“Experience the Tears of a King”
Luke 19:28-48
Glitter, Glamour, Gossip. The Three G’s of the Hollywood red carpet treatment.
If you tuned in February 29th to the 76th Annual Academy Awards®, you got your fill of these “three G’s” as celebrities walked the Red Carpet on their way into the Kodak Theatre to be entertained by emcee Bill Crystal. The E! Network began its coverage of the Oscars at noon, offering six hours of buildup to the arrival of the stars for the ceremony. Thousands of fans, sat gawking all day long in specially constructed stands to catch the action. And why?
It’s likely that there’s no more profound explanation that that they wanted to see how low Selma Hayek’s neckline plunged or whether Russell Crow is really the “hunk” he’s described to be. And after Annette Benning in 2001, and Catherine Zeta-Jones in 2002, they may have wondered who would be doing a pregnant duck-walk to the podium this year.
Those who were watching on television were glued to the tube for a glimpse of Nicole Kidman, Colin Farrell, Kate Hudson and others.
Flashbulbs popped and the paparazzi shot pictures for the covers of all the glossy magazines.
And people actually enjoy this stuff!
The fact is, tons of fans get a thrill out of watching their favorite stars on the Red Carpet, and the Academy Awards show has become the most-watched television event in the world, drawing nearly a billion viewers. A billion! About one in every six members of the human race is glued to the TV on the Oscar night.
Glitter, glamour, gossip. Seems that people just can’t get enough.
Not that it’s anything new. Think of today, Palm Sunday, as a sort of pre-show for Holy week. A major event was under way, a Passover Festival that drew about 2.5 million pilgrims to Jerusalem. Many had heard that a “superstar” was coming to town and so they gathered outside of Jerusalem to catch a glimpse.
That’s where our story picks up today. Jesus is on his way into Jerusalem when he is met by the crowds. In order to really understand the significance of the event you’ve got to understand that entrance processions were a familiar scene. Typically a king or a military hero would enter the city escorted by his conquering army. The procession would be accompanied by hymns and acclamations of the greatness of the king or hero. And the elements that were used during the procession would depict the authority of the ruler. As soon as the person who was being honored would enter the city they would perform a ritual such as a sacrifice in the temple whereby the ruler would symbolically appropriate the city.
By riding into the city and accepting the praises of the people and following the pattern of a typical entrance procession, Jesus was setting the stage for something to happen.
Can you imagine the excitement of the people? It’s hard for us to understand, but the Jewish people were an oppressed group of people whose country was being ruled by a foreign government, the Romans. But their history of oppression went much farther back than Jesus’ time. These people had been oppressed and enslaved before and had long been hoping for and awaiting the arrival of one who would reunite them and overthrow this foreign government and bring the rule of their people back to the city of Jerusalem again. They had been disappointed before as rebellions and attempts by leaders had failed.
But maybe, just maybe this Jesus was different. They had been thinking this all along as he healed the sick and raised the dead. Maybe he was the one. And now as he entered Jerusalem it seemed that their hopes just might be fulfilled. This was a moment filled with possibility. In fact this was a moment on which the wheel of history would turn. Either God’s Kingdom would be established on this earth or the people’s hope would be shattered.
And so they give him the red carpet. All the glitz, and glamour, and gossip that we are accustomed to at the Academy Awards were surrounding this day… along with a hope that this may be the man who would save them from their misery.
Everything seemed just right until Jesus appeared and the people realize that their hope was riding on a borrowed donkey. A donkey! The Royalty of that time would have been riding a beautiful powerful stallion. A horse that represented victory in war. But a donkey? And a borrowed one at that? What a kind of King would ride a donkey let a lone needing to borrow one?
A different kind of king. While Jesus allowed and even encouraged the people to sing his praise, he was clearly identifying himself as being different from any earthly king. And he was different. An ordinary king would not have associated with the kind of people Jesus spent all of his time with. An ordinary king would have had the most upstanding citizens as his advisors and would have surrounded himself with greatness not with a ragtag bunch of the lowlifes of society. The fact of the matter is if Jesus had come today, chances are that none of us would have been among those closest to him, because for the most part Jesus’ followers were those whose lives were a total and complete mess and who were suffering and oppressed by those around them. Something was drastically different about this King.
You know the rest of the story. The people’s hope was shattered. This ragtag bunch of followers who had entered the city that day with the greatest hopes and grandest dreams of Jesus’ taking over the city and overthrowing the Romans were quickly overpowered by those who had influence. And if you jump ahead to a week later you find two of his followers who were most likely with him the day he entered Jerusalem walking down a road reminiscing about this man who they had put their hopes in. Listen to their words in Luke 24:21 “We had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.”
If only. If only Jesus had seized the moment. If only the people had responded differently. If only God had fulfilled their dreams. If only… If only… If only…
Sound familiar? Ever had a moment or an event that seemed to be filled with potential and possibility but that that somehow completely failed? When you look back you can’t help but say, “If only I had…” Maybe things would be different.
Return to the road outside of Jerusalem again before the people had any idea of what would happen in the week to come. Pretend with me that you don’t know that Jesus is going to suffer and die. Imagine if you will that you’re there and you’re filled with the same enthusiasm, anticipation and hope as the crowds who were singing his praises.
