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[0:00] Good morning, a warm welcome to the service this morning. A lot of our folks are away, but it's good to see we've got a few visitors with us this morning and it's good to have you.

[0:13] Intimations have been on the screen before the service began. And just to say a reminder to everybody and especially those who are visiting, there's tea and there's coffee at the end of the service. If you're able to stay behind, please do so.

[0:24] The evening service is at 6, 6-7 and after the service this evening, we've got a fellowship at which David Lane, David is Flora's uncle, I think.

[0:39] So David's involved in Blytheswood Ministry and also Tyndale, the Bible Translators. I didn't know this, but he's also the chair of the faith mission that we are very much involved with and have been blessed under the ministry of.

[0:56] So David's going to speak a bit about his own life and his walk with God and also how he's able to serve in these different organisations.

[1:06] In the course of the week, ladies' fellowship as usual. There will be no Little Fishes on Tuesday, but there will be the Mother and Toddlers Gallet group on the Thursday as usual.

[1:24] Road to Recovery on Tuesday night as usual and the prayer meeting on Wednesday. This coming Wednesday, the prayer meeting will be taken by Duncan. The following Wednesday, the prayer meeting will be taken by E&A.

[1:37] No clubs for the next two weeks on Fridays with the school holidays being on. The services next Sunday, 11 and 6, Easter Sunday, will be taken by Donnie McLeod, Donnie Faith Mission.

[1:49] He's retired, but I told you it wouldn't be long before he was back with us. So he'll take the services next Sunday. I hope to be away for 10 days from Tuesday night if the freight ferry takes me.

[2:06] So if there's any pastoral issues in the time that I'm away, Ian McRitchie's on the end of the phone. Speak to one of the elders first and they'll put you in touch. I'm hoping to be away in America for a conference for the best part of a week.

[2:22] Mainly listening, just a tiny little bit of speaking. So I'd appreciate your prayers for the travel and for that conference that I've got to go to. Two more things.

[2:34] One is to say that on Tuesday of this week at 11 o'clock, Teresa Gillis, Stockinish, the funeral will be on. I know it's been a few weeks since she passed away, but with her daughter Jane over in Canada, it's taken a bit of time before the date could be set.

[2:52] So that's this coming Tuesday at 11 o'clock. And please be encouraged to come along and to give support to the family as we come together to worship God.

[3:04] And the last thing I think I saw on the screens a second ago is the Healthy Church Gathering. Thursday 20th of April. That's going to be here.

[3:16] There's these different gatherings all around Scotland. It's got the Presbytery name down there. It's not actually the Presbytery that we're going to be speaking at it. I think David Meredith, Neil McMillan, and Andrew Giffen, who was here briefly.

[3:32] I think they're the people who will be speaking at that. And it's thinking just about what a healthy church looks like. There'll be the chance to listen and also the chance to speak. And there's a Harris Gathering on Thursday 20th for Scalpy, Leverborough, and ourselves.

[3:49] So you can put that in your diary. I think there's more details out in a poster in the vestibule. These, I think, are all the notices. So let's begin now this time of worship.

[4:00] And we'll sing to God's praise. Mission Praise 237. The words on the screen. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty.

[4:12] Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty.

[4:40] God in three persons.

[5:10] Holy, holy, holy, holy, holy. Holy, holy, holy. Holy, holy, holy. Holy, holy, holy. All the saints adore me.

[5:26] Casting down their golden crowns around the slaszy sea. Holy, holy, holy, holy.

[5:36] Holy, holy, holy. Lord, the dark night evermore shall be.

[5:56] Holy, holy, holy, though the darkness hide thee, though the eye of sinful man thy glory may not see, only thou art holy, there is none beside thee, perfect in power, in love and purity.

[6:38] Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, all thy works shall praise thy name in earth and sky and sea.

[7:00] Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty, God in three persons, blessed Trinity.

[7:30] Just a few words from Isaiah chapter 6 as we draw near to God in prayer. In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple.

[7:51] Above him were seraphs, each with six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.

[8:02] And they were calling to one another, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty. The whole earth is full of his glory. At the sound of their voices, the doorposts and thresholds shook, and the temple was filled with smoke.

