As Jesus entered triumphantly into Jerusalem, there were two dominant and opposing emotions. The disciples experienced great joy and praise, while Jesus experienced great sorrow and grief as His heart broke for the devastation that would come upon the Jewish people.
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The King’s Triumphal Entry
Luke 19:28-44
Brothers and sisters, I love to behold God’s providence! Monday morning when I began to meditate on our text for today I realized it had to do with Palm Sunday – Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Then it struck me. Today is Palm Sunday! I am going to be speaking on the original Palm Sunday, on a Palm Sunday! This was totally the Lord’s sovereign providence. When I began to teach the gospel of Luke two and a half years ago, I never planned that I would actually be preaching on Palm Sunday, on a Palm Sunday over two years in the future, but so it turns out. I love to watch God’s unseen invisible hand working in our life circumstances, bringing about His own ends!
We have been watching the Lord Jesus as He has been making His way toward Jerusalem. He has stopped in Jericho, a city about 15 miles east of Jerusalem. He stopped there to heal and save two blind beggars, and Zaccheus, the most despised person in the city. Then Jesus and His disciples travel on and reach Bethany before sunset on Friday. They spend the Sabbath from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday in quiet. Saturday evening a special supper is held in Jesus’ honor in Bethany at Simon the leper’s house. That is where Mary anoints Jesus feet with perfume in preparation for His burial. On Sunday morning Jesus sends 2 of His disciples into nearby Bethphage to get a colt that He will ride upon into the capital city of Israel.
In our text this morning we are going to see two opposing emotions at Jesus’ triumphal entry: joy and sorrow. We will see the joy of the disciples, and the sorrow of the Lord. Joyful praise and sorrowful lamentation are the twin themes of our Lord’s public entry into Jerusalem. Let’s look first at the joy of the disciples.
1. The Joy of the Disciples (28-40)
Jesus Is Taught By The Spirit (29-34). Jesus tells two of His disciples to go into a nearby village, find an unbroken colt, untie it, and bring it back. If anyone asks them why they are untying it, all they need to tell them is that the Lord has need of it. So, they go and do exactly as the Lord had instructed them. Someone does ask them why they are untying the colt. No doubt it was common for people to steal animals in that day. They simply responded that the Lord has need of it, and that settled the matter.
Here we see, as we do so often, the Lord knowing things that He had no way of knowing on a mere human level. How did Jesus know they would find an unbroken colt when they entered the village? How did He know someone would ask them why they were untying it? How did He know that the mere answer, “The Lord has need of it” would be sufficient? Some answer these questions by saying that Jesus was God, and thus was omniscient. He knew all things, end of story. Period. However, that answer doesn’t satisfy me. Yes, I do believe that Jesus never ceased to be God. However, Philippians 2 says that He emptied Himself. I understand that to mean that He voluntarily laid aside His rights and privileges as God. Was Jesus omniscient when He walked the earth? No, I don’t think so. Why? Because of Matthew 24:36, “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.” Omniscience means “all knowledge.” Clearly, if Jesus did not know the day and hour of His return, He did not have “all knowledge.” Therefore, while He was a man living here on the earth, He was not omniscient.
Well then, how did Jesus know these things? How did He know that when Peter went fishing he would catch a fish that would have a coin in its mouth that they could pay their taxes with? How did He know Zaccheus’ name before He ever met him? How did He know that Nathaniel was an Israelite indeed with whom is no guile? How did Jesus know know that the woman at the well had been married five times before and was now living with another man? I believe what we are seeing is the gift of the word of knowledge functioning in His life. We are told that Jesus did no miracle until the Holy Spirit descended upon Him at His baptism. Therefore, it seems to me, that though Jesus was always fully God, He set aside His prerogatives as God, and functioned in this world as a man filled with and dependent upon the Holy Spirit. Jesus received various gifts of the Holy Spirit to perform His ministry, one of which was the word of knowledge mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12. By the way, I can see no Biblical evidence for the fact that the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit, mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12-14 would ever cease to exist before Christ’s second coming. In fact, 1 Corinthians 13:8-13 seem to point powerfully in the opposite direction, that all of these gifts would continue to reside in the church until we see Christ face to face at His second coming. Therefore, God may from time to time as He sees fit, give various people in His church the gift of the word of knowledge. They will know something that they could not have known any other way than that God revealed it to them.
Jesus Is Lord Of Creation. What kind of colt did Jesus ride? Luke 19:30 tells us that it was a colt on which no one had ever sat. This was an unbroken colt! Now, I may not be a trained horseman, but even I know that you don’t ride an unbroken animal, and expect a peaceful ride! You are going to get a lot of bucking. However, nothing of the sort happened with Jesus. He peacefully rode that unbroken colt right into Jerusalem.