Long before the crowds ever had the chance to look back and say “If only…” Jesus was already echoing those same sentiments.
In a startling change of events this moment that was pregnant with possibility and in which the sounds of praise filled the air suddenly was a moment of weeping. Because while the crowds celebrated the arrival of this “superstar” the Gospel tells us that Jesus began weeping, not for himself mind you, but for the city and for the people who were there. The quotation from the book of Luke begins with those words “If only…” And as he cries his tears are shed for the three reasons.
First of all, he wept because these people had ignored the message of the prophets to pray for peace. Long before Jesus’ time the prophets of the Old Testament had been admonishing the people of Israel to repent of their ways and be faithful to God. The prophet Jeremiah had wept for this very same city. The Psalmist had exhorted them to pray for peace. But they had for hundreds of years ignored the messages of those who had preached to them and had continued to seek their own wishes and pursue their own ideas of the way they believed things should be done.
Jesus also wept because these people didn’t recognize who he was. In verse 44 Jesus says, “You did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.” While this group of people were excited and singing his praise, Jesus could see Friday. While the Jewish people had been awaiting the Messiah, many of them did not recognize that Jesus was the Messiah. And so Jesus sheds tears because the time that they had been awaiting and praying for had come and was about to end and many of them were going to miss it entirely.
And finally Jesus shed tears for the city of Jerusalem because he knew of it’s future. With haunting accuracy Jesus predicts the savagery destruction that lay ahead for Israel which occurred only thirty years later when the whole city and the temple were razed to the ground.
If only… things could have been different.
We’ve spent a lot of time over the last few weeks talking about the difference the Passion of Jesus Christ can make in our lives. I’ve encouraged you to experience the love, the forgiveness, and the wholeness that only Christ can bring. But today I want you to experience his tears. Tears that were shed long before he ever began suffering physically. Tears that were shed on behalf of the people who had failed to understand who he was and why he was on earth.
May I suggest that in the same was as Christ stood at the edge of the city and wept for it, in the same way as he stood at the edge of the city and thought “if only…” today he looks at our lives with those same tears. The people that Jesus wept for were not the people who were totally and completely lost in sin. We’re not talking about the low-lifes of society for the most part. We’re talking about God’s children. That’s who the Jewish people were. God’s children. And Jesus had come as their Messiah but they were so intent on finding a Messiah who lived up to their expectations and their plans that they missed what God was doing through Jesus.
Could it be that we as 21st century Christians are so intent on what we think we should be doing and living our lives the way we want to live them that we miss what God wants to do in our day and age?
As we close this morning I want us to consider the three reasons Jesus wept and I want to ask you three questions.
1. Have you ignored the message? Jesus said of the city of Jerusalem, you’ve missed the things that make for peace. The prophets have preached to you. You’ve had the message all along but you’ve ignored it for too long. And now it’s too late. The good news is, it’s not too late for us. You’re still hearing the message. But there comes a time when you’ve ignored it for so long that your heart no longer receives it. If you’ve been ignoring the message Jesus is weeping for you.
2. Second, have you confessed Jesus as Lord? Many of the people of Jesus time didn’t realize who Jesus was. And the thing that frightens me the most was that the majority of the people who missed out on Jesus’ message were religious people. It only goes to show you that you can be deeply religious but be totally lost. You can know all the right things to say and do. You can live a moral life. You can even attend church every Sunday. But if you haven’t surrendered your life to Jesus Christ and actually allowed him to take control you can miss the mark all together.
3. Third, have you considered your future? The Jewish people had been warned over and over and over again about their need to be faithful to God. And they had been warned that if they didn’t repent of their ways and remain faithful that their city would be destroyed. Their future had been plainly and clearly detailed but they chose to ignore it. And as a result their city was destroyed in a horrific war.
Have you considered your future? During Advent of last year in the series “Unwrapping Christianity” we talked about Heaven and Hell. And we discovered that the Bible speaks of Hell and that Jesus believed that Hell was a real place reserved for those who chose not to repent of their sins and turn to God.
But while we know the message and we “know” what the Bible has to say about our future many of us choose to ignore the warnings. We go on living as we choose even though we know the outcome. Have you stopped to consider your future.
Chances are strong this morning that those of you who are here already “know” the right things. But I’ve got a hunch that some of us may be like the religious people of Jesus’ day who “knew” all the right facts but whose lives were full of hypocrisy and who had for so long ignored the message and the warnings, that when God visited them in the form of Jesus Christ they failed to recognize him. Don’t be blinded to who Jesus is and what he’s asking of you. He gave his all for you and he wants nothing less in return.
Experience his tears. They were shed for you.
Let us pray…
Next week we’re going to wrap this series up with a message entitled “Experience Eternal Life.” My prayer is that through this series we’ve been able to return to some of the basic beliefs and tenants of our faith. Next week if you’ve never been given the opportunity make a decision; if you’ve been here and heard the message but have never actually solidified your commitment to Jesus Christ I’m going to give you an opportunity to do so as we experience the victory ultimate outcome of the Passion of the Christ.
