The Triumphal Entry - Luke 19:28-44
SERMON TRANSCRIPT
We're excited for today and it's next week. stepping away from our Romans series where we're going through Paul's exposition and explanation of God's plan of salvation. And for a couple of weeks we're going to turn our attention to the story and the life of Jesus, specifically around his death and resurrection. And I think the timing is perfect because what a greater way to have a deeper appreciation for what Jesus has done, what Paul's talking about, than to go back and recount the story all over again. So as has been said, today is Palm Sunday, a day where we recognize the fulfillment of Scripture, that Jesus is sent by God, that the world will resist him, and that the judgment is coming, but that Jesus is King over all. Holy Week starts and it follows the timeline of Jesus, the week before his death on the cross. And so today Palm Sunday marks the day that Jesus entered into Jerusalem for the final time, being hailed as King. And as we'll learn today, what may seem, and mostly is, an extremely joyous occasion is also marked with praises of joy, but also tears of sadness. So today I want to tell the story of Jesus that happened 2,000 something years ago, and walk in His shoes. So if you want to turn in your Bibles with me, we're going to be in Luke. And you have some time, because before we actually read that passage, it's going to be Luke 19. But before that, I just want to kind of catch us up in the story of Jesus and how we got to this point that we'll cover. Again, because we're doing Romans and it's just perfect with the plan of salvation, I thought I'd start at the beginning and just start at Jesus' birth. So, as we know, long ago, Jesus was born, born into a virgin. We celebrate that at Christmas. And at that point, it's recognized by some that he is the Messiah. Some of them. Some people recognize that he is the Messiah. the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, the one who would come to rule over God's kingdom. We think of Isaiah 9, it says, "Wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of peace.”
And so Jesus is born. And then we have Jesus as a child. We don't know much about Jesus's life before his ministry, but we do get one story. And I love this story. And I think it's significant, which is why it's shared in one of the gospels. And that is when he's around 12 years old. And it's during this week that we're celebrating Passover week. And so him and his family go to Jerusalem to partake in the festivities and the feasts and the parties. And it's not just like what we do today where it'd be like, "Hey, family, pack up in the car and let's go." It was like the whole section of your neighborhood was like, "We're all going." So it was a huge crowd that would journey to Jerusalem. And they do the whole week, the Passover week, and on the way back, the whole contingent again makes their way together back to their home. and they realize after a day that Jesus isn't with them. 12-year-old Jesus is not with Mary and Joseph, and you're thinking like, "How could they not?" We don't know. But don't judge Mary and Joseph. It's crazy back then. Feasts, parties, and a lot of people, and they're like, "Our whole neighborhood's here. We think Jesus is here." But he's not. So they go back to Jerusalem, and they start looking for him. And they're looking for three days. I mean, can you imagine, like your child, and you're like, "I don't know where in this city our child is." where they find him back at the temple, and he's conversing with religious leaders. And everyone around as they walk up to the scene, they see Jesus and all these religious leaders, and everyone is so impressed with 12-year-old Jesus, as he is answering questions, asking deep questions, and seems to have this deep understanding and grip of the law, the Old Testament, and this holy life that they were all talking about.
And so we get this scene where Mary and Joseph walked up, as any distraught parent would, and they said, "Why did you do this to us? Why would you worry us like this?" And Jesus says, "Why were you searching for me? Didn't you know I'd be in my father's house?" Now our daughter is not yet a teenager, but I've done youth ministry for a while now, and this seems very much like a youth kid response. Little sassy, just a little sassy Jesus. He didn't sin, Jesus was perfect, but doesn't mean he couldn't be sassy. He seems like a little like, "Guys, parents, didn't you know this is where I'd be?" And so, we have this encounter and it's great. It shows Jesus being with his heavenly Father at the temple, and it's a great moment there. And then, so we have that, and that's all we kind of know of his birth, his childhood, and then he begins his ministry. We fast forward so many years and he's finally getting into his ministry, the purpose of his incarnation. Before he begins his ministry, he performs a miracle, turning the water into wine at a wedding. Side note, by the way, in the Bible, a lot of important things happen at festivities and parties, and so I just think that we should continue that here at Spring Valley. We should have more parties and feasts. Important things will happen. But during Jesus' ministry, we see that he is baptized by John the Baptist. We see that he's tested in the wilderness by Satan. Satan, he's rejected by his hometown of Nazareth. He calls his disciples, specific people, to come and follow him. He goes on to teach crowds about the kingdom of God, about the scriptures, the Old Testament, teaching them how to live for God. He heals many people, performs many miracles, and deeply changes the lives, both physically and spiritually and emotionally and mentally, of so many people that he comes into contact Jesus also solidifies the future of his ministry through his apprentices and teaches close followers, what you would know to be the twelve apostles, how to carry on after he's gone.
