Sunday School | Jesus' Ascension to King

Introduction

Well, you guys, we are well into our series on Christology. We're doing a couple of years of all theology. You start with theology proper, the doctrine of the first person of God. Now we're on Christology, the doctrine of the Son, and we're kind of divided Jesus' doings into 10 categories: his incarnation, his teaching of miracles, his obedient life. What did I miss? There's something else before I get into his death and resurrection. It's dependent, well, that's not necessarily one of the 10, that he is that. Certainly he's obedient life, maybe that, death, resurrection, and we are finally here on his ascension as King.

And then in a couple of weeks we'll get to his giving of the Spirit, interceding for sinners and returning to restore all things. But when we talk about ascension as King, I want to begin with a question and ask you to think, "I'm going to go back to 10th grade—is that me?" What's happening? We'll go back to 10th grade geometry, maybe it's 7th grade pre-algebra, I don't know. Would you describe Christ's reign as King as a line, a line segment, or a ray? Okay, do you remember the difference between these things? A line is infinite in both directions, a line segment has a beginning and an end, and a ray—I don't know what to do with a ray—starts at one point and then goes forever. Okay? So, do you envision Christ's reign as King as a line, bidirectionally infinite, a line segment that starts and ends, or as a ray that starts and goes forever? How do you guys work that out for me?

I would say a ray starts at the re-creation of earth at the end of all things, but I don't want to be... Okay, so Gil, the heretic has opened the bidding—his kingship will begin when he returns and it'll extend forever. Okay? Anybody want to counter, you want to join in his little heresy, or do you want to offer a thing? I'm with Gil, I know we disagree, but I'm with Gil. Okay, Dan is flaming heretic. Okay, all right, Fred? Why? Line, how lot, forever in both directions? Why do you say forever in both directions?

There was nothing before there was him and there'll be nothing after. Okay, so the question, remember the question is, we're talking about the kingship of Jesus. And Fred's also heretical, but heretical in a different direction. The answer is line because there was always him, there was nothing before him, he's infinitely passed.

He is infinitely passed. This is true, Susan? I agree with him except the start point, isn't it? Oh, okay, so we're closer. We're going to shave off his heresy. Where's the start point? At the cross? Okay, so Susan is going to say it's a ray. It starts at a point in time, but it starts sooner than Gil thinks and sooner than Dan is hardened in his rebellion. Okay? Other answers? We got line, line, segment, ray. What what? Segment. Do you like segment? Okay, and why, when does it begin? When does it end? Everybody, they were heretics. Well, I didn't tell Susan she was a heretic, so, so... I think it, I think Christ was always king. Oh, okay, so that's... He only becomes incarnate. Okay. And then, because he shows his kingship coming in to fill all the prophecies on Paul's sonnet. Okay. And he dies, and then he's ascended, and he is reigning his king, although his kingdom is not yet fully come here on earth. So this is a complicated version of heresy, okay? So he's always, so on the one hand you think he's always been king, but then something happened when he came to a human being and things got complicated, but he always will be king. But you, so you called it a line, segment, and then you defined it as a line with some like a dotted line, basically. Because you didn't accept my segment. Right, that's right. That's right. I know. I know, I know, I know. It's difficult. Okay. Anybody else? Take a shot at this, Gary. Line, line, segment, ray. Ray that begins with the resurrection. So close to Susan, okay, a ray that begins with the resurrection and then goes on forever. This is our answer. Okay? Massey? Line, segment. Line, segment. Okay. Unpack that. We have a crucified and resurrected, but then he will hand the throne back to his father when... Ooh. Okay. So now this is a complicated answer. So line, segment. His kingship begins in a moment in time, namely, cross and resurrection, and we're kind of like merging Gary's and Susan in one macro event, but then it will end when he comes back. That's going to be interesting. We'll talk about that. Probably not for a week or two. Fascinating. Fetsir, line, line, segment, ray. Ray. Ray. Okay. Why? Or how? I think it starts at the ascension. Okay. It's no longer like there's death, there's resurrection, but there's ascension. And when does it... Oh, and it never ends because it's a ray. Never, ever ends. Okay. Crown? What? The crown of thorns. So Susan is doubling down on the cross saying... I'm feeling hurting. No, you are not a heritage saying that he had a crown on the... I mean, he had a crown on the cross. And what if that crown was not merely a mockery, but it was a real crown? Yes. Right. And he's king. Okay. This is good. DFB? Verification of beginning point. Okay. It's kind of Psalm 2. It's... Okay. Psalm 2 is mine. You may not have Psalm 2. I get it. Because it goes to heaven somewhere in the time between crucifixion and resurrection when he reappears to the disciples and says, "I have been granted all power." Somewhere in there. Saturday. Okay. So he becomes king on Saturday. So... Right, okay. That's right. Somewhere in there is a big ceremony in heaven and he got crowned in... Yes. That's where his kingship initiated, but it goes forever. Okay. All right. So here's the general space of things. Here's what I want to tell you. It is absolutely the case that Jesus became king at a moment in time. And the popular common framing that he's always been king is false. Now, bear with me, because I know some of you think that I'm the heretic, but I'm not. Okay. He's always been God. Jesus... The question is king. Okay. Jesus has always been God in the very beginning before there was the beginning, right? In the beginning was the Word, right? The Word was with God and the Word was God. We are not asking any questions about when did he become divine. He was never not. He was never not divine. What we're asking is when was the kingdom granted to him to reign over the earth? And that happened at a moment in time.

