Mistaken Identity

MISTAKEN IDENTITY

Luke 19: 28-44

28 And when he had thus spoken, he went before, ascending up to Jerusalem.

29 And it came to pass, when he was come nigh to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount called the mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples,

30 Saying, Go ye into the village over against you; in the which at your entering ye shall find a colt tied, whereon yet never man sat: loose him, and bring him hither.

31 And if any man ask you, Why do ye loose him? thus shall ye say unto him, Because the Lord hath need of him.

32 And they that were sent went their way, and found even as he had said unto them.

33 And as they were loosing the colt, the owners thereof said unto them, Why loose ye the colt?

34 And they said, The Lord hath need of him.

35 And they brought him to Jesus: and they cast their garments upon the colt, and they set Jesus thereon.

36 And as he went, they spread their clothes in the way.

37 And when he was come nigh, even now at the descent of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen;

38 Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.

39 And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples.

40 And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.

41 And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it,

42 Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.

43 For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side,

44 And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.

The Palm Sunday story is very festive, isn’t it....

All 4 gospels tell this magnificent entry into Jerusalem….

Wouldn’t you have loved to be there that day?

Can you imagine yourself being a part of the crowd?

grabbing a coat or palm & waving it…

yelling at the top of your lungs…

Hosanna in the highest….

Jesus is coming into my town!

Everything is gonna be different!

Major God breakthroughs are coming!

While it’s fun to imagine yourself in the crowd…

This passage also presents us with some hard challenges and questions to answer.

St. Ignatius said…When you study God’s Word, don’t just turn to the parts that comfort you…turn to the passages that trouble you.

You know what’s troubling here?

Jesus’ comment at the end of this narrative…

“You did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”

The Message: Luke 19:44

“You didn’t recognize and welcome God’s personal visit."

Many are going to miss it because they didn’t recognize God’s coming to them through,

1. An invitation to church.

2. A gospel tract that they discarded.

3. A message on a billboard.

4. A newspaper article.

5. Something on TV.

Is it really possible for that to happen to a person?

It happened to this whole city.

Yes they did say, "Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord:" They considered Him religious, but they never acknowledged Him as the Son of God.

They thought that He was coming to save them from Roman oppression and set up His kingdom.

It was clearly a case of mistaken identity.

Jesus asked,

Luke 9:18

18 Whom say the people that I am?

19 They answering said, John the Baptist; but some say, Elias; and others say, that one of the old prophets is risen again.

20 He said unto them, But whom say ye that I am? Peter answering said, The Christ of God.

John 7:12

.....some said, He is a good man: others said, Nay; but he deceiveth the people.

But, who do you say that He is? Everyone can say the He is Jesus, but how many can say that He is Lord?

Many of those people said, “here comes Jesus,” but its not recorded that even one cried out saying, “here comes Jesus the Lord.”

They were willing to accept Him as anyone other that the Son of God.

Is it really possible for God to come to you and you wouldn’t recognize it…or wouldn’t embrace it…or would miss it completely? Troubling questions…don’t you think?