Calvary Road Baptist Church

“THE KING’S ROYAL RIGHT OF REQUISITION ON DISPLAY”

Matthew 21.2 

The Bible, the Word of God, those sixty-six books that comprise the canon of Scripture, thirty-nine books in the Hebrew Old Testament, and twenty-seven books in the Greek New Testament, is not only our rule of faith and practice as Christians. As a congregation, the Church of Jesus Christ, it is also the master plan by which God has revealed His purpose between eternity past and eternity future.

In his excellent book, The Unfolding Drama Of Redemption: The Bible As A Whole, author W. Graham Scroggie captures that aspect of God’s Word that does not so much tell us what God wants us to do but what God has done and will do regardless of your response to His challenges and commands. In his magnificent overview of the Bible, the author identifies three great divides that comprise God’s Book.[1] The Prologue is found in Genesis 1.1 through Genesis 11.9, from creating the time-space-matter continuum to the confusion of tongues at Babel. The Epilogue is located in the Revelation of Jesus Christ, the final book of the Bible.

Taking up the bulk of the Bible, what the author labels Act I, Interlude, and Act II, is what lies between. Act I is the rest of the Hebrew Scriptures, from Genesis 11.10 through Malachi. The Interlude is the quiet centuries between Malachi and Matthew, quiet in Scripture but not quiet in history. And Act II is the New Testament minus the Revelation, Matthew through the letter written by Jude.

The entirety of the drama unfolds to glorify God. God’s glory is primarily featured in the exhibition of His grace toward undeserving sinners. In the Prologue, we see human failure after failure. There was the failure of Adam, the first sinner. There was the failure of the entire human race when human women bore children by sinful angels, prompting God to judge their sin with a worldwide Flood while preserving eight souls in the Ark. Then there was the introduction of idolatry at Babel when God visited judgment upon the human race’s flagrant disobedience by confusing their languages.[2]

Having set aside the Gentile nations, Act I is God’s revelation of His program, beginning with a single man, Abram, sovereignly removed from the center of idolatry and taken to what we know as the Promised Land. With Abram, God established an unconditional covenant,[3] frequently referred to as the Abrahamic Covenant.

God later expanded that covenant in the Palestinian Covenant,[4] the Davidic Covenant,[5] and the New Covenant.[6] Without taking the time to elaborate, the Palestinian Covenant is God’s unconditional promise to provide for His covenant nation a land, territory, geography. The Davidic Covenant is God’s unconditional promise to provide a king, a sovereign, a ruler for His covenant nation. The New Covenant is God’s unconditional promise to provide for His covenant nation a citizenry, a population, a people.

Failure after failure after failure. Throughout the rest of Act I, the Hebrew Scriptures after Genesis 11.9, we see two types of repeated failures; the failures of Israel’s kings and the failures of Israel’s citizens. Whether it was the people’s choice of king, Israel’s first king, Saul, or the king who was a man after God’s own heart, David the shepherd king, followed by his son, the wisest of men, Solomon, the result was the same.

And among the citizenry it was no better—rebellion, idolatry, and infanticide. There was the occasional good king. There were godly prophets dispatched from time to time. But the result was the same—failure after failure, in the form of rebellion, idolatry, and infanticide. After the nation split in two, the Assyrians overwhelmed the northern kingdom of Israel. Later, the Babylonians swept in and carried the best of Judah into Babylonian captivity for seventy years. The Promised Land was lost. The Jewish kings were swept aside. The Jewish people were taken into exile. The Old Testament closes with some of the people returning to the Promised Land, but with no authority and no king, ending Act I.

Although there was a great deal of activity in the Promised Land during the Interlude, what with Alexander the Great conquering and making that part of the world a Greek-speaking region and the Romans later expanding to occupy the Promised Land, there were no prophets raised up by God during that time. The Jewish people were in their land, though not controlling it, waiting for their king.

Act II opens with the Gospel according to Matthew and the birth of the Christ child in Bethlehem. But it was the arrival of the magi from the East to Jerusalem, asking, 

“Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him,” 

Matthew 2.2 that stirred things up. This despite the fact that Herod the Great moved unsuccessfully to murder the Christ child.[7]

For centuries the Jewish people had longed for a return to their glory days and a restoration of their kingdom, guaranteed by the Abrahamic Covenant, with the Promised Land guaranteed by the Palestinian Covenant, and a king promised by the Davidic Covenant. The New Covenant was so far removed from their sensibilities that they gave that covenant little thought.