[8:18] Woe to me, I cried, I am ruined, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.

[8:32] Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth, and said, See, this has touched your lips.

[8:46] Your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for. Let's pray together. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you that we can come together this morning on the Lord's Day.

[9:08] We thank you that we can call you our Father as we have been taught to pray. and yet we recognize that we come before the presence of the God who is holy.

[9:24] We recognize, Lord, that we come into the presence of the same God that Isaiah, the prophet, encountered in that chapter. the one before whom he bowed and felt that he was undone in the presence of.

[9:47] The one before whom the sin of his lips and his heart raised up from within him and caused him to say, Woe is me.

[10:00] I am a sinner, a man of unclean lips. And Lord, we recognize that you are the God who does not change.

[10:14] We recognize that you are the Lord Almighty, the one who is high and lifted up. You're the one before whom the angels cover their faces.

[10:26] You're the God of heaven and the God of earth. the one who spoke a word and brought everything that we see around us and everything that we are within us into being.

[10:40] You're the God who has no equal. The one who is from everlasting to everlasting. You're the God who is sinless.

[10:52] The one who is all-powerful. And yet, we thank you that we can come into your presence and call you our Father.

[11:05] And we recognize, Lord, that this is this has been made possible only through the finished work of Jesus. Isaiah received the assurance that his sin was atoned for.

[11:19] and we know that the atonement that he needed and that we need came through Jesus, his life and his death and his resurrection.

[11:33] We thank you, Lord, that Jesus was the perfect sacrifice, the one who took our sin from us and the one who makes us righteous, so much so that we can come into the presence of the Holy God and know that we will not be ruined, we will not be undone, but we will be received and we will find blessing.

[12:02] And so we confess our sin this morning. We know that we are a people of unclean lips and unclean hearts. we know that we are sinners, but we thank you that Jesus is the saviour and we pray for that cleansing.

[12:20] We pray that you would make atonement, Lord Jesus, for our sin as we cry out to you asking for mercy. And we pray that we would know your blessing as we gather together in the name of Jesus.

[12:35] We pray that we would have that sense of your presence with us and we pray, Lord, that you would speak to us through your word. We thank you for the freedom that we have to come together in this way.

[12:48] We thank you, Lord, for the privilege that we have to gather in this place and we pray your blessing on each one of us, those who are older, those who would desire to be present but who are in their homes, who are struggling with infirmity and with the ailments that come with the passing of the years.

[13:12] We thank you for the young ones that we hear amongst us as well. When we hear their voices, we are filled with joy because we know that Jesus is the one who said, let the children come to me.

[13:26] Don't hinder them for such that only those who come as little children can be saved, can enter the kingdom of God.

[13:37] So bless, bless them, we pray, and bless this hour of worship as we gather together in this way. We pray for those who are struggling with illness, those who are in hospital, those who are waiting for procedures.

[13:53] We think of Kirstie in hospital in Inverness. We ask that the surgery that's scheduled for tomorrow would go ahead and it would be effective. we pray for Isabella as she travels through to Inverness also for investigation into her eye and we ask Lord that they would make progress there, that her sight would be brought back and that she would know your hand upon her at this time.

[14:21] And we pray now that you would continue with us, that you would take away our sin, lead us and guide us in the power of the Holy Spirit we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Boys and girls would you like to come forward please?

[14:51] How are you all today? Not everybody's coming forward, Jake's not coming forward but that's fine because he's got a big Rangers badge on his chest so he can stay at a distance.

[15:08] Now I've got something and I've got someone to show you today so I'm going to ask if that someone will maybe come forward.

[15:22] Come on Bethany, it's your moment. Come on Bethany, come on Bethany, come on round here so you can sit down beside Farrakhan and your dad.

[15:45] Poor Bethany, any idea what happened? This wasn't one of you was it? It did it. Tell us what happened Bethany. I was in PE and I fell on my ankle playing netball.

[16:00] So she was, for those who are watching on the camera somewhere, you were playing netball, PE in school, was it a tackle, was it a bad tackle?

