THE CRYING THAT STOPPED THE PARADE.
LUKE 19:28-44.
I don’t know of anyone who doesn’t like a good parade. When I was a Boy Scout I was always involved in the Parade
That they had in the small community where I grew up. In later years if the community that we were living in was having a parade Barb and I would take the children and we would all watch the parade. The parade that took place on this Psalm Sunday was one that would make evening news. This parade had a big crowd, it had lots of families along the route, and there was music and dancing where all could see everyone was enjoying themselves. This was a very colourful parade; add to that there were people waving psalm branches. There was that one major item that everyone was watching and waiting for and that was Jesus. If we were to put ourselves into this parade with the purpose of talking to the people who lined the road I would imagine that we would get many different answers to the question of what is this parade about and why are you taking part. Many people on that day believed that Jesus was their next king.
Jesus did something on that day that he never did before.
Zechariah 9:9. Rejoice greatly o daughter of Zion. Shout daughter of Jerusalem! See your King comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt the foal of a donkey.
Jesus was not only fulfilling prophecy that said that He was and is the Messiah, but Jesus action was a definite provocation to the religious leaders. What Jesus also did is that He drew everyone attention to Himself and Jesus never did that before. Zechariah wasn’t saying that by riding on a donkey that it showed the lowliness of Jesus; he is saying that when the Messiah came that Jesus would come in regal majesty as a King upon a colt. In war time a King always rode a horse and in peace time the King would ride a donkey. Jesus was the hero and almost everyone was treating him as such. In verses 39-40 we have the Pharisees who are trying to get Jesus to rebuke his disciples. Jesus answer is very interesting. Jesus is saying that this parade is honouring him and that it is so great that if the people are not willing to offer praise that creation itself will offer up praise to the creator.
Jesus was weeping because the son of God came unto His own but they didn’t want Him.
Can you picture coming to your own people and they want nothing to do with you. Someone has looked at the people that were around Jesus that day and they came up with four groups of people. What is interesting is that they also figure that these same people make up the church today.
A. There was a group of people who though a lot of Jesus. We see that by how they showed their worship of Jesus by a personal sacrifice. They took off their coats and cast them down on the road. I want say that as your pastor that this is the group that you all fit into. Yet you must remember that you are a unique and in the minority in the family of the lord.
B. Then there were those who didn’t want to make a personal sacrifice so they cut psalm branches and lay then down. If the first group had coats then it is only very likely that we can say that this second group also had their coats. Can you see these people? They are watching the first group take off their coats a lay them on the ground to be trampled on by all the people. The chances of getting it back in the same shape are very slim to none. These are the people in the church who want to be a part of everything but they don’t want to have to give anything from their pocket. This group of people in the church today do not give the Lord his tithe.
C. Then we also had people who only wanted to worship Jesus with their words. These are the people who can talk the talk but they have refused to allow the Lord to touch their hearts. They know all the right words, they know just how to act when they are around people from the church but they live for themselves. They have a foot in both worlds but they actually only live in the spiritually world because of what they can get out of it.
D. Then we have the people who are finding fault with everything. I think the religious leaders of Jesus day were upset with all the attention that Jesus was getting. They felt that they alone were worthy of that attention because they were the teacher of the law of the Lord.
They even went as far as to tell Jesus that he needed to get these people under control and stop all this praises and worship that is going on. In my many years as a pastor I have had people tell me that they didn’t like the morning worship time because we sang courses, or because we used an overhead projector. I know of one person who wouldn’t look up if we were using courses that were projector on the wall.
There is a church in the U.S. that was taken to court because in every service the people got so filled wit the joy of the Lord that they got very loud, so the neighbours called the police. What is interesting is that the court told the church to either tone it down or move to some place where there are no people around. The church moved at great expense. I want you to know that we still have these four kinds of people in our church today. The sad thing is that there people today who go to church and they miss the Lord Jesus just like the people of that day missed the Lord Jesus.
They wanted a particular leader who would give them what they wanted but the got a suffering servant. They wanted a ruler like everyone else had but the Living God sent His only Son whom they didn’t want. They wanted another King David but the got a Carpenter son who was willing to hang on a cross. These were God’s chosen people; He had led them to promise land. Jesus had come to liberate their souls not their cities. He came to set the nation free from Satan hold by paying the ransom but they just wanted to be free from the Romans. The people were thinking in temporal terms but Jesus was looking at eternity. They missed Jesus because they were only interested in the here and now.