Now, I think that we can quibble a little bit about death, resurrection, ascension. I think it's a little bit like asking, when did you get married, right? Is it at the beginning of the service? Is it at the end of the service? And the answer to that is really, it's neither of those. Is it at the idea? Is it at the... No, it's not really any of those. You become married when you consummate your wedding, right? So you leave a wedding technically unmarried. You're just allowed to get married, right? Sometime probably in the next eight hours. But we would call you a groom, we would call you a bride at any time in that whole weekend, right? So Jesus' kingship. The exact moment, like the moment is a little bit hard to distinguish, but I think we can make a point that his crucifixion—Susan was his coronation. But we can also find language which is going to specifically identify the resurrection as when he was declared—well, we'll get to this when we get there, but when Romans, I'll tell you now, when Romans 1 says that he was declared with power to be the Son of God, that's something in his resurrection. That's kingship language. I'll explain why that's kingship language maybe, maybe today, maybe next week. But there's something here. I'll show you. Before we get to particular about exactly the second that it happened, let me try to persuade you that his kingdom, his kingship, had a start, and we'll go where Dan suggested we go to Psalm 2. So listen to this. Go to Psalm 2. This is actually not very well known, but pretty clear in the scriptures and really pretty important. So Psalm 2 is the formula of coronation exists in Psalm 2. The first two psalms are bedrock, okay, so Psalm 1 is really important. Psalm 1 is about the great story that God is weaving. Psalm 2 is about the one who will reign over it.

And Judy, I just remembered that I saw your hand up a minute ago, but I didn't want to stop talking. Did you want to say something? Yeah, I think it very much depends on your definition of king and so that's kind of what I'd like to know because to me, okay, you know, always was, always is created the world. So is he king of the world? So what do you, do you have to have subjects to be a king, what are you deaf? Okay, this is good. Hold on to that though for about 20 minutes, okay? All right, and we'll get to this. So let's go to Psalm 2 and then we'll, and then if I don't yell at me and I'll try to come back to that. So Psalm 2 is setting up the story of the enthronement of the Messiah. Take a look at it.

For first stanzas, there are all three verse stanzas. It's like four little dealies. Why do the nations conspire that people plot in vain? The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed one? Do you know how to say anointed one in Hebrew? Messiah. Okay, this is the Lord and his Messiah and the world is in rebellion. It says, let us break their chains and throw off their shackles. And so in response to that, now hear this, this is not, notice this, the one enthroned that's king language, but this is not about the son. This is about the father, the enthroned one. So if I ask the question, when did God become king, then the answer is that's a line, baby. There was never a time that God was not over enthroned over all things. But in his overarching rule of the universe, he granted authority to somebody else, okay? And that is the beginning of my answer to you, Judy.

There is a sense in which God has always been enthroned, but then there is a sense in which he is bequeathed rulership of the cosmos to somebody else. Okay? So this here is God the father enthroned, and the one who is enthroned sees the world rebelling. Watch it, he says, verse 4, the one enthroned in heaven laughs at the wicked rebellion. He scoffs at them. He rebukes them in his anger and he terrifies them in his wrath, saying, quote, I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain.