Then the Lord Jesus Christ’s public ministry began, following His baptism by His cousin John and His success against the Devil’s vain attempts to tempt Him in the wilderness.[8] He was announced to be the Lamb of God by His cousin in John 1.29 and 36. But it wasn’t until He had gathered His first disciples from among the Baptist’s followers (James, Peter, Andrew, and John) and returned to Galilee that He was recognized by Nathaniel, who said, 

“Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.”[9] 

But it wasn’t until more than two years passed, when the Lord Jesus Christ fed the 5,000 with the lad’s five loaves and two small fishes, that the multitudes clamored to make Him their king, exhibiting their appetite for a Jewish king to rule over them.[10] The people wanted a king. But why did they want a king? At the feeding of the 5,000, they wanted a king who would feed them. Others certainly wanted a king to rise up and defeat the oppressive Romans. The high priest, Caiaphas, feared a Jewish king, supposing the Roman Empire would crush any attempt by a Jewish king to lead an uprising against them.[11]

At the proper time, in fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, the Lord Jesus Christ would present Himself as Israel’s anticipated king. When did He do that? He did that on what is now referred to as Palm Sunday, so named because the people placed palm branches in His path as He rode a never before ridden donkey colt into Jerusalem, fulfilling the prophet Zechariah’s prediction from more than five centuries earlier.[12]

Just imagine the celebration. The people were ecstatic. Jerusalem was alive with enthusiasm. What people had wanted and prayed for their whole lives was unfolding before their eyes. Prophecy was being fulfilled! The King had come!

Today is Palm Sunday, and the Lord Jesus Christ is the King of the Jews, according to the magi who traveled so far to worship Him, according to Nathaniel, according to Pontius Pilate,[13] and by His own testimony,[14] I want to focus on a single aspect of the Lord Jesus Christ as the King.

But not only as the King of the Jews. He is also “the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God,”[15] “the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords,”[16] according to the Apostle Paul, and “Lord of lords, and King of kings,”[17] according to John’s Revelation.

The problem is that the issue of a king is too big a topic to deal with in one message from God’s Word, concerning a king or kings found in almost 2,000 verses in the Bible. Thankfully, today's focus will be on only one king, King Jesus. But He is too big a topic to deal with in one sermon, so I want to focus on only one aspect of the Lord Jesus Christ as king, His royal right of requisition.

Requisition might be a new word to you, but the concept is not complicated, so I will address the display of the Lord Jesus Christ’s royal right of requisition under three main headings: 

First, BY DESCRIBING THE KING’S ROYAL RIGHT OF REQUISITION 

Let me begin by asking, what is this authority labeled requisition? It is the king’s royal right to demand. Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary definition reads, 

“The act of requiring; a demanding, as by right or authority; formal demand; specifically, (a) the demand made by one State upon another for the surrender of a fugitive from law; (b) a demand made with authority for a supply of necessaries; (c) a levying of necessaries by hostile troops from the people in whose country they are; (d) in law, the series of inquiries and requests arising on behalf of a proposed purchaser, and with which the vendor must comply, unless he be exempt by the conditions of sale; (e) in Scots law, a demand made by a creditor that a debt be paid or an obligation fulfilled.”[18] 

The Magna Carta was a document the nobles of England coerced King John of England to sign on June 15, 1215. If I may be so bold, the Magna Carta was a restriction of King John’s royal right of requisition as the King of England. The Magna Carta has limited the English king’s right to make demands upon English subjects from that time forward.

The Constitution of the United States of America is another legal document that restricts the right of requisition by the federal and state governments. Our Constitution 

Turning to Scripture, the implicit royal right of requisition by kings is attested in the Bible. You see it in the exercise of authority wielded by Gentile kings in Old Testament times, from Pharaoh to Cyrus. You also see it in the exercise of authority wielded by Israel’s kings, Saul, David, and Solomon. It was foolish Jeroboam’s insistence on the foolish and harsh use of his royal right of requisition after Solomon died that prompted ten tribes of Israel to rebel against his rule, leading to the divided kingdom, First Kings 12. Several generations before, in First Samuel 8.10-20, the prophet Samuel tried to warn the people against desiring a king. Read that passage, and you will notice many verses describing a king’s rule with the words “and he will take” to describe their future kings’ royal right of requisition. Would you agree that our government’s right of requisition has morphed into something that has spun of control? On that, I think we are all agreed.

What about the Lord Jesus Christ’s royal right of requisition? His right to exercise His royal right of requisition is due to His sovereignty, authority, power, omniscience, wisdom, and rule as King David’s rightful heir. 

Next, REVIEWING THE KING’S ROYAL RIGHT OF REQUISITION 

Recall that on Palm Sunday, the Lord Jesus Christ rode into Jerusalem on a donkey colt, with great fanfare and celebration by the people shouting, 

“Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.”[19] 

The multitudes of religious pilgrims in the city for Passover had doubtless heard He had healed two blind men in Jericho only two days before.[20] But have you ever wondered how He came by that unridden donkey colt to ride? Matthew 21.2 informs us the Lord told two of His men where to find the donkey and her colt and directed them to fetch the two animals. The following verse records that if anyone were to ask what they were up to, they were to say, 

“The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them.” 