[16:11] No, I jumped up and landed on my ankle. Jumped up, landed on your ankle and what's happened to it? I fractured it. You fractured it. So what does Bethany have that's helping her just now, do you think?

[16:29] Henry, yeah? She's got crutches, yeah? And what else has she got there? Is that her normal shoes? It's a big boot, isn't it?

[16:41] So what are these things for? Why is Bethany wearing these things and using these things? What's the purpose of them? Michael?

[16:53] To help her legs or wherever she hurt. To help her legs or wherever she hurt. I think it was her legs, yeah? Her ankle. What were you going to say, Henry? To let it heal, yeah.

[17:06] So the big boot, what does the big boot do? Yeah. Loads of padding, so if you happen to kick her on the way past, it won't hurt too much.

[17:20] Because it's well and truly padded. And what about the crutches? You guys at the back are a bit quiet. What about the crutches? What did the crutches do? Ailey, what are the crutches for?

[17:32] Yeah, Ailey Tennant. She's looking at me as if to say, how dare you ask me? What are the crutches for, Ailey?

[17:48] Really? So you're not putting weight on your leg. So the crutches take the weight, don't they?

[17:59] Because without the crutches, actually the reason that I'm doing this chill and stop today is because on Wednesday night at the prayer meeting, Bethany came in and she was sore.

[18:12] I think she had the boot on, didn't you? But she didn't have the crutches. She was sugaring all over the place. She was staggering around like that. And she said, I do have crutches, but you know, I didn't think I really needed them.

[18:27] So she was all over the place. She was unsteady. Now boys and girls, what in our hearts and our lives makes us unsteady?

[18:39] Miriam, sin makes us unsteady, isn't it? You think back all the way to the beginning in the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve, when they took the fruit that they shouldn't have taken.

[18:54] What was the word? What's the thing that happened to them? Do you remember what the word is in Genesis 3? What did they do? There was the fall.

[19:06] That's right, Emily. When they took the fruit they shouldn't have, when they disobeyed God when sin came into the world they fell. And sin makes us unsteady.

[19:19] Sin makes us fall. So who can make us steady? Who can take our sin away and make us steady? Go on Henry.

[19:33] Jesus can, can't he? So when Bethany stands up, stand up again just to show us. Not without the crutches, yeah.

[19:49] Do you trust these crutches? Do you? How do we know that she trusts the crutches? We didn't know that on Wednesday night. But how do we know today that she trusts the crutches, Daniel John?

[20:01] Yeah, it keeps us steady. But how do we know that she trusts the crutches? Go on Michael.

[20:16] How do we know she trusts the crutches? Yeah, I know, but how do we know that she trusts the crutches? Go on Henry.

[20:28] Because Jesus made them? Well, I suppose we go all the way very back to it. We'd have to go a long way back, yeah, but yeah, we could say that Jesus is the creator, God created the world.

[20:41] How do we know? It's very, very simple. How do we know that she trusts the crutches? Here's another question, the same kind of thing, before she falls over with all the time we're taking to answer these questions.

[20:52] How do you know I trust this chair? No, because I'm sitting on it. See, when you put your weight on the chair, you're trusting it.

[21:07] And when Bethany puts her weight on the crutches, she's showing us that she trusts them. How can you show that you trust Jesus?

[21:22] Yeah? Yeah? And you give your life to him. you give your life to him. We hear him speaking to us through the Bible. We speak to him as we pray.

[21:34] But when we give our life to Jesus, then we're showing that we trust him. The same way that this chair can be trusted, and I can sit on it.

[21:47] The same way that these crutches can be trusted, then Jesus can be trusted. God's word, his promises can be trusted. You can put your weight on him.

[22:00] And when we trust Jesus and his word, he keeps us steady all the way through this world. And then when we get to the end of this world, and when we come to death, he keeps us steady, he keeps us from falling, but he keeps us safe forever.

[22:17] So, Bethany trusts the crutches, but she also trusts Jesus. And boys and girls, let's be encouraged to trust, to put the weight of our faith on the Lord Jesus.