What that means is that God the father has placed someone else on a throne, someone else to rule and to reign. Now, this Psalm 2 is a depiction of that. Now that someone who is the anointed one, who is the Messiah, who we ultimately know is going to be named Jesus, says what his father said to him. And here's the, this is really the formula of coronation. In verse 7, he said to me, you are my son, today I have become your father. Ask me and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. You will break them with a rod of iron, you will dash them to pieces like pottery. Therefore, you kings be wise, be warned you rulers of the earth, serve the Lord with fear, and celebrate his rule with trembling. And then finally, in verse 12, kiss his son, or he will be angry and your way will lead to your destruction. For his wrath can flare up in a moment, but blessed are all who take refuge in him.

This Psalm is saying there's a moment in time where God the father grants to somebody else, someone that he calls his son, that he gives the title of son. He says, you get it all. I've given it to you. And this moment in time is what we're asking about, when did this happen or you could say when will this happen, but it already happened. Okay? But there's a moment in time where the father grants to the son the rule of the cosmos.

Carlton. Is it Luke 1? Okay, Luke, and what about Luke 1? Okay, is everybody good there? Go to Luke 1. You will conceive and give birth to a son. You are to call him Jesus. He will be great and be called the son of the Most High. Lord God will give him the throne of his father, David. And he will reign over Jacob's descendants forever. His kingdom will never end.

Okay, now I think my guess is what you see about that is that he will give him that which he did not already possess, namely a throne. Is that fair? Now, one thing that we could quibble about is this throne is the throne of his father, David? Technically, most precisely, this is not a description of him being given kingship over the cosmos, the kingship over what? Israel. Israel, okay, and that's important and it's meaningful. But there is, there's something even more cosmic going on in Psalm 2 than just this. But this is the same exact language. There's a moment in time where the father gives to the son reign, not just over Israel, not even just over the earth, but literally over all of creation. Okay, you feeling on that? Bob?

Seven. Okay, let's go to Daniel 7. Now, when you were describing it happening, go to Daniel 7. And DFP, when you were kind of describing it, like, that you see it maybe happening as we would, as we say, like on Saturday, sort of. Okay, this is Daniel 7. This is where it's happening. This is probably the most vivid description. It's one of the most important passages in the Old Testament.

In Daniel 7, the people are having, there's a vision. Daniel's having a vision of the nations fighting. I want to be in charge, I want to be in charge, I'm going to kill you so that I can be in charge. And all these snarling beasts, like all the nations of the world, are depicted as these vicious devouring animals. And there's a sense of like who's going to kill who so they can get on top. And in the midst of it, like, the screen splits in half. You're still seeing every fighting and snarling, whatever, but now we see up into this other room. We see into another throne room. It's very Psalm 2-ish, right? There's one who is enthroned. Take a look at what happens, verse, after all the fighting, in 7-9, have you found your way there? Daniel 7-9. Daniel looks, and he says, "Thrones were set in place, and the ancient of days took his seat." Who is the ancient of days? God the Father, this is important. His clothing was his whitest snow, the hair of his head was white like wool. His throne, his throne, because he is the over king, right? His throne was flaming with fire, and his wheels were all ablaze. A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before him. Thousands upon thousands upon thousands attended him. 10,000 times 10,000 stood before him. The court receded, and the books were opened. Okay? So there's a throne of God. He's seated on his throne, which is the wheelchair, which is odd. Everything is on fire, and God the Father is superintending all things, yes? Okay, then we go look down to the other scene below, and verse 11, as I continue to watch because of the boastful words the horn was speaking. This is bringing us back down to the snarling fighting that's on the earth. And I kept looking until the beast was slain. That's one of the four animals. His body was destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire. This, by the way, is, John is going to mind this heavily when he writes the Revelation. This is the river of fire. He's going to reimagine it as a lake of fire. The beast is going to be slain, cast into that river, cast into that lake. John, this is monumental stuff. Okay? But then in verse 13, the scene changes, and we're back up top. Okay? We're back up in the throne. We've got to watch this. This is what DFP was talking about. In my vision at night, I looked, and there before me was one, like a son of man. What does that mean? Okay, it doesn't mean Messiah. It is the Messiah, but it doesn't mean Messiah. What does it mean? Okay, it doesn't mean Messiah. It is the Messiah, but it doesn't mean Messiah. What does it mean? Human being. It's like, who is this guy? We were in the throne of God, there's 10 billion angels, everything's on fire, and some dude walks in the room, and it's like, it's so incongruent. He has no business being here. What is some human being in this scene of unimaginable splendor? You can't see God. He'll kill you. Okay, nevertheless, in my vision at night, I looked, and there before me was a human being coming with the clouds of heaven. And he approached the ancient of days, which is not something that I would generally recommend you do. And he was led into his presence, and here it is again, Carlton, the same language of being given. He was given authority, glory, and sovereign power. All nations and people of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. So this is a human being, at a moment in time, being granted the right to rule everything.