Beloved, that was the King’s royal requisition of the donkey colt to ride on Palm Sunday.

Several days later, King Jesus did it again. Consider the passage informing us how He obtained the Upper Room for the Passover, Matthew 26.17-19: 

17  Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the passover?

18  And he said, Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at thy house with my disciples.

19  And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them; and they made ready the passover. 

Did the Lord Jesus ask for the Upper Room? No. Did He direct His men to ask for the use of the Upper Room? No. He requisitioned the Upper Room, as was His royal right to do.

What about the use of Zacchaeus’ home in Jericho to dine and rest the previous week? The Lord and His men were in Jericho when He looked up and saw that small man, Zacchaeus, up in a tree so he could see over the crowd. What did the Lord say to the wealthy publican? Luke 19.5: 

“Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house.” 

Did He ask? No. Did the Lord suggest it? No. Kings do not ask or suggest. The King requisitioned Zacchaeus’ home, and the publican happily complied.

Go back three years with me to the Lord’s directive to John the Baptist to baptize Him. Recall that with everyone else, John alone decided who he would baptize and who he refused to baptize. About that, there is no question.[21] However, when the Lord Jesus Christ arrived, John the Baptist hesitated because there was no repentance with the sinless Son of the living God. When the King of the Jews directed that he do so, John the Baptist immersed Him, yet another example of the royal right of requisition.[22]

How about one more example of the King’s royal right to requisition in the Biblical record? Near the Sea of Galilee, as the Passover approached, a multitude numbering some 5,000 men had assembled. Late in the day, too late to obtain food for the hungry crowd, the Lord turned to Philip to ask him what should be done, though the Lord already knew. He was testing Philip. A nearby apostle, Andrew, overhearing the exchange, said to the Lord, 

“There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes.”[23] 

What did the Lord Jesus Christ then do? His royal right to requisition is on full display in John 6.10-11: 

10  And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.

11  And Jesus took the loaves ... and likewise of the fishes.... 

There is no record of the Savior asking the lad if He could have his food. The only record is the Lord taking the lad’s five loaves and two fishes and using what He requisitioned to feed 5,000 with twelve baskets of food left over. What else is that but a demonstration of the King’s royal right of requisition? It is there if you know what to look for. 

Finally, APPLYING THE KING’S ROYAL RIGHT OF REQUISITION 

When Samuel cautioned the Jewish people about the things their future kings would do, he was not opposed to Israel being governed by a king. After all, kings were always in God’s future design for the nation of Israel. Samuel’s warning had more to do with his understanding of human sinfulness and the certainty that absolute power corrupts absolutely when that power is in the hands of sinful men.

That said, it is necessary to prevent a decline into anarchy for a ruler to wield authority and exercise the right of requisition. Taxes need to be levied. Laws must be enacted and enforced. Lawbreakers must be arrested, tried, and punished. Government cannot function efficiently without the right of requisition to impose upon the citizenry some degree of rules, restrictions, requirements, and responsibilities.

What we have seen throughout human history, however, is that the best of administrations have deteriorated over time as sinfulness leads to incompetence, mismanagement, and corruption. It is a testimony to the otherworldliness of Christ’s kingdom that such incompetence, mismanagement, and corruption exists all around us, in every government, and throughout history.

Recall the occasion in the judgment hall the morning of His crucifixion when Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, asked the Lord Jesus Christ, 

“Art thou the King of the Jews?”[24] 

There can be no doubt that Pilate’s spies and informants had reported this issue being discussed among the Jews.

After a little back and forth, the Lord Jesus Christ said to Pilate, 

“My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.”[25] 

Have you picked up on His words? “but now is my kingdom not from hence.” This is a crucial phrase, specifically pointing out to Pilate that, as of now, Christ’s kingdom is not from here.[26] But that will not always be the case. Someday Christ’s kingdom will very much be here.

Pilate reacted by asking another question, that the Savior answers, in verse 37: 

“Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.” 

The short answer is “Yes, He is a king.” He was born to be a king. He came into this world to be a king. And everyone that is of a truth hears His voice, which is to say, hears the voice of their king. This speaks to the New Covenant, doesn’t it? If the Palestinian Covenant promises a land for the kingdom, and the Davidic Covenant promises a king for the kingdom, what does the New Covenant promise? A citizenry for the kingdom. Remember what the Lord Jesus Christ said to Nicodemus in John 3.3 and 5? 

