Bible
Facebook, Next Generation: Of Royal Blood
Revelation 19:11-16, Matthew 27:20-29
Last Sunday we began the first of a
five sermon series on the Gospels. We saw the uniform
overarching message of four separate and distinct accounts of
Jesus is that He fulfilled the Scriptures. Every thing we learn
about God in the Old Testament we see up close and personal in
Jesus, His Son. This morning we focus on Matthew, a former tax
collector, turned devout follower of Jesus Christ: eye witness
to the crucifixion, burial, resurrection and ascension of his
Master, our Lord and Savior.
My
closest friends span more than 50 years. I have come to know and
love them at various phases of my life. They are diverse in
interests, age, culture, and ethnic background. The few things
they have in common are unquestionable honesty, faith in Jesus
Christ, and me. If asked, each one would independently describe
me, and their relationship to me in a different way. So would
your friends – even those who have known you the longest and
dearest.
Likewise
the men who wrote the Gospels all knew Jesus well, loved Jesus
supremely, but record His life and works from different
perspectives with a different emphasis for different audience.
Matthew was a Jew, a man who scammed and swindled his own people
collecting tax for the hated Romans. In a sense he was an
economic mercenary against his own people, a social outcast.
But Matthew found with Jesus acceptance, forgiveness, and peace.
He writes for the Jewish community who longed for the promised
Messiah, a successor to the throne of King David. Throughout his
Gospel, Matthew underscores that Jesus fulfilled the Scriptures
as Messiah, the King, Son of David, the Son of God, King of the
Universe.
The Gospel of Matthew is characterized by
the lion of Judah. In the opening chapter of Matthew we trace
Jesus' genealogy from Abraham, through King David and Solomon,
through the Judea Kings to Joseph, husband of Mary, His mother.
It is a legal line of royal blood. In his Gospel Luke traces
Mary's family tree clear back to Adam, the first man.
All through Matthew's Gospel, we see
the regal character of Jesus. The Kingdom of God is mentioned
55 times. Even in those things in which Jesus was tried,
mocked, and scourged focused on the kingship of Jesus: Mt.
27:28,29 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.
Matthew
shows us all the majesty of God in Jesus on the Mount with
Peter, James and John when the glory of God is revealed in His
person:
a momentary glimpse of His divine
nature to human eyes.
And dramatically portrays
Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem as precisely foretold by
the prophet Zechariah. At the close of his gospel, Matthew
reports the unadulterated facts of Christ's resurrection. It was
announced by an angel. Jesus is seen in a physical body bearing
the marks of his execution. The authorities take take pains and
expense to forge a cover-up.
Finally before He ascends into
heaven, Jesus imparts to the disciples the great commission
All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit
and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
Jesus is messiah King sent
from God to be honored, worshiped and adored. He has not
changed. He was then. He is now. He forever will be.
The Messiah
of royal blood, the Son of David, the Majesty of God is
sovereign over all the world, the universe. But He forces no
one to receive Him, honor Him, or worship Him. Instead He loves
us, and bids us to come. Come and share in His glorious reign
and Kingdom. He
poured out Himself for us by taking our penalty for sin upon
Himself on the cross. He shed His own innocent royal blood to
remove our guilt and shame. We share in the fellowship of His
sufferings and the glory of His reign when we receive this
broken bread, and this cup. Together with Christians all over
the world, we proclaim His death, His resurrection, until He
comes again to claim His Bride, the Church, the sanctified body
of believers from every tribe, every race, every nation.
In his
great age, the apostle John saw and wrote the prophesy of King
Jesus yet to come. I
saw heaven standing open and before me was a white horse, whose
rider is called Faithful and True. Revelation 19:11
John describes King Jesus in great vivid detail: eyes blazing
like fire, garbed in a robe dipped in blood. Judging and making
war against God's enemies. He is a terror to those who have
terrified. But to those who know, love, and worship Him, King
Jesus is a glorious Deliverer, Redeemer, Lord and Savior.
John
assures us: The armies of heaven were following Him, riding
on white horses and dressed in fine linen white, and clean. Rev.
19:14
Beloved, if
we're walking with Him now, we'll be riding with Him then. We
will see Him as He is in all His glory and majesty, just as
Matthew portrays Him: King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