What does this teach us? That Jesus is Lord of creation. He is not only the Creator of all the starts, planets, and humans, but He is also the Creator and Lord of all the animals of this world. That’s how He is able to tell Peter to let down his net after he had fished all night and caught nothing, and Peter would have a great catch of fish. That’s how He can stand up in a raging storm at sea, and speak “Hush, be still!” to it, and it obeys Him. He is Lord of all creation. The sad fact is that the animal kingdom obeys Christ very well, but humans are stiff-necked in their opposition to Him.
Jesus is Humble and Unpretentious. Jesus is deliberately fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, humble, and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” The prophet said Israel’s king would come to them, humble, mounted on a foal of a donkey. You see when a conquering general would return to Rome, there would be an elaborate official parade. He would ride through the streets of Rome in a golden chariot, and exhibit his spoils and prisoners. The priests of the city would burn incense in his honor, and the people would praise him greatly. The parade would end at an arena where his prisoners of war would fight wild beasts to the death. However, we find none of those trappings with the entry of Jesus of Nazareth. Instead of riding a great white stallion, He simply mounts an unbroken foal of a donkey, and rides the donkey into the city of Jerusalem. This highlights Matthew 11:28-30 where Jesus describes His character, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” How does Jesus describe His character? He is gentle and humble in heart.
How do you know if you are being conformed into the image of Jesus Christ? You will become more gentle and humble in heart? You will think of others more and yourself less. You will not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Instead of drawing attention to yourself, you will delight to draw attention to your Lord. A proud person is all about themselves. A humble person is all about his Lord.
Jesus Is Proclaiming Himself as the Messiah. This is the only time in the gospel accounts where we see Jesus riding an animal. Up until now, He always walks from one place to another, or takes a boat. Why does He ride a donkey here? Also, up until this time Jesus often strictly warned people not to speak about the great miracles He had wrought (Mt.8:4; 9:30-31; Mt.12:15-16; 17:9; Mk.5:43). However, here Jesus not only allowed a public demonstration of praise in His favor, but seemed to actually encourage it. When the Pharisees tried to stop this public demonstration, Jesus didn’t say, “Whoops! I guess you’re right. Disciples,quiet down! We can’t let this go on!” Rather, He said, “If these disciples become silent, the stones will cry out!” Why did Jesus again and again encourage people not to make known His miraculous works? I believe it was because He knew that His hour had not yet come to die, and that if His great works were spread abroad everywhere, it might cause the religious leaders to come and arrest and execute Him before His time had come.
But, what we have here, is Jesus encouraging a public demonstration of Him as Israel’s Messiah and King. He deliberately rides on a donkey into Jerusalem, fulfilling the prophecy of Zech. 9:9. He does not tell the crowd to quiet down but encourages them. Why? Because His time had come. Jesus is deliberately setting events in motion which will culminate in His arrest and death just a few days hence. This is Jesus’ way of publicly proclaiming Himself as Israel’s Messiah.
Jesus Is Given Homage By The People. Luke tells us that the people spread their coats in the road that the donkey would ride over. Matthew 21:7 says that the people also took their coats and put them on the donkey and the colt. They also cut down leafy branches and spread them in the road for Him to ride over. John 12:13 says these were palm branches. The people were preparing a royal path for Him to ride over. It was their way of acknowledging Him as King, and themselves as His willing servants. By giving Him their cloaks and branches to ride over, they were saying that they willingly submitted themselves to Him to rule over them. It was as if they were saying that their cloaks represented themselves, and they were willing for Christ to exercise dominion over them, because He was their king.
Have you ever done this? Have you ever, figuratively speaking, took off your coat and put it in his path to ride over? Have you unconditionally submitted yourself to His Lordship? You know, all of us must. He is Lord. Why should we call Him “Lord, Lord, and not do what He says?”
Jesus Is Praised By His Disciples. Notice how they praised Him.
Unanimously: Verse 37 says, “the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully.” The whole crowd. All of the disciples. My guess is that there was a huge crowd witnessing Jesus’ triumphal entry. Remember that Jerusalem would swell to many times its usual size during Passover, because of all the Jews that would make the pilgrimage for that festival. There many have been many thousands of people viewing this great occasion. And, the whole crowd of the disciples praised Him. / Oh, it is a glorious thing when all of His disciples praise Him together. Here at The Bridge, it is wonderful when all of God’s people enter into praise. I’m always saddened when I see people who just sit and watch others praise the Lord. If you are a disciple of Jesus, then praise Him!