During his ministry he also has run-ins with the religious leaders, most notably the Pharisees, pretty much from the beginning. From his baptism until the end he is having encounters in this tension with the religious leaders. So we see that in his encounter with Nicodemus. Randomly throughout his time teaching, they'll come up to him and try to trap him, try to trick him. They do not like the truth that Jesus is sharing. It's different than their understanding of the law and really is calling them out. And so they just do not like Jesus at all. Throughout Jesus' ministry, Jesus taught his disciples how to live for God. So He's taught them how to pray. He's taught them how to love. He's taught them how to serve other people. They really are apprenticing after Jesus, learning how to live a life, learning Jesus' craft and his lifestyle. And again, most importantly, through this time, he shared about God's kingdom, about belonging not to the kingdoms of the world, but to a heavenly kingdom, Yahweh's kingdom. And he's done this mostly through parables. So the understanding of it is a bit tricky for some. but he's alluded to this kingdom into a time when he will no longer be around. He's talked about his death. And the disciples have not yet fully understood what Jesus is talking about. And so all of this took the span of three years. And now leads to the beginning of the end. And this catches us up to where we're at in Luke 19, to where Jesus will enter into Jerusalem one last time.
So now if you're in your Bibles, Luke 19, starting at verse 28, I'll go ahead and read. It says, "After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. And he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, and he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, 'Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, 'Why are you untying it?' say, 'The Lord needs it.' Those who were sent ahead went and found it, just as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, "Why are you untying the colt?" They replied, "The Lord needs it." They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt, and put Jesus on it. As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road. When he came near the place where the road goes down the mountain 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. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest." Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples." "I tell you," He replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out." As He approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it and said, "Even you, or if you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace, but now it is hidden from your eyes. 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. 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.
Let me pray. God, thank you for your word. Thank you for your truth. And thank you that we get the opportunity to gather together, to study your word and to understand your kingdom, who you are and what you've done for us. So I just pray through your words, God, that we would be drawn closer to you, have a deeper understanding of today, the significance of it in this week, and as we approach Easter, that we would do so with humility and a deep, deep appreciation for what your Son did on the cross. We pray this in your name. Amen.
So, this story again, Jesus is on the donkey or the colt, and He's entering into Jerusalem, and people are laying down their cloaks, giving him a royal entry. Why? Why is this happening? Well, Israel's ancient prophets promised that one day God himself would arrive and rescue his people and rule the world. And other times the prophets spoke about a coming king who would ride into Jerusalem to bring justice and peace. And so this moment is monumental. In our midweek Bible study covering Daniel, we talked about how God's revelation about future events spoke of dark things and troublesome times. And for Israel, there was hope found in the person of God. In the book of Daniel, it was revealed that God had a plan, that God would be victorious, and for the people, there would be hope to endure such difficult times. And in other prophets like Isaiah, they are referencing specifically the person of Jesus, the Savior, the Messiah, who would rescue the people. And so the anticipation of a Savior has been building, as Pastor Chris said, for so many years. And it could not be higher than this moment, this hundreds of years waiting for the rescuer to come. And this scene triggers in their mind that this is something, we remember this being said. We remember that this is important. They recognize this moment that they've been waiting for. Their King, their Savior is here. So Jesus telling him to go get the donkey so that he could ride into the city. I'm sure he's like, "Oh my goodness, it is happening. Guys, get your clothes. This is happening. He's here. He's riding in our King, our Savior. It's happening." And they're so happy because they think that Jesus is here to implement a Jewish kingdom. I mean, what else would they think, right? They're thinking, "We've been suffering for so long. God told us about a kingdom that we would belong to. The rule that He would have