Making Way for King Jesus (Palm Sunday 2007)

Making Way for King Jesus (Palm Sunday 2007)

“Making Way for King Jesus”

(Luke 19:28-44)

Palm Sunday

Rev. Todd A. Linn, PhD

First Baptist Church Henderson, KY

4-1-07 (AM)

 

  • Take God’s Word and open to Luke, chapter 19.

 

While you’re turning there, let me thank you again for your attention and interest in our four-part sermon series last month entitled, “Hot-Button Issues.”  All four of those messages are available on the church website at fbchenderson.org.

 

You all have been very encouraging in receiving those messages.  After last Sunday morning’s message on “Alcohol and the Bible,” I was particularly encouraged to hear from a few different folks who felt convicted to take a stronger stand on this issue.  One person, in particular, told me he had been to Rite-Aid just the day before and purchased an entire case of beer.  He admitted that he had bought that case sort of looking over his shoulder, wondering whether anyone might see him.  So the point in the sermon about our being a witness before a watching community struck him and he shared later how he had gone home and poured every single one of those beers down the drain.  Praise God.

 

Well, today is the Sunday before Easter and traditionally it is known as Palm Sunday.  It is the Sunday that marks our Lord’s final week of ministry as He enters into the city of Jerusalem where He will bring to a culmination His work for us by dying for our sins.  And so we’re going to study a passage of Scripture that tells us about this day, the day the Lord enters into Jerusalem, sometimes called, “The Triumphal Entry.  The story begins in verse 28 of the text; Luke chapter 19, verse 28.  Just before verse 28, Jesus shares a parable that deals with His kingship.  That is the referent in verse 28 where it says, “When He had said this;” the “this” refers to His sharing the parable about His kingship.

 

  • Stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word.

 

28 When He had said this, He went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.

29 And it came to pass, when He came near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mountain called Olivet, that He sent two of His disciples,

30 saying, “Go into the village opposite you, where as you enter you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Loose it and bring it here.

31 “And if anyone asks you, ‘Why are you loosing it?’ thus you shall say to him, ‘Because the Lord has need of it.’ ”

32 So those who were sent went their way and found it just as He had said to them.

33 But as they were loosing the colt, the owners of it said to them, “Why are you loosing the colt?”

34 And they said, “The Lord has need of him.”

35 Then they brought him to Jesus. And they threw their own clothes on the colt, and they set Jesus on him.

36 And as He went, many spread their clothes on the road.

37 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,

38 saying: ” ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the LORD!’ Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

39 And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.”

40 But He answered and said to them, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.”

41 Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it,

42 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.

43 “For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side,

44 “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.”

 

  • Pray.

 

Introduction:

 

I believe I’ve shared with you before one of the things I’ve always enjoyed doing with the boys.  Whether we’re wrestling on the floor or I’ve got one of them pinned to the ground, locked into a tickling frenzy, I ask the inevitable question, “Who’s the king?”  And they’ll try to wriggle away and get out of the hold because the only way I’ll let them out is when they say, “Daddy is the king!”  Matthew’s getting to the point that he’s getting too big for this.  He can resist too well and he’s trying to teach Nicholas how to defeat me in this, too.  He’ll get down there next to Nicholas and say, “Don’t give up, Nicholas!  Don’t give up!”  But the only way out is to say, “Daddy’s the king.”

 

Now that’s quite unlike the way Jesus assumes His kingship.  We never read of His pinning someone to the ground, forcing him into saying, “Jesus is the King!”  No, it’s quite different.  The crowds who followed Him and listened to His teaching grew over the three and a half years of His ministry.  They followed Him and, over time, realized that He was more than a teacher.  And by this point in the ministry of Jesus the crowds acknowledge that Jesus is King.  What they don’t quite understand just yet, however, is just exactly how this King intends to rule.

 

We have the benefit of hindsight.  We have the fullness of the entire Bible and so we look back and we read this story with the fuller knowledge of exactly who this King Jesus is and how He intends to rule.  So as we study this passage of Scripture we’re going to take that knowledge with us as we join the crowd in this story.  We’re going to take a closer look at this Lord Jesus Christ, the One whom the Bible refers to elsewhere as the “King of Kings.”  And we’re going to join the crowd here with that knowledge.  We’ll stand with them and help them, “Make way for King Jesus” as He enters into Jerusalem for the final week of His life.

 

There are three characteristics of the kingship of Jesus upon which I want us to focus in the remaining time we have together.  May our study increase our love and loyalty to our King!

 

I. Make Way for the King of Providence (28-34)

 

By “providence,” I mean to focus upon that doctrine which teaches us that God is working out a beautiful, sovereign plan as He guides all the events of the world.  This sovereign work of providence is seen in our Lord Jesus Christ.  Nothing happens to Jesus by accident.  Nothing!  As king, He is ruling over every detail in accordance to a divine timetable, unfolding the events of all things in keeping with His perfect hidden plan.  He is the King of providence.  He knows all.

 

28 When He had said this, He went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.

 

He knew why He was going up to Jerusalem.  He had already told His disciples on three occasions: “The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected, and be killed, and after three days rise again.”  That was the fate that awaited Him.  That was why He came.  He came to die on the cross for our sins.  Mark 10:45, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”  So this is the very reason He is entering into Jerusalem at this time.

 

The enemies of Jesus often tried to push Him aside or to kill Him, but every single prior attempt upon His life failed because, as the Bible puts it, “His hour had not yet come.”  Jesus is the King of Providence.  He rules and reigns over time.  But now is the time.  He enters Jerusalem to lay down His life for others.  See more of His hand of providence as the story unfolds.