[22:30] Now you can sit down, Bethany. Let's pray. Lord Jesus, we thank you that you are trustworthy. We thank you that we can put our faith in you.

[22:43] We thank you that all your words, all your promises are true. And we thank you, Lord, that you are the one who is able to keep us safe and we have to trust you.

[22:59] Help us not to try to do things ourselves, but help us to every day pray and ask for your strength and your help so that we will live the lives that you want us to live and that we will be kept safe and secure in this world.

[23:18] and then going through death into the world that you've prepared for all those who trust you. And we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Let's sing again now to God's praise and we'll sing the hymn.

[23:36] It's not in the book but it's on the screen. Bless the Lord, O my soul. God Hath your holy name.

[24:14] The sun comes up, it's a new day dawning. It's time to sing your song again.

[24:25] Whatever may pass and whatever lies before me, let me be singing when the evening comes.

[24:37] Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul, worship His holy name.

[24:47] Sing like never before, O my soul, I'll worship your holy name. You're rich in love and your soul to anger.

[25:04] Your name is great and your heart is kind. For all your goodness I will keep on singing.

[25:16] Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find. Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul, worship His holy name.

[25:31] Sing like never before, O my soul, I'll worship your holy name. And on the day when my strength is failing, The end draws near and my time has come.

[25:53] Still, my soul, sing your praise unending. Ten thousand years and then forevermore.

[26:05] Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul, worship His holy name. Sing like never before, O my soul, I'll worship your holy name.

[26:25] Worship your holy name. Okay, boys and girls, if you head to Sunday school, and remember to be praying for them as they go.

[26:40] Bethany, if you want to stay, you can stay where you are. Okay. Okay. And if we could turn now, in our Bibles, please, to Matthew chapter 20.

[27:05] Matthew chapter 20, this is Palm Sunday, the Sunday before Easter Sunday, and we're going to read the passage from Matthew 20, and, well, Matthew 21, one of the familiar passages that's read on Palm Sunday.

[27:36] Matthew chapter 20, and at verse 28, and I'm just reading from halfway through verse 28. The Son of Man, this is Jesus, says, The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.

[27:56] As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. Two blind men were sitting by the roadside. When they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us.

[28:09] The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us. Jesus stopped and called them. What do you want me to do for you?

[28:21] He asked. Lord, they answered, we want our sight. Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately, they received their sight and followed him.

[28:32] As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, go to the village ahead of you and at once you will find a donkey tied there with her coat by her.

[28:49] Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them and he will send them right away. This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet.

[29:01] Say to the daughter of Zion, see, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. The disciples went and did just as Jesus instructed them.

[29:14] They brought the donkey and the colt, placed their cloaks on them and Jesus sat on them. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.

[29:26] The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, Hosanna to the son of David. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

[29:37] When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, Who is this? The crowds answered, This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.

[29:49] Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of those money changers and the benches of those selling doves.

[30:01] It is written, he said to them, My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers. The blind and the lame came to him at the temple and he healed them.

[30:13] But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple area, Hosanna to the son of David, they were indignant.

[30:25] Do you hear what these children are saying? They asked him. Yes, replied Jesus. Have you never read? From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise.

[30:38] And he left them and went out of the city of Bethany, out of the city of Bethany where he spent the night. Amen.

[30:48] And may God bless that reading of his word to us. We'll sing again to God's praise. We sing from Psalm 145, Psalm 145, and we'll sing from verses 17 to verse 19 in Gaelic.

[31:06] Two stanzas. The Lord is just in all his ways, holy in his works all. God's near to all that call on him, in truth that on him call. He will accomplish the desire of those that do him fear.

[31:18] He also will deliver them and hear their cry or hear. These two stanzas in Gaelic and we remain seated to sing in Gaelic to God's praise.

[31:29] Adieu, Adieu, Adieu, Adieu, Adieu, Adieu, Adieu, Adieu, Adieu, 인시간ical sundry SONG CONTINUES

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[36:36] SONG CONTINUES SONG CONTINUES SONG CONTINUES SONG CONTINUES I didn't put it there, but it's popped up in my diary that May the 8th is the day for the coronation of the king.

