Let The People Hear

Let the People Hear

Luke 19:28-44

March 16, 2008 – Palm Sunday

NOTE: THE ME/WE/GOD/YOU/WE FORMAT USED IN MY MESSAGES IS BORROWED FROM ANDY STANLEY’S BOOK, "COMMUNICATING

FOR A CHANGE."

Me/We:

How many here have ever been told to “shut up?”

If you’re a human over the age of 1 week, you’ve been told to shut up, right?

It’s never fun, especially when you’re talking about something that you’re really excited about.

“Fred, Fred! I’ve gotta tell you about the coolest thing I just found out about! It’s the wave of the future, man! Life-changing! World-changing! I’ve gotta tell you about this. It’s called ‘disco…’”

Today is Palm Sunday, the day we celebrate the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem for the final week of His life on earth.

If you’ve seen this depicted in the movies they show a bazillion people screaming and waving palm branches.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any palm branches last night when I came up with the idea of having something to wave around, so you’ll just need to work with me here, okay?

(Wave dusters)

Remember that? It’s a great scene – especially since they use, like, real palm branches and stuff…

God: We’re going to look at a passage today that is part of that great story, but that actually takes place just before Jesus got to the city, and we’re going to see an effort to make some people shut up.

Luke 19:28-44 (pp. 743-744) –

28 After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, 30 "Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ’Why are you untying it?’ tell him, ’The Lord needs it.’"

32 Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, "Why are you untying the colt?"

34 They replied, "The Lord needs it."

35 They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. 36 As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road.

37 When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:

38 "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"

39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples!"

40 "I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."

41 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 42 and said, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace--but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43 The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. 44 They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you."

This particular incident isn’t the actual “Triumphal Entry” as the subtitle of some of your Bibles indicate.

The Triumphal Entry described in the other gospels is when Jesus actually entered Jerusalem.

This is the same trip, but this episode happens before He even got to Jerusalem, as we see in verse 37 –

37 When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices…

And in verse 41 where it says –

41 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city…

And really, the climax of this portion of His journey isn’t when He gets to the city, but rather when He looks on Jerusalem and weeps.

Jesus deserves a triumphal entry as a king, but Luke here emphasizes that He is moving instead to the place of His rejection. (Expositor’s Bible Commentary)

And I wonder what must have gone through His heart.

The gamut of emotions must have been a huge rollercoaster. As He nears Jerusalem, the crowds are cheering to the point of upsetting the Pharisees, and Jesus is loving it. The people are declaring their love and allegiance to Him, believing that He is the King and the Messiah.

Then as He gets close to Jerusalem, He stops and is overcome with sadness, knowing that Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, the center of prophecy regarding the Messiah would be judged because of their rejection of Him. And that judgment was carried out just over 35 years later, when Jerusalem was overthrown completely and the temple destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.