Rev Jim Lyons_The Triumphal Entry_Palm Sunday_29 Mar 26

This morning (Palm Sunday) our sermon is centred on Luke Chapter 19 verses 28-44

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Returning for our Bible reading this morning to Luke chapter nineteen. Gospel according to Luke chapter nineteen and we're breaking into the chapter of verse twenty-eight and reading through to verse forty-four. When he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. And it came to pass when he drew near to Bethphage in Bethany at the Mount of Olives, mountain called Olivet, that he sent two of his disciples, saying, Go into the village opposite you, whereas you enter you will find a coat tied on which no one has ever sat. Loose it and bring it here. And if anyone asks you, Why are you loosing it? Thus you shall say to him, Because the Lord has need of it. So those who were sent went their way and found it just as he had said to them. But as they were loosing the colt, the owners of it said to them, Why are you loosing the colt? And they said, The Lord has need of him. Then they brought him to Jesus, and they threw their own clothes on the cold and they set Jesus on them. And as he went, many spread their clothes on the road. Then as he was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, saying, Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord, peace in heaven and glory in the highest. And some of the Pharisees called to him from the crowd, Teacher, rebuke your disciples. But he answered and said to them, I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out. Now as Jesus drew near, he saw the city and wept over it, saying, If you had known, even you especially in your this your day, the things that make for your peace, but now they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you, and close you in on every side, and level you and your children within you to the ground, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation. Amen, and we do look to the Lord for his blessing upon his word. On the twenty fourth of August nineteen forty, the German Air Force dropped some bombs over the city of London. In response the Prime Minister requested a retaliation raid on Berlin. Hitler responded by going ahead with the Blitz, and the following months saw tit for tat raids on each country's cities. At the same time, Britain's Air Force began to realize that its bombers could not find and hit specific war targets such as airfields or armament factories. Under such circumstances, a bombing offensive could only be effective if it was directed at targets as big as cities. So in February 1942, Bobber Command was instructed to shift the focus onto the morale of the enemy civil population. This new policy became called as area bombing. The aiming points thereafter were significant spots in industrial towns like a church, and they hit them with incendiary bombs since fire was found to be the most effective means of destroying a town. So they had a change of policy. And when you come to the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, it seems very clear that Jesus has now adopted a different policy. He permits a public demonstration and celebration in his honor, which of course sits in contrast to his common practice. During his ministry he repeatedly withdrew from the public eye, and often we find him in the remote parts of Galilee. There he carried out his ministry. Sometimes it was among larger crowds, but very often it was with individual people and smaller groups. Here are four examples of his personal ministry and the common practice he adopted. So you have the healing of the leper, the raising of Jariz's daughter, the deaf man who also had a speech impediment, and the blind man at Bessidim. Common to all those occasions is that Jesus told them not to broadcast what has happened, which is very different to Luke 19 here. The Lord Jesus is about to enter the city of Jerusalem, which was a courageous move, given the warrant for out for his arrest. This was a reaction to his ministry of demonstration of power among the people, especially in relation to the raising of Lazarus from the dead. In John 11, 57, it says, Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a command that if anyone knew where he was, they should report it that they might seize him. For some time the Lord Jesus had been emphasizing two things one, that his time had not yet come to be taken and put on the cross, and two, it would surely come. He repeatedly clarified this by saying, I must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, from the chief priests and scribes and be killed and raised the third day. If you and I knew our future, we would probably find it extremely intimidating and even frightening. But the Lord Jesus, knowing his, didn't go into hiding, because he knew his hour had come. What he was doing and what he was permitting here was in direct line with his father's plan. And as we look at his entry into Jerusalem, we will consider from the passage the following points. The preparation Jesus initiated, the honor he received, and the sadness Jesus showed. So first of all, the preparation Jesus initiated, verse 28 through 35. Jesus is leaving the area of Jericho after he met with Sacchaeus and then give a partible to undertake his journey to Jerusalem. This was an arduous journey, not only because of its different distance, but also because of the terrain and elevation. As he traveled, they would have climbed about eighteen miles and nearly four thousand feet. We are familiar with this road, maybe not because we have physically walked it often, but because of the parable of the good Samaritan. It informs us of the dangers that there was lurking along that road. In verse 29, we see they came to the villages of Bethphage and Bethany, at which they rested before entering into the city. This brings us to the preparation now that Jesus initiates, which involves two parties, namely the cult and the disciples. So we look at the disciples first of all. The focus here is upon two disciples. It doesn't tell us who they are. Most likely they are well-known disciples, but their names are not given. Why? Well, simply because so that our focus would not be upon the individuals. They're not in the main focus here. They have an important part to play. Jesus gave them instructions