Faces in The Crowd
Luke 19:28-41
Intro: A little boy was sick on Palm Sunday and stayed home from church with his mother. His father returned from church holding a palm branch.
The little boy was curious and asked, "Why do you have that palm branch, dad?"
"You see, when Jesus came into town, everyone waved Palm Branches to honor him, so we got Palm Branches today."
The little boy replied, " Aw Shucks! The one Sunday I miss is the Sunday that Jesus shows up!"
. Today is Palm Sunday.
.Today I just want to tell you the story of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem for the last time.
. Luke 19:28-41
. After telling this story, Jesus went on toward Jerusalem, walking ahead of his disciples.
29As he came to the towns of Bethphage and Bethany on the Mount of Olives, he sent two disciples ahead.
30“Go into that village over there,” he told them. “As you enter it, you will see a young donkey tied there that no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here.
31If anyone asks, ‘Why are you untying that colt?’ just say, ‘The Lord needs it.’ ”
32So they went and found the colt, just as Jesus had said.
33And sure enough, as they were untying it, the owners asked them, “Why are you untying that colt?”
34And the disciples simply replied, “The Lord needs it.”35So they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their garments over it for him to ride on.
36As he rode along, the crowds spread out their garments on the road ahead of him.
37When he reached the place where the road started down the Mount of Olives, all of his followers began to shout and sing as they walked along, praising God for all the wonderful miracles they had seen.
38“Blessings on the King who comes in the name of the LORD!
Peace in heaven, and glory in highest heaven!”
39But some of the Pharisees among the crowd said, “Teacher,
rebuke your followers for saying things like that!”
40He replied, “If they kept quiet, the stones along the road would burst into cheers!”
41But as he came closer to Jerusalem and saw the city ahead, he began to weep
. As we look at this story, imagine with me the faces in the crowd.
. Jesus is riding into town on a young donkey or colt.
. This was done to fulfill the prophesy of Zechariah 9:9 that predicted this very scene.
. Rejoice, O people of Zion! Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem! Look, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and victorious, yet he is humble, riding on a donkey—riding on a donkey’s colt.
. Scripture is being fulfilled and the people are celebrating the coming of the Messiah. At least most of them.
. In the crowd, His disciples were there. Two of them had gone to get the donkey for Jesus to ride on.
. Can you imagine the thoughts that were going through their minds.
. I imagine that Peter walked with chest expanded Enjoying the throngs & the cheers of the crowd maybe with one hand on his sword just in case something went wrong thinking to himself, "Maybe it was worth it to leave the fishnets & boats. Maybe at last we are going to get what we deserve."
Possibly there was Thomas, a bit skeptical about everything that was going on wondering what is going to happen next.
Maybe Andrew was overwhelmed by it all. He was so used to bringing people to Jesus one by one, or in small groups & now look at them all!
What about James & John? Do you suppose they were thinking about Jesus being crowned King so that they could be on His right & left hand in positions of authority & power?
. The crowds were shouting and spreading their cloaks on the road ahead of Him. Giving Him the royal treatment.
. Matthew and Mark tell us that the ones that didn’t have a cloak, cut branches off trees and spread them on the ground. That’s where we get the term Palm Sunday.
. It says that His followers began to shout and sing praising God for all the miracles they had seen.
. You know they had to have heard about the raising of Lazarus from the dead. You don’t do something like that and expect it to remain a secret.
. I can imagine the whispers: Did you hear what He did? His friend Lazarus died and was buried so long in the tomb that he should have been stinking and Jesus stood outside the tomb and cried out Lazarus come forth. He came out of the tomb, alive again. I saw him with my own eyes. What excitement there must have been in His followers.
. Our Messiah is here. The tension was building.
. Don’t you imagine you could have cut the anticipation with a knife.
. As Jesus looked over the crowd maybe he saw the woman who had been caught in adultery that the crowd had wanted to stone. Jesus challenged them to cast the first stone if they were without sin. He told her to go and sin no more.
. Maybe He saw blind Bartimaeus there. The one who had been sitting on the side of the road calling out Shouting, “Jesus Son of David, have mercy on me.” Jesus healed him and told him that his faith had healed him. He could see.
.I can’t imagine him not being in the crowd to see his Messiah. The one who had healed him.
. Were the lepers there. Was their skin healed so that they could be part of the welcome of the Savior into Jerusalem.
. The detractors were there also. The Pharisees were there rebuking Jesus for allowing these people to think of Him as the Messiah.
. Can you imagine Jesus looking at all of this and how He felt.
. Look at verse 41 and 42:
41But as he came closer to Jerusalem and saw the city ahead, he began to weep.
42“How I wish today that you of all people would understand the way to peace. But now it is too late…”
. Jesus looked at the masses and began to weep because He knew they didn’t understand.
. They were looking for a military King. One who would free them from the bondage of Rome.
. What He had to offer was much more valuable though.
. He offered them freedom from sin and death but He knew in order to do that, He would have to die in their place.
. Jesus wept for the souls of the people.
. I believe that He is in Heaven even now, weeping for the lost souls here on this earth.
. Crying out from Heaven, if only you understood.
. Later on that week, the observance of the Passover started and Jesus gathered with the twelve chosen disciples in the upper room as we call it.
. I have a video adaptation from the miniseries The Bible about what happened in that upper room to share with you this morning before we share in communion.
. Communion
*** To my Christian brothers and sisters, thank you for taking the time to read this sermon. I ask that you take another second and score this for me. I am always open to feedback so that I can continue to grow in the proclamation of God’s word.
May God bless you as you continue to strive to walk worthy of His calling.
Sources: The Holy Bible, NLT
Palm Sunday - Jesus was weeping, Melvin Newland, sermon central