[36:55] And in Matthew chapter 21, the section that we read at the beginning of that chapter, we have a picture, we have a description of an account that looks a lot like the coronation of King Jesus.

[37:17] He is the king of kings. And that's the message that Matthew in his gospel is trying to impress on us as we go through this gospel. I think Matthew is the only gospel that we haven't actually studied through as a congregation in the time that I've been here.

[37:34] But the emphasis in Matthew's gospel is that Jesus is king. And when Jesus came into this world, we began to see something of the kingdom of God.

[37:46] And even in this section that we've read here, which is just about a chapter's worth spread over the two chapters, we have this recurring emphasis that Jesus is king.

[38:02] Son of David. That's a royal title. And we have it three times in the section that we read. Verse 29 of chapter 20.

[38:14] And then verse 9 and verse 15 of chapter 21. There's this title that's attributed to Jesus that he is the son of David. And then in verse 5 of chapter 21, we have that very clear instruction in the text.

[38:35] See, or in the AV, I think it's better. Behold. Your king comes to you. So what I'd like to do today in the time that we have is ask two questions.

[38:49] And the first question is, what kind of king is Jesus? And the second question, which we'll spend much less time on, is, how did the people back then and how do we today, how do we respond to King Jesus?

[39:08] So first of all, then, what kind of king is Jesus? And if you've got Bibles in your hand, then you'll find it helpful to be in them. Or if you've got apps on your phone that have the Bible, you'll find it helpful to be in them.

[39:23] Because rather than dig into three or four points today, I'm going to just give you a whole load of points. And I'll make lots of observations, and you can go off for the afternoon, and you can do your own studies and make up six sermons from it.

[39:40] What kind of king is Jesus? The first observation to make in this section is that Jesus is the king who is near to us.

[39:51] He's the king who is near. Look at verse 29 of chapter 20. Now, I can't remember when it was.

[40:14] Five, six, seven years ago, perhaps, when Prince Charles came to Harris. And there was a few people, just a very few people, who were carefully selected and thoroughly vetted, and they got to meet Charles.

[40:31] Just a few folks. But most people, they couldn't get anywhere near him. And that's when he was just a lowly prince. Now that he's the king, he's even less accessible.

[40:44] We can't get near him. But Jesus, who is the king of kings, we see in this section that he is near to the people. He left heaven.

[40:56] He came to this world so that he could be near to his people. John 1 and verse 14 says, The word, Jesus, became flesh, and he made us dwell among us.

[41:13] And here in this section, we see Jesus, and he's right in the middle of this large crowd. He's surrounded by people, and Jesus is near enough for them to reach out, to touch him, to cry out to him, to seek him.

[41:29] He's a king who is near, not far. And today, Jesus is still near to us.

[41:44] We have the promise that even if it was only two or three of us that were meeting here, King Jesus would be present. So whenever you come to church, wherever it is you are going, come with the expectation that Jesus will be here.

[42:04] He's near to us. We have that promise in the psalm that we sang. The Lord is near to all those who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.

[42:19] He fulfills the desires of those who fear him. He hears their cry and saves them. And these two blind men that Matthew shows us in chapter 20 at the end, they called out to Jesus because they recognized, they sensed that Jesus was near.

[42:44] And the interesting, the sobering truth is that this was their last chance.

[42:59] We don't know if they'd had the chance before, but this was their last chance. Jesus would never return to Jericho.

[43:13] But on this day, he was passing by. He was near to them. And they called out to him. They asked for that salvation.

[43:26] They asked for that healing. And the question in application for us is, will we call out to Jesus today? Because he is near.

[43:41] Will we just snooze in these chairs and go through the routine of another Sunday? Assuming that we have ample years ahead of us to do business with Jesus.

[43:58] Or will we take the opportunity that we have today to call out to him? Well, he is near. He's the king who is near.

[44:10] Secondly, he's the king who is merciful. Verse 30. When they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, Lord, son of David, have mercy on us.

[44:24] Now, what is mercy? Well, I always go to the Sunday school answer, the song that they sing in Sunday school. Mercy is when God does not give us what we deserve.