there in verse 30 and following. And if anyone asks you why you loosen it, thus you shall say to him, Because the Lord has need of it. So as they went in obedience to the Lord Jesus, verse 32 tells us that they found it to be exactly as Jesus said. The just as Jesus said, quote there, is now played out in the drama from verse 33 through to 35. As they bring back their the cult, they place their clothes on it, and the Lord Jesus sat on it. The disciples were given a simple task, and to their credit they followed Jesus' instructions. And the Lord Jesus covered all the details. He knew, very clear, he knew where the cult would be, where it would be tied, and how the people would respond to the disciples. So he told them exactly what to do. Now, whether we're not told if Jesus prearranged this before beforehand, or that it was just a revelation of his omniscience, he could do either. We see that he covers all the basis. This therefore gives us confidence and readers' confidence who follow Jesus, confidence to obey him when he sets tasks before us, places to go where we have never ever been before. So often in our lives and in the service for the Lord Jesus, in our humanness, we get caught up with the details. We just can't help our humanness. It's there. Some people struggle with it more than others. And some people get so caught up in the details and they constantly ask questions. What about this? What about that? What if that doesn't happen? What if they do that? What am I going to do? And we question ourselves so often out of obeying the simple command of Jesus. This account reminds us that Jesus takes care of all the details, which ought to encourage us, as we don't know what we're going to face before we get to it. Possibly even today in your life, you have a particular situation. It's causing you a bit of pressure, it's applying a bit of stress into your life. And maybe just today God wants to speak into your heart. And he just wants to remind you that he's got it covered. But it's not in the sense that we sit back, God's going to do everything. But we sit back and trust, but we're active in our trust in him. He covers all the details. We're all familiar with the term donkey work. It means doing that repetitive hard work and therefore not all the time very glamorous. You know, the kind of stuff that nobody really wants to do. This task may have seemed insignificant here. Wasn't a big task you give them. Just go get a donkey and bring it back. Bring the cold back. But yeah, we know that what they did was part of a bigger picture. And what they did was important because somebody had to do it. And they were part of the Lord Jesus fulfilling God's word about him. Often in the Christian life, we can be more drawn to the glamorous, the exciting, and thrilling things, if we can put them in that bracket to do for Jesus. But we're called to be faithful. We're called to be obedient in the repetitive stuff. Because we have our place in kingdom work. And although it's repetitive, although it's mundane, and although it seems so unimportant and so insignificant, but yet what we how we do the repetitive stuff can just encourage somebody else looking at us. Who are the people that most impacted you? Who are the people that come to your mind that influence you most in the Christian life? Nine times out of ten, it's not the person over here. Nine times out of ten, it's the man who just or the woman who just does what they do every week, week in, week out. It's their stability, it's their rock-like character of Christ in their lives. There's just that Christ is totally unchangeable, but something of that influence of unchangeableness comes into God's people when Christ comes into their lives. And that's what we see in their lives. And that's what makes a difference. It's repetitive and it's mundane. Localize it, personalize it, for example. We might be keen to come to church on a Sunday night when it's a month of testimonies. But not so when it's just an ornate Sunday night, no testimony, no singer. The Bible says we're called to endure in this Christian race. And that word endure means to persevere, it means to stick to the course, even in the insignificant stuff. Often our service in the grand scheme of things may seem unimportant, but it's still part of God's plan. There we fell we should follow the example of these two anonymous disciples, sent on an errand, they just simply obeyed. Simply obeyed. So the disciples are involved in the preparation, but obviously the colts the colt is involved as well. As those disciples would approach the village, Jesus told them that they would find the colt tied and they were to release it and bring it to him. In Matthew's account, there it emphasizes the donkey and the colt, Jesus told them to bring both. Obviously, just a little practical advice. If you're going to bring an unbroken colt, you need to bring the mother along with it. And Luke reminds us that it was unbroken, no one has ever sat upon it. So if this was just a man sitting on this colt, this would seem like some a scene out of a rodeo. Yet it was completely under Christ's control, because it caused the creature nose to submit to the Creator. This procession that would travel into the city upon a colt happened in the way it did according to the prophecy we know of Zechariah 9, verse 9, where it says, Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion, shout, O daughter of Jerusalem, behold your king is coming to you. He is just or righteous and having salvation, lowly and riding upon a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey. What a contrast this is to conquests of earthly kings with their military right, then no doubt riding upon a great horse. And that sits in contrast to this coming king to Jerusalem. Horses took over from donkeys in the time of Solomon, and he made them an animal of honor and war. So why did Jesus ride a colt? Well, suddenly because God said so. The prophecy said so, and because this coronation would be different than any earthly king, as he's king of all kings. He comes not as a cruel, oppressing tyrant, but he comes, he's just, he's righteous. He brings salvation with him, showing himself to be a savior. Not to overthrow the great power of Rome, but to deliver from the power of sin in their own hearts and make peace with God. Jesus Christ came on