over the world, this is it." They think that He's going to overthrow the Roman Empire. They think that He's going to have a physical throne to sit on. They're thinking of an earthly kingdom. Whereas Jesus has been teaching for years now of a heavenly one. So they're on different pages. Jesus is King, but not going to rule in the way that they expected. And this isn't lost on Jesus as He's riding in. But the people are so excited. They are full of such joy that their king is here. And again, they aren't wrong, they don't realize how they're not exactly right. Jesus is king. He is coming in the name of the Lord. And they should be praising Him. The other gospels say that the crowd is chanting "Hosanna," which means "save us." As their king is riding by, they're joyously praising, like, "Save us! We know what you're going to do. You're going to save us." This is such a joyous occasion for the people. And we see that Jesus not only allows it to happen, but wants it to happen. The Pharisees don't want it to happen. They tell Jesus to tell them to rebuke His disciples, "Hey, don't let this happen." But Jesus says, "Even if they are silent, even if I did rebuke them, the rocks would cry out." That's how much this needs to happen. I am God. The earth knows. The rocks know. I am their Creator. So, the praise of God, of Jesus here, needed to be shouted.
This is a good thing. Everyone seems to be happy except for two parties, the religious leaders and Jesus. The religious leaders, again, are unhappy because they sense that Jesus is this threat to their power. They see Jesus as a threat to their influence and dominion over the people. And this has been an ongoing tension throughout the years of ministry, and it's very present here as he's writing in. Just think of years of these two parties not getting along. And this moment, this monumental moment of Him being praised as King, is pushing them to the edge. And we'll see through the timeline of Holy Week that Jesus and the religious leaders are coming to a point of conflict, to a point of no return. The second party that is unhappy during this triumphal entry is Jesus Himself. We see that in verse 41 as He approaches the city, He weeps. Jesus is distraught. Now why? Why would Jesus, in this glorious moment, be crying, be weeping? I think it's because Jesus knows what is coming. He knows that He won't be accepted as Israel's king when they find out what kind of kingdom He's really talking about. That Israel will keep going down a destructive path, that they will neglect the poor and fail to love others as Jesus has been teaching them. And they're going to cause trouble with their oppressors, and it will lead to death. And Jesus in this moment is referencing what will happen in AD 70, the destruction of the temple. And it breaks him. The temple is a very special place. We know from even as a kid, and he's 12 years old, he's near his father's house. And the destruction of the temple breaks him. And it stirs him up, it riles him. And the next scene in the Bible, which we won't cover this morning, but he'll go to the temple and he'll turn over the tables, he'll get angry because they have turned his father's house into a place of corruption.
Jesus is distraught, because He knows why He has sinned. He knows the sacrifice that He will have to make. He knows that while people now are praising Him, and hailing Him as King, they will also demand His crucifixion. He knows that their cries of hailing Him as King will turn to cries of "Crucify Him!" You know, sometimes as pastors we do this thing where we encourage you to be inside the shoes or look through the perspective of the main character to help you understand, help us understand. And I think this one is just so hard. If I were to say, "Put yourself in Jesus' shoes," I don't, we can't fully grasp what it means to be the creator, the king, God, and to be going down, riding on a donkey, and knowing what is going to happen, and the mix of emotion that he may be feeling of, "This is right, the people should be doing this, but I also know that they're They're going to demand my death. So, there's so much going on within Jesus. Even though it's hard to do that, hopefully that gives us a clearer understanding as to why Jesus may be crying as He's entering the city. So this is the beginning of what we call Holy Week. And again, just a little bit of background information here. Holy Week is also Passover, where the Jews are celebrating how they were liberated from slavery by God and invited into covenant relationship back from Egypt in the book of Exodus. So all the way back in Exodus times, God saved them. And still, every year, they look back and they say, "God, thank you." And this is that time. So Jesus will use Passover language and symbols to help reveal God's plan of salvation. that His coming death and sacrifice are for them, to try and help His disciples understand what must happen. So just as the Israelites celebrate being freed from slavery from their oppressors and invited into covenant relationship with God, today, for those who are saved, we celebrate being freed from the chains and eternal punishment of sin, and also being invited into covenant relationship with God.
