The Ecstasy and the Agony
Luke 19:37-44
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."
IF YOU HAVE WATCHED ABC¡¦S ¡§WIDE WORLD OF SPORTS,¡¨ you have heard the introduction which shows clips of athletes winning and losing, finishing and falling. The announcer speaks of the ¡§agony of defeat¡¨ and the ¡§ecstasy of victory.¡¨
Today¡¦s message is one of ecstasy and agony also. It is a Palm Sunday message¡Xabout the ecstasy surrounding the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem and the agony of His soul as He wept over the city.
Jesus was nearing the end of His last fateful journey to Jerusalem. He came up the Jericho Road from the Jordan River Valley and finally reached Bethany and Bethpage, two villages perched on the slopes of the Mount of Olives. There He mounted a colt to ride into the Holy City in fulfillment of Zech. 9:9. In doing so, Jesus was publicly presenting Himself to the Jewish nation as it¡¦s Messiah. But the rulers rejected Him and had Him tried, found guilty and executed.
There are three important things in this incident that are worthy of our attention.
1. The Cry of the Crowd (vs. 37,38)
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: "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!"
They rolled out the red carpet. They shouted His praises. Why?
„h For the miracles He performed¡XHe had just raised Lazarus from the dead!
„h They quoted from Psalm 118 (a messianic psalm, a conqueror¡¦s song): ¡§Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord.¡¨
„h They expected Jesus to drive out the Romans and set up His kingdom. This was an exciting hour¡XHis inaugural parade!
2. The Cry of the Critics (vs. 39)
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples!"
The Pharisees are upset. Why?
„h Too much attention displayed (still a problem)
„h Jesus was being treated like the Messiah
„h They feared reprisal from the Romans
The answer of Christ: ¡§The stones will cry out!¡¨
„h Cried out at Calvary (earthquake)
„h Cried out at the empty tomb (violent earthquake; stone rolled away)
„h They cry out through archeology
„h They would cry out in judgment (vs. 43, 44)
„h They will cry out at His return (earthquakes)
3. The Cry of Christ (vs. 42)
As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 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.
The ecstasy now turns to agony as Jesus weeps over Jerusalem. The Greek word for weep means ¡§a loud and deep wailing.¡¨ It is the cry of the heart.
Actually, there are 3 recorded occasions in the New Testament when Jesus wept.
„h He wept for Himself. Hebrews 5:7: ¡§During the days of Jesus¡¦ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the One who could save Him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.¡¨
Certainly this took place in the Garden of Gethsemane. He who never knew the taint of sin or the shadow of the Father¡¦s frown, or the least separation from the Father¡¦s fellowship was about to become sin on our behalf and even to taste the pangs of a lost soul.
Nancy Spiegelberg captured the scene in the Garden with these lines:
In the dark place of olive trees
You had a chance to turn Your back
on us and say:
¡§Father, forget them; they¡¦re not worth
the price.¡¨
Instead, in the dark place, above the
Taunts of men,
and sound of dripping blood,
You paid with Your life for mine.
And in Rev. 7:17, we are told that because of His tears, ours shall one day be wiped away.
For the Lamb at the center of the throne will
be their shepherd; he will lead them to
springs of living water. And God will wipe
away every tear from their eyes.
„h He wept for a family. John 11:33-36: When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. "Where have you laid him?" he asked. "Come and see, Lord," they replied. Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, "See how he loved him!"
Why did Jesus weep at this time? Some explanations:
(1) Augustine: Really weeping for Lazarus because He was about to bring him back into this sorrowful world.
(2) Tears of sympathy for this family that He dearly loved.
(3) Jews thought He was mourning for Lazarus. Not so¡XHe was about to raise him!
(4) The expression of His reaction as He witnessed the ignorance and unbelief of these friends.
Regardless of how one interprets this, one thing is certain: When the Greeks would read this¡Xand it was written primarily for Greeks¡Xthis would be a staggering and incredible picture. John had written his whole Gospel with one purpose in mind¡Xthat in Jesus we might see the mind and heart of God. The Greeks believed that God was totally incapable of feeling any emotion. They reasoned that if He could, He would open Himself up to our control. We could manipulate God.
Jesus showed us a God who cares, who hurts, whose heart is wrung with anguish when He sees suffering.
When was the last time you wept in prayer for the lost in your family? Your church family? God¡¦s huge family¡Xspread out all over the world?
„h Jesus wept for a city. Why? Because the very ground over which He travels would rumble with the sounds of the 10th Roman Legion in just 30 years hence. This army would literally destroy Jerusalem.
Among the saddest words spoken by our Lord in verse 42 and 44: ¡§If you, even you, had only known¡Kyou did not recognize the time of God¡¦s coming to you.¡¨
John, in the prologue to his Gospel put it this way: ¡§¡Kthough the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him. He came to that which was His won, but His own did not receive Him.¡¨
Nothing reveals more about our character than what we weep about. Find out what makes a person weep and you will have discovered a great deal about him.
Yes, Jesus wept over a city, and for a people. Have you wept over your community? Do you see the lost, the lonely? May God grant us eyes big enough to see beyond ourselves out to a whole world and a heart big enough to care.
Illus.: ¡§Churchill Weeps¡¨
During WWII, Winston Churchill was in conference with officials in Downing Street when an air raid occurred. They heard a bomb drop and explode nearby. It had clearly fallen in one of the poorer sections of London. At once, Churchill ordered his car to take him to the scene. When they arrived, the sight was heartbreaking¡Kdesolation everywhere¡Khomes destroyed, people injured and killed. The people crowded around Churchill¡¦s car and began to cheer. Overcome by this reception, Churchill openly wept. After a bit, a voice from the crowd was heard: ¡§See! He¡¦s crying. He really cares about us.¡¨
MORE THAN A CENTURY AGO, TWO SPORTSMEN WERE SAILING along the coasts of Scotland. They anchored their yacht in the harbor at Iverness and went ashore to roam the beautiful countryside. Soon they became lost. Darkness was approaching and they couldn¡¦t find their way back to the harbor. They knocked at the door of a peasant¡¦s cottage, asking for a meal and lodging for the night. The farmer viewed them with suspicion and sent them away. Knocking at the door of a neighboring farm, the owner welcomed the strangers into his house. He sat them at a table laden with food. He gave them a bed and breakfast. Only in the morning did he discover that one of the two was the Prince of Wales, later to become King Edward V. Imagine the shame and disappointment of the first farmer who closed his door against his king!
This story begs a question. Have you opened the door of your heart to the King of kings? If not, see Him weeping over you. He wants to be your Savior and King.
See Him weeping over Cedar Rapids¡Xover every city and village across this world.
THE BIBLE TELLS US OF ANOTHER PROCESSION.
„h Much grander than the one on that first Palm Sunday.
„h It will be V-Day
„h It could be today
„h He will come without prior announcement¡Xlike a thief in the night
„h He will come in power, accompanied by His holy angels
„h He is coming to rescue and to bring judgement upon the nations. The world will weep on that day because they have rejected Him. The Jewish nation will weep because they did not recognize Him.
„h It will be His ¡§Coronation Day¡¨
„h Make sure you a part of the throng that welcomes Him
The Ecstasy and the Agony