a cold demonstrating his lowliness. He came on a defenseless colt with no weapons and no aggression, but in meekness and lowliness. This was deliberately done to fulfill Scripture as Jesus comes in humility to Jerusalem. He taught the people that he was meek and lowly in heart, and here he demonstrates it. He does it in this way so that people might know from the prophets that he is the Messiah. So the Lord Jesus lived his life by the book, if we can put it like that. And what an example there he leaves us to follow as God's people. One of the many quotations Methodists should remember about their founder John Wesley is that he said he was a man of one book. Didn't infer that he only read one book, but it meant that the Bible was the most important as he seriously applied it to his life. Although for Jesus following God's revealed will would mean rejection, humiliation, mockery, physical suffering, and death, yet doing his Father's will was absolutely preeminent to him, although very, very costly. The Lord Jesus had that sense of destiny in his life, that this is what he came to do. Therefore, he is upon earth to fulfill a mission that was given to him in eternity past. This then caused us who are followers of Jesus Christ to seek first the kingdom of God, to live our lives according to this book. Not as we like to live our lives, not as we prefer to live our lives, but we live our lives in submission to God through his word. Because we have a destiny as his people. God has a role for us to fulfill, God has a part for us to play, God has a pathway for us to follow. And anything less than seeking that and finding that, this destiny will never satisfy. And at the end of the day, it just will not do in the kingdom of God. And so if you're a believer this morning and you know the Lord Jesus as your Savior, God has a role for you. God has a place for you. God has a way for you to follow. And you've got to follow that way. Because anything less will not do when we look at what Jesus did and what the way he went, he just did what the Father sent him to do. And isn't that what he said to him at the end of his life in John 17? I have finished the work that you give me to do. What a tragedy at the end of our lives. What a tragedy. You know. If through our lives God set things before say, I want you to do that. How do you know you're supposed to? Well, God continually says it before, as if you do that. What a tragedy we get to end our lives. Filled with regret that we didn't do what God set before us to do. We took our way, we took the easy way, we took the way that doesn't cost. This is the way. From the preparation Jesus initiated, we turn to the honor Jesus received in verse 36 to 40. There were multitudes of people with Jesus. Many Jews who knew Jesus, that Jesus was in Bethany, came to him. And you can find this little part in John chapter 12. And they didn't only come for his sake, but they want to see Lazarus, who's been raised from the dead. And although the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death, yet on Lazarus' testimony, many of them believed in Jesus. So we've got this great crowd who are coming to Jerusalem. And they're coming to Jerusalem for the Passover feast. Then we read here in verse 36, that as they went, many spread their clothes on the road. Now this was intended as an act of honor and respect. And that goes back, there's a history to that. It goes back to the time of the kings. So when Jehu was anointed king, they did this, which was an acknowledgement of his position, and it was a sign of submission to him. Possibly they wanted to be able to do that. Jesus to be Jehu like and take the throne as Jehu did by force. Kill their enemies. Kill the Romans. Then verse 37 and 38, there comes this great volume of praise. Then as he was drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, saying, Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord, peace in heaven and glory in the highest. They declare that this is the sent one who has come to save and deliver us. And it all sounds great, but obviously we keep it in context. This is Passover time. So Passover time, their hearts are stirred, their emotions are stirred with the historical significance of their deliverance from Egypt. So they're looking now to Jesus to save and deliver. Now Jesus has come to Jerusalem to deliver his people from their enemies. But it's not the enemies they're thinking about. Jesus has come to save from the enemy of sin and death. And there are many things that Jesus will save from in the future, like pain, sickness, abuse, and an absolute host of other wicked deeds. And Jesus will put an absolute end to all of that when he returns in glory and creates a new heaven and earth. He's coming into the city at Passover time. He's coming as the fulfillment of what the Passover revealed in Exodus 12. He's coming to lay down his life as the Lamb of God who died for the sins of the world. Through his glorious resurrection, he will crush the head of the serpent. He will make Paul says a show of a public show of the powers of darkness triumphing over them. If the crowd understood in some little measure that he was the Messiah, they most certainly misunderstood his role as the Messiah and they misunderstood the nature of his kingdom. Jesus hadn't become to be their Messiah of convenience, but one that would fulfill scripture. And God had revealed the nature of his role. Even yet today not everyone but there are people who want a Jesus and savior of their own making. Now you can't blame people for wanting a savior from their problem. You can't blame people for wanting that often they have heard it you know and so often the gospel is is is tilted and slanted on the positive side and all that Jesus can do for the individual. But the nature of the Bible Savior the Lord Jesus is one who does not come to give us what we want he has come to give us what we need. And what we need is our sin to be dealt with so by his faith the Holy Spirit he comes to our lives by the word of God to confront us head on with our sin. So here we have the honor and praise being showered upon the Lord Jesus even though they do not fully understand it all. But not everybody's shouting not everybody's jumping in this hallelujah party. As you can see there in verse 39 to 40 some of the Pharisees called to him