Luke 19:28-44
Leading up to the Passover
When Jesus is entering into Jerusalem it is the time leading up to the annual Passover festival, the most important event in the Jewish year.
Journey like Rush Hour
Have you ever driven into a large city at rush hour in the morning?
When you’re an hour away, like heading from Machias to downtown Buffalo there is only a trickle of traffic. As you pass through the Yorkshire/Chaffee area you pickup up a few more. The same thing happens as you pass through Holland. Then you get onto the 400 and as you pass entrance ramp after entrance ramp more and more folks get added to the traffic. Eventually it is bumper to bumper traffic with everyone trying to get to work on time.
This is what it was like on the way to Jerusalem for the Passover Feast that year.
Who was in this Crowd?
Have you ever thought about the conglomeration of people who were represented in this situation going into Jerusalem for the Passover and the feast of the unleavened bread? Followers of Judaism from all over the Roman Empire and even further were coming to Jerusalem for the most holy day of the year.
This year the crowd was even larger because you had the great crowd of “fans” who were following Jesus to see what might happen at the festival as well!
So, who was in this gang?
You have the 12 disciples, of course
You have the dedicated disciples who were not in the 12 (Acts 1:21-22a NIV - “Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus was living among us, beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us.”
(The unnamed, unnoticed, faithful followers of Jesus.)
You have the thrill seekers who have followed Jesus because He was “The Greatest Show on Earth.”
You have the Zealots who were looking for anyone who could be used to overthrow the Roman government. (Jesus was just too peaceful for them but if they could use Him to their advantage they would.)
You have the Jewish leadership, the Scribes, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Priests, the Chief Priests and the Sanhedrin, the high Jewish council. This crowd was overwhelming anti-Jesus!
You also have Jewish leader believers who actually believe Jesus to be the Messiah!
And, of course, you have the Romans. They don’t want another uprising.
So leading up to this event we see that Jesus has performed many miracles; the blind see, the lame leap, the deaf hear, those sick for many years are healed even by touching the hem of His garment, thousands are fed with a few loaves of bread, even the dead are brought back to life!
Headed to His death
Jesus knows that He is headed for a terrible death on a cross.
Jews Hope He’s right!
The majority of the Jewish leadership hope that Jesus is right, they want Him dead!
Most of the crowd wants Him to be an earthly king.
Many just want to see more miracles and to get more free food.
Here Comes Jesus on a donkey
------ Insert into the story from Matthew 21:4-5 ------------------------------------
4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
5 “Say to Daughter Zion,
‘See, your king comes to you,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”
------ Back to Luke 19 ---------------------------------------------------------------------
Riding Donkey Fulfills Scripture / Servant-like Act
Fulfills prophecy
King coming in peace
Act of humility
What’s this thing with the cloaks and branches?
Why did they spread their cloaks on the road before Jesus?
In other Gospel accounts we also see the crowd cutting down branches and laying them in the road.
This was to honor the One riding into the city.
It’s almost as if the people are saying, “We will support you even to the extent that you can ride on our backs. We are laying ourselves before you to serve you.”
Now the crowd starts shouting praises!
Matthew 21:9b, Mark 11:10a, John 12:13b
“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
“Hosanna to the Son of David!”
“Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!”
“Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Blessed is the king of Israel!”
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
The Jews protest
Side note - Children still praising Jesus in the Temple courts
In Matthew we see that even after Jesus had entered Jerusalem and cleared out those who were using the Temple as a dishonest marketplace He was healing people and the children were still shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David.”
Imagine the response of the Jews!
Can you imagine? This had probably gone on for hours and those who hated Jesus must have been almost snarling in anger.
OK. Try to imagine this!
Jesus is on His way to His death. He knows it. It is not hidden from Him. He has warned His disciples at least three times that He is going to Jerusalem and there He will be handed over to the Chief Priests and teachers of the Law who will then turn Him over to the Romans to be crucified.
Triumphal Entry - thinking about the parade or the coming crucifixion?
When we read the account of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem we tend to put His impending death into the back of our minds and see what is happening in the crowd and what thoughts might be going on in their minds.
But, is Jesus’ impending crucifixion in the back of His mind? Would yours be?
Now, we know that Jesus is fully God and also that He is fully human which is a concept we cannot actually grasp. But, since we know that He is fully God we tend to think that things were different for Him.
In our minds perhaps we think that maybe He didn’t feel pain like we do.
Perhaps we think that He knew He would rise again in three days so it probably wasn’t that bad …
But, He WAS human. He felt human pain. He knew human fear.
What could be worse than the physical pain?
