His Kingly Crown is Holiness!     Matthew 27:27-31

Pastor Thomas Kock     3^rd Sunday in Lent     March 27, 2011

Grace, mercy, and peace are yours from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.  The word of God for our consideration today is taken from the book of Matthew, chapter 27.  (Read text.)  “Then the governor's soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. {28} They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, {29} and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. "Hail, king of the Jews!" they said. {30} They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. {31} After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.  In the name of Jesus, our King, my dear brothers and sisters in Christ. 

During this Lenten Season we’re trying to tie together the events of Jesus’ birth with His suffering and death, working off of the advent hymn, “Lift up Your Heads, You Mighty Gates.”  This week’s theme thought is, “His Kingly Crown is Holiness.”

And so I went and searched for Christmas hymns which have the “King” thought in them.  There are all sorts of them!  “Hark the Herald Angels Sing, Glory to the newborn King!”  Similarly, “Joy to the World, the Lord is come, let earth receive her king!”  Again, “O come all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant, O come ye, o come ye, to Bethelehem.  Come and behold Him, born the King of angels, O Come let us adore Him …”  One more: “What child is this, who laid to rest, on Mary’s lap is sleeping, whom angels greet with anthems sweet, while shepherds watch are keeping?  This, this is Christ, the King …”  I kind of had my choice! 

And indeed it makes sense!  When the angel comes to Mary and announces to her that she will be giving birth to Jesus, Jesus is described in this way:  “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, {33} and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end." (Luke 1:32-33 NIV)  Jesus is described as a king!  It makes sense that our Christmas hymns capture that flavor! 

So we wonder: what were Mary and Joseph thinking as they welcomed their newborn Son?  Did they take the angel’s message in an earthly manner, that Jesus was going to be an earthly king?  Did they perhaps picture Jesus with a shiny crown of gold and jewels on His head?  Did Joseph maybe whittle him a miniature crown to wear or to play with?  J  Could they have even been encouraged in that thinking by the visit of the wise men? 

Finally, we don’t know what they were thinking, what they were picturing.  But I’m also going to take a guess that they probably didn’t picture Jesus wearing the crown which we see planted on Him today, the crown of thorns.  It just isn’t the way a parents pictures their baby growing up, is it? Particularly if you’ve been told that your baby will be a king!  A crown of thorns just doesn’t seem to fit! 

Nor, really, does this entire event.  NONE of this sounds very “kingly.”  Jesus is led away.  He’s stripped by other humans.  He is then re-dressed, in a crazy king-like get-up.  The soldiers bow before him in “worship,” saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!”  Then they spit on Him and bang Him on the head (still crowned with thorns), until tiring of it, they lead Him off to be crucified.  None of it sounds very kingly, does it?  It sure doesn’t! 

What is our reaction to seeing this?  Does it disappoint us?  I mean, this probably isn’t what was first going through our minds when we sang, “Glory to the newborn king!” was it?  Yes, perhaps it does disappoint us. 

You see, deep down inside of each one of us there is a “theology of glory” residing.  In other words, each one of us would like to think that God is going to make the world work in such a way that everything turns out “nice” for us believers.  We like to think that being a believer in Jesus would guarantee that I would be healthy, wealthy, and wise.  That if I’m a believer in Jesus that I would be successful in business or financial matters, that I would be popular and respected, that in general, life would simply be “good.”  Certainly the God who is all-powerful should be able to give me that, right?  And that’s the kind of “king” that I want! 

But then we see this “picture” of Jesus.  We see Him being beaten, whipped, mocked, crowned with thorns, and it can cause us to shudder.  What kind of “king” is this?  Where is the power?  Where is the glory?  And, if this king can be beaten and humiliated in this manner, then what will happen to us, His subjects? 

We sinful human beings are selfish.  We want life to be lived on our terms, in the way that’s “comfortable” to us.  Our sinful side wants to be served, it doesn’t want to serve.  Our sinful side focuses on the things of this life, not the things of the next.  Our sinful side looks for what’s best for our self, not what’s best for others. 

But as we look at Jesus, we see just the opposite!  We see focus on the eternal.  We see willing service, even to the point of being willing to be humiliated.  We see someone who was willing to take up a cross, not shoot for the crown.  And all of that causes our sinful self to cringe.

And yet that is exactly the kind of “king” which we need.  Think about it.  When we die, what will matter to us?  Will we care if we had a healthy life or a satisfying career or lived in a nice house?  Not at all.

What we will care about is this: do we know where we’re going?  Do we know that we’re going to heaven? 

And the answer is, we will know EXACTLY where we are going.  Why so?  Because our King, Jesus, submitted to Pontius Pilate’s law.  Our King, Jesus, took up His cross.  He denied Himself, His own desires and pleasures, and instead He put our interests before His own, submitting even to this humiliation, all so that you and I could have eternal life. 

The scene in our text is breath-taking, when we think about it.  Jesus is THE Almighty God!  Jesus is THE ruler of all things!  Jesus is THE King of all!  Jesus is the One who said, “Let there be light!”  Jesus is the One who put the stars into the sky.  The miracles which Jesus performed while here on this earth are amazing in their scope.  He showed power over the evil spirits as He cast demons out of people.  He showed power over nature as He stilled the storm and walked on the water.  He showed the ability to change creation’s very existence as He changed water into wine or turned 5 loaves and 2 fish into a meal for thousands.  He showed power over diseases and maladies of all sorts as He gave sight to the blind, gave hearing to the deaf, cured leprosy, gave the ability to walk to the paralyzed, healed people from various diseases (fevers, bleeding, etc.).  He even raised people from the dead!  The scope of His power is amazing!  Breath-taking!  Astounding!

And yet He willingly – yes, willingly! – allows humans like you and me to crown Him … with a crown of thorns.  He willingly – yes, willingly! – allows them to strip Him, re-clothe Him like a king, mock Him, spit on Him, beat Him.  This is the all-powerful God!  That He would allow Himself to stand in this position is absolutely amazing!

And it shows you the depth of your God’s love for you.  This is the kind of King you and I really need, One who has our eternal interests foremost in His mind!  We need the kind of King who is willing to do anything in order to save me.  That’s the kind of King which we need; and that’s the kind of King which you have!  The King who won salvation for you, for me! 

And oh yeah.  Lest we forget, Jesus pointed out to those religious leaders that, “In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven."  (Mat 26:64 NIV)  Yes, someday this same Jesus who wore a crown of thorns will come back wearing a crown of glory.  He will come back to judge the living and the dead, to give the full benefits of eternal life to us, who believe in Him.  Yes, He was once shamed and humiliated; someday He will be back in full power and glory! 

And so it’s totally appropriate for us to sing “Glory to the newborn King!”  For that Jesus, yes, the One who was born in Bethlehem, yes, who was crowned with thorns, that One will return in glory and honor, to crown you with life eternal!  Amen.