premeditation. He had carefully ordered everything. The day and hour were selected from eternity with countdown perfection. This triumphal entry on the first day of the week would precipitate his terrible death on Good Friday, his rest in the grave on the Sabbath, and his triumphant resurrection on the following first day of the church, his body. Not only the time of his entry, but the mode as well. A previously unridden donkey was carefully chosen. The Lord Jesus' death on the cross for our sins had been planned, according to scripture, before the foundation of the world. The book of Revelation refers to him as the lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world. So even the events leading up to his crucifixion had been planned in detail by this almighty sovereign king. So we see that the king took such great care to plan every detail of his arrival in Jerusalem in anticipation of his sacrificial death. He had set his eyes upon the cross and there was nothing that would deter him from fulfilling the plan of God to atone for the sins of his people. What does this teach us other than to fall down and worship God for redemption that comes to us through Christ? Well, it ought to bring such great assurance to us that nothing is random with God. Jesus is a deliberate king. as the day of his birth and the day of his death was planned from eternally past, and every detail surrounding both, so it is with our lives. We need not consume ourselves with worry or be overtaken by fear. For as Jesus says, who by worrying about tomorrow can add a single day to the span of his life? Fear grows in the heart of the Christian who thinks of life as a series of random events, rather than the beautiful outworking of the plan of a God of providence, who works so mysteriously We do not understand his ways, but oh, how we trust in his character, his unfailing character and his goodness and his wisdom and the outworking of his sovereignty on behalf of the good of his people and the carrying out of his plan. This is the God whom we trust. This is the God whom we worship. He is worthy. Providence is such a beautiful and yet neglected doctrine. It is the outworking of God's sovereign power and wisdom to continuously preserve every part of his creation and guide it toward his intended purpose for his glory and for our good. Nothing escapes his notice. No detail is too small. No detail is beyond his care. Oh, you think he only cares about the big things in your life. But why would the big things matter if he didn't care about the little things? It's his care about the little things that makes his care of the big things mean so much. Or perhaps even less than his care of the little things. It's his care of the little things that causes us to realize how intricately involved he is in our lives and how intimately he loves us. Why is it that we only pray about the big stuff? When the big stuff is the culmination of thousands and thousands of little things. Oh, we have a king who is so deliberate in his preparation. Recognize this. Recognize the king's gracious providence and his deliberate preparation. But there's a second way God wants you to act toward the king. Reverence the king for his declaration of peace. Now notice how Jesus enters Jerusalem on this donkey. He doesn't enter as a victorious military general king. I mean, he is a victorious king, but that's coming later. He will enter that way at his second coming. But his first coming is very humble, Very gentle. They brought the colt to Jesus, verse seven says, and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. Matthew's gospel says that all of this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet Zechariah, who said, rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion, shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem, Behold, your king is coming to you, righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. Why is it that Jesus came into Jerusalem humble and gentle on the foal of a donkey? It is because he was bringing salvation, but a different kind of salvation than Israel wanted. They wanted military salvation. They wanted political salvation. They wanted deliverance from their political enemies. They didn't know that what they needed most of all was spiritual salvation. That could only be accomplished by a humiliated savior on the cross. So this is not the entrance of a conquering military hero who has just defeated his enemies. No, this is the entrance of the peacemaker offering himself as the one who would make peace between God and men. This is the gentle Savior offering himself as the Prince of Peace that Isaiah spoke of. and some bowed in reverence, submission and faith. It says that they spread their cloaks on the road and leafy branches and they went before, some went before him and some went after him. So there was this antiphonal praise coming from both before him and so in front of him and behind him and they were shouting, Hosanna, which means save us. That's what the word means. So from in front and behind, you heard this antiphonal cry, save us, save us, save us, save us. There were people who got it and there were people who didn't get it. There were people who were still blind like we saw last week. And there were people who had their eyes opened by Jesus like we saw last week. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. John's gospel tells us that those who reverenced him as king included some of the people who had witnessed him raise Lazarus from the dead and some of the people that they had told about that event. So some of the people who saw the raising of Lazarus then told others they witnessed and some of those people came and they were part of this. as well. But sadly, Luke's gospel tells us that not everyone who witnessed the king's entrance revered him. The proud religious leaders rejected him. It says some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, teacher, rebuke your disciples. Rebuke your disciples, the Pharisees said. And Jesus answered, I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out. Even the stones know who I am. And then Luke goes on to say how this rejection brought Jesus to tears. His compassion for The state of a lost person's heart, their hardness of heart, brought Jesus to weeping. It says, when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace Would you have known that I am coming to offer you peace with God? Would that your eyes have been opened to understand this. But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you. when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you to the ground, you and your children with you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you because you did not know the time of your visitation. He's speaking of the destruction of Jerusalem that would come around 70 AD. God would judge the city because of their rejection of Christ. that Jesus said, oh, would that you had known on this day that I came to bring you peace, peace with God. That's why Jesus came. Did you realize that? Which compels me to ask you the question, are you at peace with God? is your soul at peace with God. The Bible says that every one of us is born into this world a sinner and at enmity with God. That is, we are naturally enemies of God. We go our own way. We sin. We rebel. And we need to be made to be at peace with God. And we try to do that ourselves. That's what man-made religion is all about. Our attempts to be made to be at peace with God through our own efforts. And that's a prideful way to try to get to be at peace with God. And all the while, Jesus is saying to us, don't you understand that I already came and I did everything that was needed? I came to bring peace with God. And that's what Jesus did. He came to this earth. He offered himself as the Lamb of God. He gave his life on the cross of Calvary. God judged him in our place. He was crucified for our sins, buried, rose from the dead victorious. God displaying to the world that he accepted his son's sacrifice for our sins. And now God is commanding every person everywhere to repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ in order to be saved. To be made to be at peace with God. And so I ask you, are you at peace with God? Have you repented and believed on the Lord Jesus Christ? That is the only way to be at peace with God. You cannot do it on your own. You cannot do it on your own terms. You must come to God on his terms. And so Which are you like on Palm Sunday? Are you like those who laid out the branches and clothing on the road and said, save us, save us? Or are you like the proud religious teacher who said to his disciples, or said to Jesus, tell your disciples to shut up. What is the state of your heart today? Reverence the king for his declaration of peace. And then finally, there's a third way God wants you to act toward the king. That is to respond to the king's dedicated purpose. Look at verse 11. And he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. That's so significant. He entered Jerusalem and where did he go? Straight to the temple. Why? Because that's where his work would be demonstrated as being complete. Jesus went straight to the temple because his purpose in coming to earth was to be the Lamb of God. He came to offer himself as the sacrifice for sin. He came to be the priest. He came to intercede for us. He came to be the one and only mediator between God and man. He came to be the one sinless priest. And so he went straight to the temple. Matthew tells us more of what happened in the temple. And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple and he healed them. When the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did and the children crying out in the temple, Hosanna to the son of David, they were indignant. That means very angry. And they said to him, do you hear what these are saying? And Jesus said to them, yes, have you never read out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies, you have prepared praise? What the pompous, arrogant religious leaders were blind to see the children had open eyes to see. Jesus is the King. Jesus is the Lord. Jesus is the Savior. And they worshiped him. And they sang praises to him. respond in faith to the King's dedicated purpose. That's what God is calling us to this morning. His purpose, as I already said, was to come to be the Savior. His first coming was one characterized by humiliation, willing humiliation. He humbled himself to the point of death, even death on the cross. His second coming will be different. He will come in victory and triumph as the king and as the judge of those who have not yet believed in him. But this first coming was one for a very definitive purpose of salvation. Have you responded in faith to him? All of the events that took place on that Palm Sunday were planned by this king. Deliberately prepared All for the glory of God. As the Apostle says in Romans 11, 36, that amazing doxology, for from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen. All things that God does. are for his glory, all things. Our response and our responsibility is to humble ourselves before the King, the King of Kings, and to worship him. Father, we pray that you may find our hearts this morning to be humble before you, to be filled with that childlike kind of faith that those children in the temple had, who sang Hosanna to the Son of David, to be like those people on the road who took off their coats and laid them down in the dirt and cut off the branches from the trees and laid them down before the king that the feet of the donkey may walk upon them. That they may welcome the king, not only into the city, but most importantly, into their hearts. May we have hearts like that this morning. who worship and adore this King of all kings. For His glory we pray, in Jesus' name, amen.