All along the parade route people were singing Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord, peace in heaven and glory in the highest yet they didn’t accept nor did they want to recognize that the Son of the Most High God was in their midst. They weren’t interested in what the Lord wanted. They were only interested in what they felt made their life easier and that was to have the Romans gone.
Jesus weep as he looked at the people hearts and I believe and I can’t prove this by scripture that Jesus weeps today when he looks at the hearts of the people of New Brunswick who’s hearts are cold toward the gift of God. I believe that Jesus weeps everytime that he sees people in church and they are just going through the motions during the service. They haven’t allowed their hearts to be touched by his love and forgiveness. If we though about the people along the parade route I believe that we would see Bartimaeus there truly worshipping the one who restored his sight. I can see Bartimaeus walking along trying to tell the people what Jesus did for him. I can see the people kind of rolling their eyes at Bartimaeus. If we looked real hard we would see little Zacchaeus walking in front of the crowd so that he could see Jesus. As he walked along Zacchaeus, worship the Lord Jesus who touched his heart. I believe that we would see Jairus there with his daughter on his shoulder so she can see the Lord who raised her from the dead. I would hope that all the lepers who were healed by Jesus would be there but since only one can back after they were healed I believe that only one of the ten lepers would be there that day to praise Jesus. If we looked to see who was walking close to Jesus as he road the colt into Jerusalem I believe that we would see Lazarus with his sisters walking beside Jesus giving worship and praise to Jesus. As they are walking along the parade route people from the crowd come up to Lazarus and ask him if what they heard was true. Did Jesus really raise him from the dead? I can see the faces of the people as they hear Lazarus answer walking away saying I don’t believe that. The people watched, they enjoyed the parade but they didn’t want what Jesus was offering. It is interesting that these same people who are enjoying this parade could very likely be the same people who in one week will be crying out crucify him and we want Barabbas away with this fellow.
The Parade continues to move forward. Jesus is descending along the road from the Mount of Olives. He crosses the brook and goes towards the eastern gate. As Jesus walks he is surrounded by the crowd on the outside but close to Jesus are the disciples. From what I know about scripture I can say that Judas was probably basking in the glory. Judas wanted an earthly kingdom and as the parade moved forward it looked like it just might happen. I can see Peter walking very close to Jesus with one hand on his sword just in case something went wrong. He may have been thinking that this just might have been worth leaving the fishing industry for this. Thomas who was a very Sceptical person would be there taking in everything and wondering just what was going to happen next. James and John would be walking along side of Jesus thinking that maybe their request to sit one on each side of Jesus just might happen if things keep going like they are today. This whole procession of people would be moving forward and then the whole shebang stopped. Just as the parade was coming to a point where one could look at the whole city of Jerusalem we find that the hero of the day is weeping. Now the Bible doesn’t tell us but one would think that someone would go up to Jesus and ask Lord why are you weeping. Have you ever been driving along and you see that traffic is slowing down and then stopping. A chain reaction takes place and all the traffic stops. You sit there for a while when you begin to wonder what is going on, why aren’t we moving? The people are wondering what is going on when they hear a noise. It sounds like someone is crying. They can’t figure it out because up to this point the whole time everyone was filled with joy and they were expressing that joy. Then they saw Jesus and they could see that his whole body was shaking but it wasn’t shaking from laughter. It was shaking because Jesus was the one who was crying.
The word weeping that is used here carries the meaning of a person who is mourning a terrible loss. Jesus didn’t just have a few tears, Jesus was bawling like a baby. Can you picture the scene? The parade is moving forward and suddenly people are running into other people because someone up front has stopped. Then they hear the sound of someone weeping. When they find out that it is Jesus they all stand there with a shock look upon their faces. Jesus has cried before but not like this. Jesus was looking at Jerusalem and he saw the emptiness of the people hearts. They had heard the message, they had seen the miracles but they had missed the real purpose of his coming. Jesus had been with then for over three years teaching then but they still didn’t open their hearts to the message.
Jesus said as he looked at Jerusalem if you had only recognize this day and everything that was good for you! But now it is too late. In the days ahead your enemies are going to bring up their heavy artillery and surround you pressing in from every side. They’ll smash you and your babies on the pavement. Not one stone will be left intact. All this because you didn’t recognize and welcome God’s personal visit.