[44:39] Mercy is when God does not give us the punishment that we deserve. And the men who we see in this passage, they clearly realize that they were sinners.

[44:50] They're crying out to Jesus, asking for mercy. And in so doing, they're confessing their sin. And as they cry out to Jesus, they clearly believe that he was one who could and who would show them mercy.

[45:08] And that's the whole reason that Jesus was in that place. Mercy is the reason that Jesus was passing through Jericho.

[45:21] He's headed for Jerusalem. He's on a mercy ministry that would take him to the cross so that he could face the wrath of God. So that he could take the punishment that our sin deserved so that we could be shown mercy.

[45:43] But we have to ask for it. As these men did. You and I will not receive the mercy of God unless we ask for it.

[45:58] Unless we confess our sin. And look to the Savior. And say, help me. Jesus is the king who is near.

[46:11] He's the king who is merciful. Thirdly, here, he's the king who listens. The crowd, verse 31, rebuked them, the blind men, and told them to be quiet. But they shouted all the louder, Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us.

[46:29] Jesus stopped. And called them. So we have this vivid picture. The men perceive that Jesus is nearby.

[46:42] They recognize that he can help them in their need. They cry out to Jesus. And the crowds are shushing them. The crowds are saying to these men, Be quiet. He hasn't got time for the likes of you.

[46:53] He's not going to listen to you. But they kept calling. They didn't listen to the crowds. They kept calling.

[47:08] And Jesus did listen to them. And he listened to them as if they were the only two men in that place. He's the king who listens.

[47:20] He listened back on that day. And he still listens in this day. And I know there will be people in this room who have an interest in the Lord Jesus.

[47:38] Who have a sense of need in their hearts. Who want something of the salvation that is offered and the peace and the joy that they see in the Lord's people.

[47:50] And yet there are people who are around you and they're saying, Shoosh! Never mind about Jesus. Don't take this so seriously. Don't cry out to him. Don't tell us about him.

[48:03] Just get on with your life. And the question, I suppose, is who are you going to listen to? Are you going to listen to the crowds?

[48:17] Who will try to keep you at a distance from Jesus? Or will you and I follow the example of these men? Who shouted over the top of the crowds?

[48:31] And who were listened to by Jesus? He's the king who listens. The next thing is he's the king who serves.

[48:43] And we read that verse at the beginning of our reading in verse 28. Jesus, he introduces himself to the people as the one who serves. The son of man did not come to be served, says Jesus, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.

[48:59] That's what Jesus said about himself. And then as we see how Jesus responds to the people, we see that he is a king who serves them.

[49:10] Verse 32, Jesus stopped and he called them, the blind men. What do you want me to do for you? He asked. Lord, they answered.

[49:23] We want our sight. And this is a staggering scene. These two men would have been considered in that culture to be nobodies.

[49:41] They were just little people. And they were blind. There was no social services. There was no real compassion in that culture. They were nobodies. And yet these two men are standing before the king of glory, the one whom Isaiah saw and was undone in the presence of.

[50:01] These two men are standing before the king of glory and he serves them. He says to them, what do you want me to do for you?

[50:17] It's the king who serves. And he comes to us today with the same question. What do you want me, says Jesus, to do for you?

[50:35] He's the Lord who can cause the scales of sin to fall from our eyes. He's the Lord who can save us. He's the Lord who can save us.

[50:45] And heal us. He'll heal us eternally through his amazing grace. But we need to respond to him.

[50:58] We need to answer his question. What do you want me to do for you? We need to cry out to him. I want you to have mercy on me.

[51:10] I want you to take my sin away. I want you to save me. He's the king who is powerful.

[51:23] That's the next thing to note. I mean, today, kings and royal figures don't really have all that much power.

[51:34] The power is shifted into politics. But this king, king Jesus, he is powerful.

[51:47] Verse 34. Jesus had compassion on them. And he touched their eyes. And immediately, they received their sight.

[51:59] And followed him. One touch. From Jesus. And they can see.

[52:12] Such is the power of Jesus. And you could take an hour this afternoon. And look through the Gospels. And think about the power of Jesus.