Joyfully: They praised God joyfully. Did you know that praise and joy just naturally go together? Listen to Psalm 95:1-3, “O come, let us sing for joy to the Lord, let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. For the Lord is a great God and a great King above all gods.” / When God’s people come together to praise their Lord, there ought to be joy in their midst. Joy is a natural byproduct of praise to God. O brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice!
Loudly: Verse 37 says they praised God joyfully with a loud voice. When you think of the Triumphal Entry, don’t think of a polite smattering of clapping after a child’s piano recital. Think of the Oakland A’s against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series. The Dodgers are down 4-3, with a runner on base in the bottom of the 9th. Up comes an injured Kirk Gibson, and on a 3-2 count, hits a home run into the right field bleachers to win the game. And of course, what happens? The Dodger crowd goes crazy! People are standing, and jumping, and cheering, and shouting, and crying, and hugging! I imagine that’s what it was like when Jesus entered Jerusalem. / Brothers and sisters, don’t be afraid of loud praise. It is not necessarily irreverent for us to praise God with a loud voice. In fact, we are exhorted to praise God loudly in Scripture. Over and over in the Psalms we are commanded to shout to God (Ps.32:11; 33:3; 47:1; 66:1; 81:1; 95:2; 98:4; 100:1). Let’s not be timid about raising our voices and singing loudly and shouting our praise to God!
Biblically: These disciples were recalling Zech.9:9 which says, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you…” The people are commanded to rejoice greatly and shout in triumph, and that’s exactly what they did! They were Biblical in their praise. They also recalled Psalm 118:25-26 which says, “O Lord, do save, we beseech You; O Lord, we beseech You, do send prosperity! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.” This is what the people were saying as quoted in Mt. 21:9, “Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest!” The word “hosanna” means “Save now, we pray!” These disciples praised the Lord with the Scriptures in their minds. / So too, we should always allow the Scriptures be the fuel which ignites our praise of the Lord. Our praise should be full of God’s Word. We should praise God for who He is, and what He has done, as taught in the Scriptures.
Misguidedly: You say, “What do you mean by that Brian?” I mean that they were praising God for what they thought Jesus was going to do, but they were wrong in their understanding. When they cried, “Hosanna!” they were not asking to save them from sin. They were crying out for Jesus as the Messiah, the King of Israel, to save them from the hated Romans, and establish His kingdom in Jerusalem. So you might say, “Brian, all of your exhortation to praise God like these disciples did falls to the ground, because they were misguided in their praise. They were praising and shouting for Jesus to do something that was not God’s will to do.” Yes, that’s absolutely true. However, if they could praise God in such a robust, enthusiastic way for something that was not God’s will, do you think we should do less when our praise is not misguided, but is according to truth? If they praised God so lavishly when they misunderstood, shouldn’t we praise God just as well when we do understand?
2. The Sorrow Of The Lord (39-44)
While the disciples were putting their coats in the road, and cutting down palm branches to wave or place in Jesus’ path, and shouting and praising God, Jesus had an altogether different emotion. Verse 41 says, “When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it.” There are only 3 times we read that Jesus shed tears – at Lazarus’ tomb, in the Garden of Gethsemane before He went to the cross, and here. The Greek word used here is a different word than is used at Lazarus’ tomb. There it refers to inaudible shedding of tears. Here it refers to a loud expression of grief. It is a wailing, especially when mourning for the dead. Jesus is mourning the death of Israel, God’s Old Testament covenant people. As Jesus entered Jerusalem, it was as if He saw in a vision what would take place in less than 40 years. It was as if He were viewing Israel’s funeral. It would be 40 more years until the coffin was lowered into the ground, but He saw her tragic end.
Jesus’ words here reveal a couple of important truths.
They Reveal His Compassion for the Lost. He said, “If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes.” That word “peace” is a salvation word. He was speaking about peace with God, reconciliation with God. Here was the Prince of Peace in their midst, in just a few days about to offer Himself as an atonement to bear God’s wrath and establish peace between a holy God and guilty sinners. However, very few people in that generation understood that. It was hidden from their eyes.
Jesus knows that Jerusalem and its inhabits would be destroyed in A.D. 70. This is what Jesus knows will happen within forty years, and it causes Him to weep and wail. Why? Was it just because he knew they would all die? No, everyone dies. Verse 44 says it was because they did not recognize the time of their visitation. You see God had visited His people. Jesus had come from heaven to earth on a mission of mercy to bring salvation from sin and its penalty. However, the Jews, by and large, did not know the things that make for peace, and they did not recognize the time of their visitation. God visited them, and they couldn’t see it! After they died in the Roman invasion, they perished forever in their sins. That was what Jesus saw. As He sees it off in the not too distant future, how does He feel? Does He think, “Serves them right! I came to them, to bring salvation, and they spurned My love and grace. It is only just that they be punished for their sins!” No, no, not at all. He weeps loudly, grieving over their fate.