So simultaneously we have Passover week, God's miraculous saving of the Israelites, and a reminder of his covenant love and commitment and faithfulness to his people, and we have Holy week. This week that Jesus is being ushered in as king, where he will endure ridicule, rejection, and sacrifice in order to bring salvation to his people. Both are stories of God's covenant faithfulness and redemptive plan at work. So I want to spend the rest of our morning going over some Holy Week reminders to be present in this week and to hopefully help our hearts align with God's heart. So, Holy Week reminders. First Holy Week reminder is do not rush to Easter. I know it's hard. I know Easter candy went on sale a couple months ago after Valentine's Day or before that, and that there's bunnies everywhere and parties, and I know kids in school are having Easter egg hunt, whatever it is. But do not rush to Easter. Each day of this Holy Week holds important reminders for us. The good news of the resurrection is something to rejoice, but we must endure this week just as Jesus did. Today is Palm Sunday where we recognize Christ's triumphal entry, but as we saw Jesus weeping at the end of our passage, we too recognize the pain that Christ must endure before resurrecting. So let me just simply walk through this week in the life of Jesus. Tomorrow, Monday, Holy Monday, is the time where Jesus goes to the temple and expresses His anger towards the religious leaders who have let this holy place where God and humanity meet. The temple is very special, and it became a place of worshiping money and corruption. And expressing this righteous anger, he further upsets the religious leaders. Right? He pushes them. I think we know that Jesus knows what he's doing, so he knows that as he's doing this, he knows their reaction. But that's Monday. Goes to the temple, cleans out the temple, teaches at the temple. Tuesday, he continues to teach at the temple, continues to prepare people for his kingdom, and the tensions continue to rise. And then we get to Wednesday. And this is the day where plans were set in motion to capture and to kill Jesus. And again, just beyond knowing the storyline, we should recognize this week that our lives are a part of this story. This plan of betraying Jesus and going up to the cross, our sins are still at play. Even though it happened 2,000 years ago, what Jesus did on the cross is still relevant to us. So, plans are laid on Wednesday, and Jesus continues to teach. And then we get to Thursday, sometimes called "Mondy Thursday." "Mondy" comes from the Latin "Mondontum," which is English for our word "mandate." And this is the day where Jesus mandated, or told His disciples, to serve and love one another. Now, I know in our custom we usually pay attention to the other things that happen this day, which are also good, like the Last Supper and the washing of feet, and Judas' betrayal and exit from that meal. But the early church came up with this Maundy Thursday, because they wanted to put emphasis on Jesus' command to love and serve one another. And I think they had something right there. I think we should definitely remember and dwell and meditate on Jesus' command to love and serve one another. It's the biggest command that He gives throughout His teaching. And that happens on Thursday. And then Friday, Good Friday, this is the day that we mark the turn in the people. And one of the possible reasons that Jesus was distraught when writing again, when the people's words turn from Hosanna to crucify Him. From standing trial in the early morning to carrying His own cross to the hill that He be crucified on, after being beaten and mocked. to them being crucified, and darkness covering the earth, the earth trembling, the temple curtain being torn in two. This is the darkest day in history. The Son of God, perfect, died on the cross, bearing all of our sin. It's a very solemn day. It's a dark day. And then we come to Holy Saturday. And this is a day where we remember the in-between. We're in between lament and hope. We're in between sorrow and joy, loss and eternal gain, and death and life. We don't want to rush past this day. We want to sit and be present in that in-between. And then of course we come to Sunday, a week from today. We're on that day, we'll get to celebrate that Jesus rose from the grave, where they found the tomb that He was buried to be empty. Holy week and Lent are over, and the resurrection life is now ours to enjoy through Jesus. This is the best and most important day in Christian belief, because it means that Jesus truly is God, and it means for those who believe that we get to be with God for eternity. we too will experience the glorious resurrection and go be with God the Father at the end of our time. And as good as that is, as good as Easter is, don't rush to Easter. Be present each day what happened to Jesus and then consequently what God may be wanting to do with you. So don't rush. The rest of my reminders are really short. That was the longest one. Don't rush to Easter.