[52:23] And we see so many demonstrations of the power of Jesus in the Gospels. One touch from Jesus. And disease has to flee. Demons have to flee.

[52:36] One word from Jesus. And stormy seas are calmed. And the dead rise. Such is his power. Jesus is the king who is powerful.

[52:54] Got a friend in Edinburgh who writes songs. Steph McLeod. And when you go home, you can Google him.

[53:06] You can Google this song, When I Found Jesus. It's a testimony. It's his testimony. He is an alcoholic. He was living on the streets in Edinburgh.

[53:18] He was in the lowest possible place. And he met with someone who told him about Jesus.

[53:30] He felt something of the compassionate touch of Jesus. And his life changed. And in the song, which is his testimony, he has this line in it.

[53:43] One touch from the king of kings changed everything. Because he's the king who is powerful. The next thing is, he's the king who knows.

[53:59] He's the king who has knowledge. And then to verse 1 of chapter 21. And so, we see here that Jesus, he has knowledge of what's up ahead.

[54:29] And there's debates amongst the scholars about whether this is supernatural knowledge or whether this is something that's prearranged. It doesn't really matter. What matters is that it's clear to see that Jesus knows what's going on.

[54:46] Jesus knows what's up ahead. Jesus knows that he's about to enter into this coronation scene that was prophesied by Zechariah in Zechariah 9.9.

[54:57] Jesus knows that this crowd would soon begin to shout out, Hosanna! and would seem to have these noises coming from it of worship.

[55:08] And Jesus knows that this same crowd will move quickly in the space of five days from shouting Hosanna to shouting crucify him. He knows.

[55:24] J.C. Ryle says there's nothing hidden from the Lord's eyes. There are no secrets with him. Alone or in company, by night or by day, in private or in public, he's acquainted with all our ways.

[55:46] Jesus is the king who knows. He knows all things. He came to this world knowing that he would be despised, that he would be rejected.

[56:00] that he would be bruised, that he would be battered, that he would be crucified. And yet he still came.

[56:16] Jesus knows the deepest, darkest secret of your heart and mine. And yet he still reaches out to us in love and mercy and grace.

[56:32] He's the king who knows. The next point is, he's the king who's humble. Verse 4 and 5, this took place, says Matthew, to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet, say to the daughter of Zion, see, your king comes to you gentle and riding on a donkey, on a coat, the foal of a donkey.

[57:02] And we have this scene in Jericho, which just seems so, in a way, inappropriate. because the king of glory is entering into this place.

[57:22] And yet there's no pomp, there's no ceremony. He doesn't gallop in on a white stallion. But he comes into this place on a donkey.

[57:41] Actually on a coat. A baby donkey. And so we see that Jesus, he is the king who is humble.

[57:57] He's the king that the apostle Paul writes of in Philippians 2. He's the king who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing.

[58:16] This is King Jesus. He made himself nothing. Taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross.

[58:41] The king who is humble. He's the king who is gentle. It's the next thing. The disciples, verse 6, went and did as Jesus had instructed them.

[58:57] They brought the donkey and the coat, placed their cloaks on them and Jesus sat on them. and this is just a small detail, but it's a detail that only Matthew records.

[59:12] You've got this account in all the Gospels, but it's actually only Matthew who records this detail, that there were two donkeys. There was a young colt that Jesus will ride on and the mother.

[59:31] And Mark tells us in Mark chapter 11 and verse 2 that this young colt had never been ridden before. So for this young animal, it would have been a big day.

[59:43] For this young donkey, this was going to be a highly stressful scene. The noise of the crowds, all the drama, never had any kind of experience before.

[59:53] And there's going to be all this stuff happening around it. And so Jesus, the King of Glory, determines that he will make sure that the mother is on scene to be with the young colt so that it won't get too stressed out.

[60:18] And it's just a small detail, but it's a small detail that shows us something of the gentleness, the thoughtful compassion of Jesus, even towards this beast, this animal.

[60:37] He's the King who is gentle, even to a young donkey. Why do we need to know this? Well, I think we need to know this because he wants us to come to him.

