The King They Would Not Crown

When Jesus rode into Jerusalem, He came deliberately as King. He sent for the colt so that the city might see Zechariah fulfilled: "Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass" (Matthew 21:5). The multitudes cried, "Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord" (Matthew 21:9), and all the city was moved, asking, "Who is this?" (Matthew 21:10-11). For one day, Jerusalem called Him King.

Five days later the same city shouted, "We have no king but Caesar" (John 19:15). The crowd wanted a King who would serve their appetites, not one who would rule their lives. That contradiction still divides professing Christianity. Many want Jesus as Savior who will not have Him as King, forgetting His own words: "Why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" (Luke 6:46). Paul made kingship inseparable from salvation: "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved" (Romans 10:9). John began his preaching, "Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 4:17), and Jesus told Nicodemus, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3).

This was never a new problem. Jesus had already told a parable of a nobleman whose own citizens sent a message after him, "We will not have this man to reign over us" (Luke 19:14), and He warned that such rejection would be judged (Luke 19:27). Peter preached the same kingship as the substance of the gospel itself: "Let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:36); the response demanded was repentance, not mere admiration (Acts 2:38). The Great Commission itself defines discipleship as obedience to a King: "teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:20).

A gospel that offers forgiveness without submission offers a Christ without His crown. Examine your own confession: does Jesus reign over your choices, or only over your creed? The crowd waved palms and then chose Caesar. Do not repeat their verdict.