One thing He had never felt was the weight of the guilt and shame that comes with sin. He had never sinned but He was going to take all of our sin upon Himself to bear it to the cross.
And, even when the crowd is chanting:
“Hosanna to the Son of David!”
“Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!”
“Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Blessed is the king of Israel!”
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
He knows that they are doing so out of selfish, earthly reasoning …
They want a king who will free them from Roman rule.
He is dying to bring them freedom from slavery to sin and death.
Another thing that He had never felt was separation from His father, ever … in all of eternity past they had always been One; the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit always together in perfect companionship, in perfect love, in perfect unison.
Jesus knows all that awaits Him in the torture and death at Calvary and yet there’s a party going on around Him as He enters Jerusalem.
Even knowing what’s coming - teaching / caring for His Father’s House
And, when you read through this event and all that happens between here and when Jesus is arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane what is He doing? He is teaching, He is challenging, He is healing, He is modeling for us what our lives should be like.
Jesus is facing death and He is carrying out the will of His Father until the very end.
We, too, are facing death. We don’t know when and most of us live like we’re the party-goers in the crowd.
Jesus is voluntarily giving up His life for us and He is calling up to voluntarily give up our lives for Him and for others. We think of this as something extraordinary but it is not, it’s just imitating Jesus.
I used to have a friend who had a 1957 Ford Thunderbird. It was his pride and joy and I believe he still has it and I remember one time he said to me, “I think I’m finally at the point that if I had to choose between Jesus and the thunderbird I would choose Jesus.”
Someday we will be in eternity and perhaps we will look back at our earthly lives. When we do that will we find that we held onto some ridiculous things just like my friend with the old car?
What am I holding onto that will keep me from serving Jesus as I should?
Even worse, what might I be holding onto that separates me from God?
Has any person who has died without knowing Jesus as their Savior ever longed for their earthly possessions or do they wish they had made the choice to follow Jesus?
Many people love the "Jesus wept" verse as it's easy to memorize but here Jesus is weeping again.
Jesus Wept
41 As He approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it
God created us for relationship
We know from the Scriptures that the Lord created us for relationship; He would come to walk in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve “in the cool of the day”. (Genesis 3:8)
Enoch - the Righteous ones were few
Enoch had such close fellowship with God that one day the Lord just took him. (Genesis 5:24)
Rebellion
Those who were righteous were the special exceptions to the rule because sin and rebellion against God had entered into the world.
Example of rejection - We want a king!
We know that the LORD chose Abram to be the father of a nation through which the whole world would be blessed.
When the LORD brought this nation out of the slavery in Egypt they were ruled over by the LORD Himself though prophets and judges.
The LORD had planned to be their king forever.
Samuel was the last Judge to rule Israel - They wanted a King
Listen to the heart of the Lord Himself in
1 Samuel 8:6-8a
“When they said, ‘Give us a king to lead us,’ this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. And the Lord told him: ‘Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected Me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking Me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you.”
God was given the stamp - REJECTED!
That wasn’t the first time nor would it be the last.
The desire for a king was only a symptom of the disease. It wasn’t just a king they wanted, they wanted power and fame as a nation and most of all they wanted the little powerless handmade gods of the nations around them.
REJECTED - generation after generation …
OK. Now remember our memory verses for this three month period …
John 1:1-4 (recite)
This Word who is God from John 1:1-4 is the Creator
He has seen all of this unfold
He walked with Adam and Eve in creation when everything was holy and perfect
They sinned - REJECTED - He clothed them anyway
He walked with Enoch and found such joy in him that He took Enoch to be with Him
He preserved Israel as an infant nation in the land of Egypt - REJECTED
He brought them out with a mighty deliverance - REJECTED
He parted the Red Sea for their escape route by His mighty hand - REJECTED
He provided for them in the desert for 40 years - REJECTED
He parted the Jordan River at flood stage for them to enter the Promised Land
He gave them great victories over superior enemies - REJECTED
He gave them a land flowing with milk and honey and full of crops they had not planted - REJECTED
He wasn’t good enough - REJECTED
They wanted a king … a REAL KING - REJECTED
This same God who witnessed all of this was now on a hill overlooking the city of Jerusalem, His city and what was His city going to do? It was going to reject Him all over again.
But He rode on into the city anyway. Knowing that He would be rejected. Knowing that they would kill Him.
And He wept.
What about you?
If you are unsaved, if you’ve never placed your faith and trust in Jesus for salvation He has opened the door to you by His sacrifice on the cross of Calvary. And, today a decision will be made. No decision IS a decision. Will you reject Him?
Invitation