[60:54] He wants us to trust him. Jesus says in Matthew 11 and verse 28, Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

[61:08] Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. So we see the gentleness of King Jesus.

[61:27] And yet as we move on towards a conclusion, there's a change in gear and we see, finally, a king who is strong.

[61:39] There's that contrast between the gentleness of Jesus towards this animal and then the strength of Jesus as he steps into the temple and as he confronts these religious leaders.

[61:58] He's the king who is strong. Jesus, verse 12, entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves.

[62:12] It is written, he said to them, my house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers. And this is quite a scene.

[62:26] This is the kind of scene that in our thinking would be front page news on every tabloid. because Jesus goes into this place where all the industry is ongoing.

[62:41] He goes into the place where money is being made. He goes into the place where all the most powerful characters of their day were congregated. There's tables that are full of merchandise, big, solid, heavy wooden tables stacked high with stuff.

[63:00] And Jesus flips them over. effortlessly. And the people in the temple were the powerful leaders of that day.

[63:17] The religious leaders were those who had the ultimate authority in that culture. And Jesus thinks nothing of squaring up to them and driving them out, scolding them as he does so, saying, this house is to be a place of prayer.

[63:37] You're turning it into a den of robbers. And then think about these confident market traders, the entrepreneurs, the guys in that day who had all the shrewd wisdom.

[63:54] And Jesus drives them out with great ease. We see the strength of King Jesus.

[64:05] He is firm. He is strong in the way that he deals with proud scholars and the sellers, the merchants of that place.

[64:20] But Jesus is gentle with the vulnerable, the blind, the lame, the outcast, even the nervous cult. And we could go on and make many more observations, even from this short section.

[64:39] But I want to just stop there and just ask you the question, have you ever seen, have you ever known a king like this?

[64:54] This is our king. He is gentle to those who feel downtrodden, to those who feel battered, to those who know their sin and who feel the weight of it and who are weary and who are tired.

[65:22] We have a king here who is gentle and he's humble and yet he's the king who is powerful.

[65:36] He cares for the little people. He stands up for them and he stands up to those who exploit and those who corrupt.

[65:49] And he's approachable. He's not at a distance. He doesn't drive away any who come to him seeking his help. He's approachable.

[66:02] And he's loving and he's merciful and he's gracious. And he's here.

[66:17] So how will you respond to him? He's the king who loved his people so much that he left heaven to come to this world to seek us and to save us.

[66:36] and he's the king who saves us not by taking up a sword and going on a campaign of violence but he's the king who laid down his life so that we could have peace in our hearts peace with God.

[67:01] this is our king this is king Jesus so how will you respond to him?

[67:15] you can shake our fist like the religious leaders did you can say to him what they said we will not have you rule over us we can be like the crowds full of emotion lots of drama we make all the right noises when we're in the church building but then once we're out Jesus is far from our minds or we can be like these two blind men who perceived that Jesus was near who sensed that he could save them and who cried out have mercy on me help me save me give me sight and who instantly received what they asked for it can be like the children in the temple who praised the Lord Jesus with that simple childlike faith so what will you do?

[68:56] because all of us will do one of these things as we walk out the door this morning all of us have a king that rules and reigns over our lives it might be money it might be the pursuit of popularity and fame it might be somebody else we're trying to get the approval of it might be ourselves we are on the throne no one tells us what to do but all of us have a king but the truth is there is no one who will care for us who will satisfy us who will protect us who will save us but King

[70:00] Jesus every other king ourselves included will disappoint us and destroy us only Jesus is worthy of our praise so let us crown him as the king of our lives and we can sing and respond in the words of the last hymn crown him with many crowns the lamb upon his throne you CHOIR SINGS

[71:06] CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS

[72:24] And those victorious in the strife For those he came to save His glory shall be saved Who died and rose on high Who died eternal life to bring And lives not dead we die Crown him the Lord of hell And throne him worlds above Crown him the King to whom is still The wondrous name of God All hail Redeemer him For thou hast died for me

[73:26] Thy grace shall never, never fail Through earth's eternity And now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, the fellowship of God the Holy Spirit Be with us all now and forevermore. Amen.