Now, Massey, we're going to have to contend with what you said about 1 Corinthians because you're right about Jesus giving over the kingdom. But then here, this thing never ends. So we'll get there in a week or two, try to understand how do we understand all of this. But do you see Psalm 2, Daniel 7, "His kingship begins at a moment in time." God the Father, who reigns over all, bequeaths to the Son rulership over the universe. Robin?

But it also says it never ends, and did I understand earlier that you were saying Jesus gives it back to the Father? Yes. His name is us laying down our crowns at his feet. Well, okay, so two weeks—maybe next week, but probably in two weeks—we're going to, well, what I want to establish for you today is that the answer is definitely not a line. It cannot be a line. He becomes king. It's either Ray or it's line segment, and we will solve that next week. But first things first, it begins at a moment in time, which is very counter to most people's intuition. Jesus became king. Call this you.

Can I get back to Carlton's verse and you pointed out, well, that talks about the being king of Israel? Yep. But then, Psalm 2, Daniel 7 talked about the obedience of the nations. I just wanted to lift up Genesis 49, the blessing that Jacob gives to Judah. Sure, absolutely.

Absolutely. The scepter will not depart from Judah nor the rulers' staff from between his feet until he comes to whom it belongs, and the obedience of the nations is his. So I think that time, like the son of David in Luke, or the king coming from David, is also the king who's going to have the obedience of the nations from Psalm 2. That's because exactly right, that the way—and this is, okay, we'll do this—I'll just show you that Genesis 49 is foundational language of kingship. So just listen again to verse 10 of Genesis 49. What's going on here is that Jacob is telling his sons, he's giving blessings and curses to each of his kids, and he tells Judah, Judah, you're the line from which the kings will come. And the idea is that there'll be a little king ruling over Israel from Judah, and then another little king ruling over Israel from Judah. And then another little king—sorry, ruling over Israel from Judah. Damn, is that me? I don't know, man. Okay, dance around. Move that. I don't even know if this is on, I'll be honest. It doesn't, that doesn't amplify it, only records. Always recording. Yeah. So it's probably on. So is it me? I don't know, man, nothing. Maybe it's like close to my face. No, I think I'll bend it away from my face. Maybe it's my manly beard that's causing it. So we'll see if that works. Okay. Lord, just whatever, okay. So he says to Judah, wait, okay. So he tells Judah, there's going to be a little king of Israel, a little king of Israel. But notice, all the little kings are leading up to the real king, okay? The scepter will not depart from Judah nor the ruler's staff from between his feet until he comes to whom it belongs. In the obedience of the nations, plural, shall be his, right? So it is the king of Israel who will someday become the king of the world, right? Is that the bridge you're trying to build, Kelly? Are you going to add to it? Just, we take a peek at verse 11 and tell me if that's appropriate for Psalm 100%. Yes. So.

The Kingship of Christ and Its Beginning

Sunday, like what we were, what the reading of the morning, the gospel reading today is. Yes, this is true, okay. This is a little bit far field, but, but today's Palm Sunday where Jesus rides in and he gets on a donkey and he, and he comes in and they lay down their palm branches. Everybody knows that, well—not everybody—but you might know, that is rooted in a messianic prophecy of Zechariah 9 that says that when the Messiah comes, he will come gentle riding on a donkey, colt, the foal of a donkey. That, I say, it's Zechariah 9, I don't know what. Did I say Zechariah? That Zechariah 9 is the basis of the prophecy about Jesus riding in. But Zechariah 9 is built on Genesis 49. It's the, really, the beginning. There are often times in the scriptures, there's these, these trains that run through.