from the crowd teacher rebuke your disciples but he answered and said to them I tell you that if these should keep silent the stones would immediately cry out. Now Jesus says that they may complain about this exaltation yet if every voice was struck silent, even the very stones would be released to praise. Do you know before I became a Christian I I I was in the company of Christians very often and I never really got it I I I just couldn't get Christians who were always saying praise the Lord I just couldn't get it. I didn't get it because I wasn't one of them I was as it were on the outside of the joy they were experiencing and and the source of their joy. And maybe you feel a bit like that when you come to church this joy and the expression of it is something that's absolutely foreign to you. And maybe like me it even disturbs you and it even challenges you. And if today you find that you're hostile to Jesus well it's going to offend you but there's a joy I didn't get it. So from this scene we're taken beyond Jesus' arrival in the city and when you take the accounts together he went back out of the city again back to Bethany and now we're transported to the the next day and before Jesus enters into the temple something happens here in verse 41 to 44 and that's the sadness that Jesus showed. What a contrast this is from the previous day with all the celebration. And Luke is only one is the only one of the four gospel writers who mentioned that when the people were rejoicing our Lord was deeply burdened Verse 41 forty two. Now as he drew near he saw the city and wept over it saying If you had known even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace but now they are hidden from your eyes the word wept here means more than shedding tears but rather it's like wailing it's the heaving sob of a person in deep agony of soul judgment is about to be pronounced upon them. But that's not done with any kind of glee. And of course we who are preachers must remember that when we preach about judgment we should always remember where we came from and what we were saved from. And that regulates our heart attitude when addressing people who are still under God's condemnation. No doubt he wept because of their past rejection. No doubt he wept because of their obstinence in their empty futile religion they had refused the one that would have given them peace with God. And if they had known this as it says in the verse in this your day the day of the presence of the Lord among them and that they had listened and heeded to him they would have peace with God but now he says it's hidden from you. It's hidden from you and if you go through the gospels you will find Jesus speaks to those religious leaders how often I would have gathered you as a hem would have gathered her chicks under her wings but you would not Jesus said again you will not come to me that you may have life obstinate and then Jesus says you cannot come you will die in your sins it's now hidden from them. Then Jesus predicts this judgment in verse forty three and forty four for days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment about you, surround you enclose you in on every side and level you and your children within you to the ground and they will not leave in you one stone upon another because you did not know the time of your visitation. There is now no peace for them. They've rejected the Prince of peace and coming judgment for Jerusalem was going to happen and we know from history it happened in AD seventy. Tens of thousands of Jews died according to historians the temple was ransacked and the stones lay in pieces. Early verse 40 Jesus said the stones would cry out and aren't he crying out there they're speaking of judgment which spoke which of course came from the rejection of Jesus so at the beginning of John's gospel we're reminded that he came unto his own people but they rejected him and they paid the price for judgment and Jesus wept because of their lost opportunities God hasn't changed and he so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him would not perish but have everlasting life but of course the flip side of that is that if you don't trust Christ as your Savior you will perish God is just therefore he cannot turn a blind eye to sin otherwise he would cease to be the God that he is the price for our sin must be paid but the choice is ours to make either to accept the price Jesus paid on the cross at Calvary or to pay the price ourselves that's the only two options to come to Jesus say yes Lord thank you for dying for me I know now it's my sin that you died for and I receive you as my Savior or to say no to that then you must pay that price that Jesus paid on the cross you've got to pay it and where Jesus is on that cross we look at Psalm 22 in the Bible study my God my God why have you forsaken me where Jesus was separated from the Father because of sin and taking our sin upon himself then we've got to pay that price and that separation from God in an eternal hell now I know that's blunt but it's the truth and that's why I'm here to preach the truth how many lost opportunities have there been in your life how many will there be until it's too late far too late too late because you leave this scene of time or too late because you can send away the day of grace you can send away your opportunities by rejection and there comes a time when the Lord says enough is enough and you will never have a desire to walk in this building again you will never have a desire to hear the Bible again lost opportunities and if you continue to persist and the longer we go on and our persistence we're harder to reach because we become more hardened against the gospel it soften some it hardens others and if God speaks into your life and God is speaking into your life today today as you say of salvation there's no tomorrow in the Bible for salvation it's always today. Today if you hear his voice harden not your heart like they did in the wilderness come and trust in him. So that's the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. That's the judgment he pronounced he's going to go into the temple next and of course that judgment will extend there too upon the Israelites and God opens the opportunity again for us today if you would but come and turn to him we're going to stand together and sing our