Here is a great mystery. On the one hand Jesus knows that God has chosen a people unto salvation. He has sent Him into the world as their representative, to seek and save them. They are the ones the Father has given Him. He knows that God has mercy on whom He will have mercy, and compassion on whom He has compassion. He knows that salvation does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. However, that does not cause Him to have a cold, unfeeling heart toward the perishing. Watch His sides heaving, and the tears flowing, and Him racked with sobs as He sees their horrible wretched end. Just because God is sovereign in salvation does not mean that God has no compassion for the lost. Just because God has already chosen who will be saved, does not mean that He doesn’t desire all to be saved. I think the apostle Paul caught this same compassion of Christ. In Romans 9:1-3 he writes, “I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh.” Why did Paul experience so much sorrow and grief for His fellow Jews? Because the vast majority did not receive Christ as their Messiah and Savior, and were lost. He even says he could wish that he would go to hell, if they would just be saved. He says in Romans 10:1, “Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation.” Yet, the whole time, Paul knows that God has not predestined all to be saved. He tells us that very clearly in Romans 9. Paul had caught something of Christ’s heart, something of God’s heart. On the one hand, He knows God is sovereign in salvation. On the other hand, his heart is broken for the lost.
They Reveal His Judgment On Those Who Reject His Mercy. For centuries God had sent prophet after prophet to the Jews, exhorting them to repent, and return to God. Finally, God sent His only begotten Son to bring them to repentance. However, the nation as a whole crucified Him, and rejected Him. Therefore, God’s judgment fell upon them. Look at verses 43 and 44, in which Jesus describes the horrible, devastating destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.
“For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.” This is exactly what happened when Roman General Titus Vespasius surrounded Jerusalem in 70 A.D. The Romans built a barricade all the way around Jerusalem, so that no Jews could come in or get out. This was the way armies would conquer a city in the ancient world. They would literally starve them out. The Romans laid siege against Jerusalem for five months. After that period of time, some had starved to death, and the remaining were so weak that the Roman soldiers marched right in and conquered the Jews easily. They killed 600,000 Jews, took thousands of the strongest and youngest as prisoners. Then they destroyed the temple and the city. Against Titus’ command, the city was burnt. The gold melted into cracks in the stones in the temple. In an effort to get the gold, they pried apart the stones. Very literally, not one stone was left standing upon another, exactly as Jesus said.
Verses 39-40 say, “Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, ‘Teacher, rebuke your disciples.’ But Jesus answered, ‘I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!” What was Jesus referring to? I think He was referring to verse 44 which says “they will not leave in you one stone upon another.” The stones that were all that was left of the rubble of Jerusalem and her temple will cry out. And what will those stones cry out? Judgment! They will cry out that you did not know the things that make for peace! You did not recognize the time of your visitation!
Oh, my friends, God’s judgment may be delayed, but it will not be delayed forever. It will come to those who turn a deaf ear to His mercy. The author to the Hebrews says in 2:4, “how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?” Also, in Hebrews 10:29-31, we are told that if we trample under foot the Son of God and regard as unclean the blood of the covenant, and insult the Spirit of grace, we will receive God’s vengeance. It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Conclusion
So, what does this text say to us today on March 20, 2016? I believe there are two examples here that the Spirit of God would have us imitate.
- We Should Imitate the Example of the Disciples. They received Jesus as their King. They did homage to Him. They submitted to Him. They praised Him unanimously, joyfully, loudly, and Biblically. Now, it is true that this crowd was fickle, and in less than a week they were shouting “Crucify Him!” Let’s pray for grace that we might be true and steadfast in our faith, and that our praise and devotion to Christ would be unwavering.
- We Should Imitate the Example of Christ. How totally different was the frame of mind of the disciples and that of Jesus! The disciples were filled with excitement and joy, whereas Jesus was filled with sorrow and grief. His heart was broken for the lost. Yes, we may praise the Lord loudly and joyfully when the church gathers, but how do we respond to the lost the rest of the week? Do we have any of the compassion of Christ for lost people? Now, it is good to joyfully praise God, but we must also have a heart of compassion for lost people. Have you ever been so grieved over someone’s soul, that you shed tears for them? George Whitefield would often burst into tears in the middle of His preaching. He would say, “You blame me for weeping, but how can I help it when you will not weep for yourselves, though your immortal souls are on the verge of destruction?” Let compassion for lost people move you to pray for them, even weep for them, and then speak to them the only message that can save them – the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Let’s pray.
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