Secondly, remember God's covenant, faithfulness and love. The very God that the Israelites were celebrating and worshiping is the same God we worship and celebrate. For Israel, God's covenant faithfulness and love was the reason for their escape from captivity. And for believers today, it's God's covenant faithfulness and love that is the reason why He sent His Son to save us. So from Israel to believers, from escaping captivity to being saved from sin, from redeeming Israel to redeeming us, take joy in remembering God's covenant faithfulness to His people. You are His people and He loves you. Whatever place you're in in life, whether you're at peace and you're just living into God's purpose for you, life is really good right now, or you're in a place where you're just barely hanging on, remember that God covenantally and faithfully loves you. And may it give you hope this week.
Third Holy Week reminder is to ask God to transform you during this Holy Week. As we get closer to the cross, as we get closer to the darkest moment in history, ask God to expose the sins in your life in order to better undergo the transformation that the Spirit is trying to do within you. We see in this week, this Holy Week, that Jesus addresses the corrupt temple system in order that it may be what God intended. We see Jesus continue to teach at the temple, desiring that people would know the truth and would repent and accept Him. And we see Jesus teach and model His disciples to love one another. There's still such deep work going on in this week, in the hearts of people. And so, may we posture our hearts and minds this week to be teachable, to be ready to receive whatever God is wanting to do in us, to go wherever God wants us to go, and to be ready to receive how God wants to change us from within. Ask God to transform you this week.
And then fourth and finally, last reminder, is to recognize Jesus as King. On this Palm Sunday, Jesus was being hailed as King, but knew that the people wouldn't be accepting of Him in a week's time, and He knew that they didn't fully understand what kind of King He was. But we do. So let's recognize Jesus as King of our lives. And this week, pay special attention to your heart and who's operating your heart. Are you giving lip service and saying, "God, yes, you are King. "Yes, you rule in my life." But really, when it comes down to moments, we are calling the shots. Who's in charge of your heart and therefore in charge of everything in your life? Are you with Him? Are you truly following Him? Are you dedicating your life and your time and your energy to be his apprentice and to follow his way of life. Recognize Jesus as your king this week. So those are our four Holy Week reminders, and I hope they are encouraging to you.
Let me wrap this up by saying, this past week I had a conversation with a friend and mentor of mine, and we were just talking about how, as we're getting older in life, we're appreciating tradition more and more. And the tradition of Holy Week is a really rich one. It is so good for us to pause and remember what is happening in this week. It helps us better understand what Jesus went through, what God was doing in His plan to save humanity, and one that instills humility in our hearts. And so our prayer as pastors of SVC is that God would be stirring up in our hearts the desire and motivation to live for Jesus, It's not simply just to hear things on a Sunday and to know truth. It's good to know truth, but better to know the truth and to have your life be changed by it. To have a life of action and obedience, of ongoing transformation that God can use to reach others. So that's our prayer for this Holy Week, that God would take that knowledge of what's happening and put it into our hearts and our lives. The way that we live our life would truly be changed. Be intentional this week in your relationship with God. Let Him transform you. Remember that He is King in your life. Dwell on His covenant faithfulness, and don't rush to Easter too quickly.
Let's pray. God, again, we thank You. We thank You for everything that You have done, that You are doing. You're still at work, God. But this week we pause and look back at one of the biggest weeks in history. And today as we praise Jesus as King, we pray that that would not just be lip service, but that would be an honest reflection of how we feel about Him in our hearts. And throughout this week, God, we pray for your Spirit to continually transform us, to work in us, to bring us closer to you. God, I pray that we would recognize the sin in our life, the areas of our life that need work, and God, that we would willingly bring them and lay them at your feet and say, "God, please change me. Make my heart new. Make it white as snow." And each day as we get closer to the cross, I pray that you would fill us with humility and appreciation and true wonder, and that we would just be overwhelmed and praise you with everything that we have. And this time next week, I pray that we can all gather again with such joy, happiness, and excitement, getting to celebrate that Jesus rose from the grave. Be with us, each and every one of us, wherever we're at this week. We pray this in your son's name, Amen.