In verse 11, this, the real king, the one who comes who will have the obedience to the nations, is verse 11. He will tether his donkey to a vine, his colt, to the choice branch. He will wash his garments in wine, his robes, in the blood of grapes. All of that is a setup for what, that's what Zechariah is talking about in 9. And Zechariah 9 is what John is talking about, or Luke is talking about, when he points back to this. So, yes, that's all one big story. And someday, the king, the real king, will come. That's a bunch of little kings, and most of them are terrible. But one day, the good king will come, the real king will come, and when he comes, he gets it all.

Now, come back to this. Here's Jesus on this point. One of the, if you're, campus crusade, Adam? About Isaiah 9, 7. We'll do 6 and 7, but at the end of 7, it says, "From this time, forth, and forevermore." I don't know if you want me to read that on verse. So, I'll read it so it's easier here on the recording:

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace, there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on, and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.

And something you want to pull out of that in particular? I mean, I don't know. Just thinking about when it starts and if it ends, or when does it end? I can think of that.

Yes. He's a ray guy. He's a ray guy, right? And the ray guy is good, but hang on, just stay with me, right? We're going to get to the ray thing. What Mike said is not wrong; it's just unknown, and we're going to make sure it all is coherent. We'll get there. So, stay with me on the ray.

Okay, so let me go back. A couple more things I want you to see about the beginning because there's so much implication of his kingship beginning. Matthew 28, 18 to 20, when I was a college student, this was just hammered into my head, right? This is what we call the Great Commission. And I just want you to notice one thing about what Jesus says in the Great Commission. Matthew 28, 18: then Jesus came to them and said,

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

We could say, "has just been given to me." What he's saying here, as he begins the Great Commission, is, "I have just become king." That's what it says. Now, we tend to read that as if what he's saying is, "All authority in heaven and earth has always been mine," but that's not what he says. He's saying, "I became king." All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

He has become king. Or we could go here. Go to Philippians 2. Philippians 2 is the Christ hymn in the middle of Paul's writing. He probably didn't write these words; he's probably just copying these words from an existing song that they were singing. And as he sets it all up and describes this, listen to what he says. We're going to start in verse 6, Catherine:

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God as something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

You see him descending, descending, descending? Made himself nothing, taking the nature of a servant, though he is a nature God, 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.

Susan McQuaid, and what happens?

Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place.

Why did God exalt him to the highest place and give him the name that is above every name? That at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth?

Why? What preceded that? Because what he has done, and humbling himself, and we're coming. That's it? He became king because he got crucified. The cross comes before the crown, and it is because he went to the lowest place that God exalted him to the highest place.

This is a peculiar thing about the way that Paul describes this. In verse 10:

At the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord—

To the glory of God the Father.

We have a tendency to read Paul's use of the term "Lord," and think that he's really calling him God. He's just being polite about it, right? But that's not what he means. When Paul writes "Lord," he means king.

This is curious. He is saying he became the ruler because he went to the lowest place. Paul is unmistakably linking this.

Alright, I'll give you one more in Romans, and then I'm going to stop. Romans 14, 9:

For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that...

Why did he die? This is going to bring the resurrection into the picture:

So that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

And this is why I think I'm pretty comfortable with the answer that Christ became king at the cross. I think that especially the way that Matthew depicts that—that crucifixion, one second, it's a coronation. He is enthroned, he is crowned, he's got a purple robe, all the markers of kingship are there. It's just that his kingdom is so upside down.

We demand crowns of gold and jewels, but his glory is in his shame. His kingship is one of thorns and crucifixion. But it's a real kingship, and we really see him ascending. That's why I use the language that he's ascending—he's rising as king.

So was it on the cross? Was it on Saturday? Was it on Sunday? I don't know. But by Sunday, he walks out of that grave king of the world, and he was not king before. The day he washed his disciples' feet.

Okay, how are we doing?

The Beginning of His Kingship

Okay. Here's the last point that I'll hit you with, and I saved it for last only because it's a little bit complicated. Go to Romans 1. This might, this should have bothered you.

