LUKE 19:28-44 “THE TRAGEDY OF LOST OPPORTUNITY”
A) From all outward appearances, Palm Sunday was a triumph!
* Christ was riding into the city like a King ... The crowds were praising God and honoring Jesus!
* Then, at the top of the hill, Jesus stopped ... He looked down and saw spreading before Him, the
city of Jerusalem. * And while the crowds were singing, Jesus was weeping!
B) Palm Sunday was not a triumph, it was a tragedy!
* For Jesus was saying to the citizens of that favored city, “If you had known, at least in this your
day, the things which belong to your peace! But now they are hid from your eyes.”
* Now you see why I say it was a tragedy ... The tragedy of lost opportunity!
* There are a few things I see here in these verses of Scripture .......
(1) JESUS DOES NOT SEE THINGS THE WAY WE SEE THEM!
A) The disciples admired the temple, and pointed out it’s magnificent stones .......
* But Jesus called it a den of thieves! * The pious religious crowd pointed to the sinners that
followed Jesus and called them ugly names!
* But Jesus said they were only sick people needing a physician, and sheep needing a shepherd!
* And on Palm Sunday, the disciples pointed to Jerusalem, and proudly rejoiced in it’s great
heritage and beauty! * But Jesus looked at the same city, and saw a city of dead men .......
* A city destined to be destroyed by enemy armies - v.43-44!
B) Why did Jerusalem face this tragic judgment? * Because the city was uneducated?
* No! Within her walls were some of the most intelligent men who ever lived!
* Was it because the city was immoral? * No! Other cities in that day were just as sinful, and
perhaps, even worse! * What then, was the reason for Jerusalem’s judgment?
* The answer is simple! * She passed up her opportunity ... The latter part of v.44 .......
* “Because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.”
* I believe Jesus was still weeping when He said that because it literally broke His heart!
C) No city on earth was favored as much as Jerusalem!
* The very Son of God walked her streets and taught in her temple courts!
* Before her very eyes, He healed the sick ... And not far from her gates, He raised the dead!
* The people of Jerusalem were privileged to have God visit them!
* And yet, the record tells us, “He came unto His own, and His own received Him not!”
D) The opportunity he gave them was not just one single event!
* He ministered for some three years! * They saw Him change men and women by the power of
His grace! * All the evidence was there!
* The door of opportunity stood wide open, yet the people refused to go in!
* The result was defeat and destruction! * They could have enjoyed peace .......
* Peace with God and peace on earth ... But instead, they suffered war!
E) Before we condemn them too severely however, let’s examine our own lives!
* Has any generation been more favored than ours when it comes to spiritual opportunities?
* The Word of God is as available today as the daily newspaper!
* You can purchase a Bible for a few dollars at a bookstore!
* You can turn on your TV or radio and hear the gospel preached and sung!
* Our generation will never be able to say, “We didn’t have an opportunity.”
F) Like Jerusalem of old, we are having our day of visitation! * But what are we doing with it?
* Why are so many people missing their spiritual opportunities today?
* Some people are shackled by tradition! * The Jews had their own religious system, and saw no
need for change! * The religious leaders in Jesus’ day were shocked by His ideas!
* The whole purpose of the sermon on the mount, for example, was to expose the shallowness and
falseness of the traditions of the scribes and Pharisees!
* Jesus said in Matt.5:20, “Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the .......”
G) Human nature hasn’t changed! * People are still the same way today!
* Most people today would rather hold onto an old tradition than face a new truth!
* And for this reason, they miss their God-given opportunities!
* Jesus made it clear that He did not come to destroy the Jewish law, but to fulfill it!
* Just as the apple blossom is fulfilled in the apple, and the acorn is fulfilled in the oak!
* So the law was fulfilled in Christ!
H) All the Old Testament sacrifices and ceremonies have their fulfillment in Christ!
* Yet, the people preferred to hold to their religious system, and miss the exciting fulfillment
found in Jesus Christ! * So often, the good is the enemy of the best! * The law was good!
* The religious system was ordained by God, but it was never meant to be God’s final revelation!
* And the citizens of Jerusalem missed their opportunity ... Not because they held to something
bad, but because they held to something good, and turned away from the best!
* I think of another reason why they missed their day of opportunity .......
(2) THEY ALLOWED THEMSELVES TO BE INFLUENCED BY MEN WHO WERE WRONG!
* Instead of considering the facts for themselves, they permitted the experts to make their
decisions for them! * There are some people who are just like that today!
A) There’s an interesting scene in John 7:40-53 that bears this out!
* The religious council sent some officers to arrest Jesus, and the men came back empty-handed!
* The religious leaders asked, “Why didn’t you bring Him?”
* The soldiers answered, “Never man spake like this man.”
* Then the rulers replied, “Are you also deceived? Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees
believed on Him?”
B) In other words, if the important people reject Him, that settled the question!
* Simply because, our so-called great scientists and politicians and educators are not Christians,
we should not be Christians either!
* Tradition, settling for the second best, following the wrong examples!
* These are some reasons why people miss their God-given opportunities!
C) There are other reasons, of course, but I think the point is clear!
* If we listen to God’s voice, we will know our day of opportunity and seize it!
* But what happens to a man who misses his day of opportunity?
* The ancient teachers use to say, “Opportunity has hair in front of his head, but the back of his
head is bald.” * In other words .......
* We can seize opportunity as we meet him, but once he has passed, he is beyond our grasp!
(3) FOR THE PEOPLE OF JERUSALEM, MISSING THEIR OPPORTUNITY MEANT JUDGMENT!
* The Roman armies finally came and destroyed their beloved city and it’s beautiful temple!
* But interestingly enough, God gave the nation several years of grace before judgment fell!
A) On the cross, Jesus prayed for the nation, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know .......”
* On the day of Pentecost and for several years afterward, the apostles and early believers
witnessed about Jesus Christ and His saving grace!
* They performed mighty miracles and extended God’s invitation to the nation!
* Unfortunately, the leaders did not repent and believe!
* But multitudes of the common people believed on Christ and were saved, then the judgment fell!
B) All of this leads to a solemn truth! * No man knows when the day of opportunity will end!
* And because no man knows, he had better take advantage of the opportunity when it comes his
way! * Peter writes in 2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concerning.......”
* But Jesus warns us in John 12:35 “Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while you have
the light, lest darkness come upon you.”
* This we know for sure ... Opportunity comes today, not yesterday ... Yesterday’s gone!
* Not tomorrow ... Tomorrow may never come!
* “Now is the accepted time,” says the Bible in 2 Cor. 6:2, “Now is the day of salvation.”
* Heb.3:7-8 “Wherefore as the Holy Ghost saith, Today if ye will hear his voice, Harden not ...”
CLOSE
A) The message of Palm Sunday is the message of peace!
* Jesus said, “If only you knew those things that belong to your peace.”
* What an opportunity He gave them ... An opportunity to enjoy peace!
* Peace with God, peace with themselves, peace on earth, good will among men!
* He came as God’s Ambassador of peace, yet they declared war - v.14!
B) He came with outstretched arms of love and they nailed them to a cross!
* He rode into the city as their King and they crowned Him with thorns!
* And as they did these things, they were blind to the awful fact that their day of opportunity
was quietly passing them by! * BOW YOUR HEADS .......
C) He comes to men today, offering His grace and love, His full forgiveness!
* The opportunity is here ... Today is the day of your salvation!
* Will you bow before Him, receive Him, trust Him?
* Or must He turn away and weep, because another day of opportunity is gone ... Forever!!!