3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 

5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 

With these words, the Lord Jesus Christ reminds Nicodemus of the provisions of the New Covenant that would provide for qualified citizens of His kingdom, which is the new birth. Those who are born again hear His voice. As Jesus said in John 10.27: 

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” 

Of course, Pilate responded to the Lord’s comment about truth by asking, “What is truth?” He twice acknowledged that he found no fault in the Lord[27] but bowed to pressure and ordered His crucifixion. They rejected the King and crucified Him. The Lord’s crucifixion certainly illustrated that His kingdom is not now of this world, but He is the king, whether His kingdom is yet or not yet here.

Remember that Paul wrote that Jesus is “the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God,”[28] “the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords,”[29] thirty-five years after His crucifixion. And the Apostle John wrote that Jesus is the “Lord of lords, and King of kings,”[30] more than sixty-five years after Christ’s crucifixion.

What does this mean? It means that Jesus Christ is the King, though He has been seated in glory for two thousand years. And it means that if you are born again, you are a citizen of His kingdom, although His kingdom is not yet of this world. We are citizens of the kingdom, waiting for the arrival of our King and the bringing to earth of His theocratic kingdom, fulfilling the Palestinian Covenant, the Davidic Covenant, the New Covenant, and thereby fulfilling the Abrahamic Covenant made so long ago. 

On Palm Sunday, so long ago, one aspect of Christ’s kingly rule was demonstrated when He exercised His royal right of requisition by commandeering the donkey colt of one of His subjects to ride into Jerusalem. I showed you other times the Lord Jesus Christ exercised His royal right to requisition, with the lad’s loaves and fishes, with the use of the Upper Room, and Zacchaeus’ hospitality, to name a few.

We also learned that although the Lord Jesus Christ is the King of the Jews, His regal majesty extends far beyond the Jewish nation. He is the King of all kings, and the Lord of all lords, so that even if you are not Jewish He is your king.

If you are born again, you know that He is your king. Like Thomas, you kneel before Him and say, “My Lord and my God!” And, from today forward, you have had explained to you His royal right to requisition, to insist upon, to claim, to demand, to command whatever He wills of you.

His royal right to requisition what? Everything! Your life. Your time. Your treasure. Your service. Your family. Your spouse. Your children. Your home. Your profession. After all, He is the king of all glory. To refuse Him anything is to deny Him everything.

This is the king you own as your own as a believer in Christ. This is the king you pledge your loyalty to should you trust Him to save you from your sins.

And this, is it not, is the real issue with the sinner. I don’t want anyone telling me what to do.” And they will happily go to Hell with their defiance.

I beg you to change your mind. I beg you to reconsider. It is better to be the servant of the King than to be the slave of sin.

__________

[1] W. Graham Scroggie, The Unfolding Drama Of Redemption: The Bible As A Whole, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1970), page 5.

[2] Michael S. Heiser’s treatment of this event in The Unseen Realm: Recovering The Supernatural Worldview Of The Bible, (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2015), page 112ff is illuminating.

[3] Genesis 12.1-3, 6-7; 13.14-17; 15.1-21; 17.1-14; 22.15-18

[4] Deuteronomy 30.1-10

[5] 2 Samuel 7.12-16; Psalm 89.3-4; Jeremiah 33.22, 25-26

[6] Jeremiah 31.31-34

[7] Matthew 2.16-18

[8] Matthew 4.1-11; Mark 1.12-13; Luke 4.1-13

[9] John 1.49

[10] Edward Reese, The Reese Chronological Bible, (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House, 1977), pages 1264 and 1311, dating John 1.49 and 6.15.

[11] John 11.48-50; 18.14

[12] Reese, pages 1194 and 1361, dating Zechariah 9.9 and Matthew 21.5.

[13] John 19.14, 19

[14] John 18.37

[15] 1 Timothy 1.17

[16] 1 Timothy 6.15

[17] Revelation 17.14; 19.16

[18] Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary, (New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1996), page 1538.

[19] Matthew 21.9

[20] Matthew 20.29-34

[21] Matthew 3.7-10

[22] Matthew 3.13-15;

[23] Matthew 14.8; Mark 6.38; Luke 9.14; John 6.9

[24] John 18.33

[25] John 18.36

[26] Lidija Novakovic, John 11-21: A Handbook On The Greek Text - BHGNT, (Waco, Texas: Baylor University Press, 2020), page 241.

[27] John 18.38; 19.6

[28] 1 Timothy 1.17

[29] 1 Timothy 6.15

[30] Revelation 17.14; 19.16

Would you like to contact Dr. Waldrip about this sermon? Please contact him by clicking on the link below. Please do not change the subject within your email message. Thank you.

Pastor@CalvaryRoadBaptist.Church