They had eyes but they didn’t hear. They had ears but they didn’t hear. Jesus had taught that they should love their enemies, and pray for those who persecute you. I wonder what the people though of what Jesus said. I can hear then saying those are beautiful words but does he really expects us to love and pray for the Romans. That is exactly what Jesus wanted the people to do. Rome had experience the power of many armies but Rome had never experience the power of God’s love flowing through his people. The people had the opportunity to show Rome something new and different but because they didn’t understand Jesus and because they completely misunderstood Jesus’ mission
Jesus wept for the people of the Nation of Israel. These were God’s chosen people; they had the written words where the Lord had told them that he would send the Messiah. Yet when the Messiah actually walked among them they didn’t recognize him. What a contrast. We have the Messiah entering Jerusalem on a colt, fulfilling prophecy. As Jesus looks over the City of Jerusalem he sees the towering temple of God silhouetted against the sky. As Jesus looks at the city
70 years in the future he sees the armies of Titus destroying the city. Jesus sees the temple being taken apart one stone at a time. He see the streets covered with the blood of the people and Jesus see 1000's of people starving to death because the leaders of the city refuse to surrender to Titus. The people of Jerusalem and the nation of Israel have refused for centuries to be obedient the will of the Lord. Over 2000 years have passed since Jesus entered Jerusalem, over 2000 years have passed since Jesus told the disciples to teach the world his message, and today we still live in a time when the People still don’t obey the Lord. Today we still haven’t recognized the Messiah as he walks among us. What does Jesus see when he looks at the people in the churches that proclaim to be followers of the Messiah. As Jesus looks into the hearts of those men, women, and young people who have accepted his gift of salvation this morning does he see a heart that is set on worshipping Jesus or does he see a heart that is filled with concern over taxes. Maybe he sees a heart that is filled with the worries of this world. Does Jesus see a heart that hasn’t really surrender to Him, a heart that doesn’t have room for the one who died on the cross? Does Jesus see people who are busy doing their things that they never bother to consider the things of this world are not really important eternally? On this psalm Sunday morning as Jesus look at the hearts of the People who call themselves Christian does he see a heart that not only recognizes Jesus as their Lord and Saviour but a heart filled with love and the desire to only worship the Lord. As Jesus looks at you this morning what does He see. How are we responding to our Jesus? There once was a man named George Thomas who walked to the pulpit carrying an old rusty bent bird cage. As he set it on the pulpit several eyebrows were raised. Pastor Thomas said I was walking through town yesterday and I saw a young boy coming towards me swinging this bird cage. Inside the cage there were three little wild birds. I stopped the lad and asked what have you got there? Just some old birds the boy replied. What are you going to do with them the pastor asked? I’m going to take them home and have some fun with em. I’m gonna tease em and pull out their feathers to make them fight. I’m gonna have real good time. What are you gonna do with the birds when you get tired of them? Oh, I got some cats, so I’ll give the birds to the cats. Pastor Thomas was silent for a moment, then he asked the boy; how much do you want for the birds? The boy didn’t respond for a moment, then he said mister you don’t want them birds. They’re just plain old field birds. They don’t sing and they ain’t even pretty. HOW MUCH the boy was asked again? The boy looked at the pastor and though that maybe he not all there. He replied $10.00. Pastor Thomas paid the boy and then he took the cage down to an open field and opens the door. It took some tapping on the cage but finally he got the birds out of the cage. They were free.
Then Pastor Thomas looked at his church for a moment and he said one day Satan and Jesus were having a chat and Jesus asked Satan what he was up to. Satan replied that he had just come from the earth. Jesus asked what he was doing there. Satan replied that he had caught a whole bunch of people. I used bait that they couldn’t resist and I got them all. Jesus asked what are you going to do with them. Oh, I’m gonna have some fun! I’m gonna teach then how to hate and abuse each other, how to be untrue to their husband or wife, I’m going teach then how to make guns and bombs and kill each other. Yes I’m really going to enjoy this. Jesus asked Satan what was he gonna do with the people after he had his fun. Well I will just kill them all. Jesus though for a moment and then He asked how much do you want for them. Stan replied, you don’t want these people. They ain’t any good. Why if you take them they will lie to you, they will spit on your face, they curse you and they will even kill you. No Jesus you don’t want these people. How Much Jesus replied. Satan looked at Jesus and said I want you blood, your tears, your life for their lives. And Jesus paid the price.