What should happen, the Bible is designed in a way that there are things, there are rumble strips that you're supposed to read and be like, "What?" And that slows you down and makes you think, "I don't understand. That makes no sense to me. What in the world is going on here?"

This is one of those rumble strips that if you slow it down, it's going to say more than if you just like, "I don't know. Flip the page." Okay? So don't flip the page on this because this is weird. Romans 1, 1:

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God,

Start to pay attention again. I know there's a lot of words. Verse 3:

Regarding his Son, who, as to his human nature, was a descendant of David, and who—

Here's the weird part—

through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead.

Now, the reason that should trouble you is because you might not have a fully developed sense of what the phrase "Son of God" means. So let's talk about that, and then we'll put it back in.

Now, we've done this in this class. I remember talking about it in the fellowship hall, but it's been a couple of years, and you might not have been here. There are three distinct senses in which we mean that Jesus is the Son of God. Does anybody—does this ring a bell for anybody? Do you remember what's the first and most fundamental sense of Christ's sonship?

Does this resonate? Remember? Yes, very good. And so we would say ontologically, okay, which means ontology is the nature of a thing's being. He is fundamentally, in his essence, the son of the Father. From eternity past, he is eternally begotten of the Father. He's very nature.

What is he? He is, before creation itself, he was the reflection of God's glory. He is, before he becomes incarnated—when they're still pure spirit—that he is the reflection of the Father. So he's ontologically the Son of God, okay? That's his own whole crazy thing.

We won't fully unpack. Second, what's the second sense in which Jesus is the Son of God? Do you know this? God, a couple of times, says this is my son. Yes, okay. So he does say this is my son. Now it's harder to know exactly. That's either a reference to the first—well, it can be a reference to any of the three—but what's the most obvious sense in which Jesus is the Son of God? Bingo, okay? He was conceived by the Holy Spirit.

So Jesus is the Son of God in the sense that he doesn't have a human sperm donor—he's conceived by the Holy Spirit. So when Mary gets pregnant, she gets pregnant with the child of God, and not Joseph. So he is ontologically the Son of God; he is fundamentally from all eternity, of the Father. But then second place, he is the Son of God in the sense that he was incarnated—that there was no human sperm involved. He's the Son of God ontologically; he's the Son of God in the incarnation. And they're not the same thing, but they're related.

And then the third thing is that he is the Son of God royally. Do you remember in Psalm 2, we just saw this—when God says to the Son, "I am your father." Today I have begotten thee—that is the language the king is saying to the prince to say, "You are now king. You are of my line."

So Jesus is royally the Son of God. He is incarnationally the Son of God, and he is ontologically the Son of God. They're not the same thing. So when Paul says that Jesus was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead—which one is he talking about? Number three, Dan.

Jesus did not become the ontological Son of God in AD 30. He was the ontological Son of God in eternity past. And he was not incarnated when he died—that had happened 30 years earlier. What happened in his resurrection was he took on the crown. He became heir to the throne, not only heir to the throne, but he received his throne. He received his crown.

That is why—so if you read this and you're like, "Well, was he the Son of God?" If you only have one sense, that he's like the second person of the Trinity—that didn't start at the resurrection. He's talking about a separate thing.

How are we doing?

Conclusion

Book of Hebrews likes the third version. If you're reading Hebrews—and he keeps talking about the Son—and you feel like, "I thought he was already the Son of God." He was already the Son of God in eternity past. But then he became the Son of God at his birth or at his conception. But then he became the Son of God when he was enthroned as King.

You with me? Three different senses, and he's all of those. And all of this, because in order to rule over the cosmos, he's the only one qualified to do it. All of those things are stacking together, and they must all be true.

Now, we've got to stop because it's Palm Sunday. Here's where we're going to pick up next week: If Jesus became king over the cosmos at the cross on Saturday, at the resurrection, and his ascension then—if that's what happened—who was king earlier? Who ruled over the cosmos before that? That is what we're going to talk about next week.

Two weeks. Two weeks. Thank you. Easter. We don't have Sunday School in Easter. So the week after Easter, we're going to do that.

And what I would like to invite you to do right now is leave, okay? So it's Palm Sunday, and so head over to the fellowship hall, grab some palms, and then we're going to all parade in together, shouting, "Hosanna," to the one who has come to reign as King.