 

29 And it came to pass, when He came near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mountain called Olivet, that He sent two of His disciples,

30 saying, “Go into the village opposite you, where as you enter you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Loose it and bring it here.

31 “And if anyone asks you, ‘Why are you loosing it?’ thus you shall say to him, ‘Because the Lord has need of it.’ ”

 

In precise fulfillment of an Old Testament prophecy in Zechariah 9:9, the Lord Jesus tells a couple of disciples that He will enter into the city riding upon a donkey colt.  Many years before horses kings rode upon horses, it was the donkey that was the sign of royalty.  You may remember, for example, in 1 Kings that David’s son, Solomon, was placed upon David’s donkey to show everyone he was king.  So King Jesus will enter into Jerusalem riding upon a donkey.

 

And Jesus tells two of His disciples exactly where they will find the donkey colt.  He even foretells the brief conversation that will ensue.  He says, “If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you taking this donkey?’ you just say, ‘Because the Lord needs it.’”  So what happens?

 

32 So those who were sent went their way and found it—(How?)—just as He had said to them.

 

“Just as He had said to them.”  They found it “just as He had said to them.”  Nothing is happening here by chance.  The King of providence is guiding.  He knows all things.

 

33 But as they were loosing the colt, the owners of it said to them, “Why are you loosing the colt?”

34 And they said, “The Lord has need of him.”

 

So in these first few verses of our story we see the King of Providence working out all things for His pleasure, guiding everything according to a perfect timetable.  In the last nine months of His journey as He has made His way from Galilee to Judea, ministering in 35 different cities and places, He times every single step of His Journey, entering into the city of Jerusalem at this precise moment, at the beginning of Passover.  In His perfect knowledge, He is the King of Providence.  Nothing takes Him by surprise.  He knows all things including the hearts of men.

 

J.C. Ryle says, “The thought of Christ’s perfect knowledge should alarm sinners and awaken them to repentance.  The great Head of the Church knows them and all their doings.  The Judge of all sees them continually, and marks down all their ways.”  Yes, Paul reminds us of this, too.  In Romans 2:16, the Bible says that God will judge “the secrets of men” by Jesus Christ.

 

Jesus is no ordinary king.  He is the King of providence.  He knows all things, including the secrets of our hearts.  Our role, then, is to submit to Him as King, to follow Him as King, and to live for Him as our King.  When we follow Him we acknowledge that we have nothing to fear and no need to worry.  He is the One who will guide us safely along the journey according to His perfect plan.  Make way for the King of Providence.  Secondly:

 

II. Make Way for the King of Praise (35-40)

 

35 Then they brought him (that is, the donkey) to Jesus. And they threw their own clothes on the colt, and they set Jesus on him.

36 And as He went, many spread their clothes on the road.

37 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,

38 saying: ” ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the LORD!’ Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

 

As Jesus enters into the city of Jerusalem, riding on the royal donkey, the people spread their clothes out before Him, making way for the King to travel.  And they praise Him.  Listen to their praise in verse 38, “Blessed is the—(what?)—King who comes in the name of the Lord!”

 

The crowd is quoting a line from one of the Hallel Psalms, the psalms of praise, Psalms 113-118, sung during the Passover.  Specifically, Psalm 118:26 says, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.”  And Luke tells us here that the crowd personalizes that verse significantly, changing “He” to “King.”  Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!”  They make way for the King worthy of all praise.

 

39 And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.”

40 But He answered and said to them, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.”

 

The Pharisees don’t share the crowd’s enthusiasm.  They tell Jesus to silence the praise of His followers.  He says to them, “If they don’t praise me, the rocks will!”  The stones will immediately cry out!

 

And this is why King Jesus is worthy of praise.  He is sovereign over His creation.  The Bible says in John 1:2, “All things were mad through Him” and, for that reason, He can bring praise to Himself through the things He has made, even rocks or trees.

 

Psalm 98:7-9, “Let the sea roar, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell in it; let the rivers clap their hands; let the hills be joyful together before the LORD, for He is coming to judge the earth.”

 

This is reminiscent of John the Baptist’s statement about God’s sovereignty over His creation.  In

Matthew 3:9, he warns the religious leaders, “Do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.”

 

The same God who is able to raise up disciples from stones is the same God who is able to cause rocks to praise Him.  Make way for the King of Praise!

 

Verse 37 says that the crowd praises God “for all the mighty works they had seen.”  And they had seen a lot of mighty works: Jesus gave sight to the blind and made the lame to walk again.  He fed 5,000 men with just five loaves and two fishes.  And they had most recently seen Lazarus, a dead man, rise from the grave.

 

We, too, should make way for the King of Praise by thanking Him for His “mighty works” we have seen in our own lives.

 

The same God who can turn stones into disciples and turn stones into choir members is the same God who reaches down inside of our bodies and, as He says in Ezekiel 11:19, He takes hold of our stony hearts and turns them into hearts of flesh.

 

Floods of joy o’er my soul like the sea billows roll,

Since Jesus came into my heart!

 

Make way this morning for the King of Providence.  Make way this morning for the King of Praise and:

 

III. Make Way for the King of Peace (41-44)

 

41 Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it,

42 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.

 

Jesus weeps not for Himself, but, verse 41 says, for the city, for the city of Jerusalem.  Why?  Verse 42, because they did not know “the things that made for their peace,” things “hidden from their eyes.”

 

Jesus weeps for the city of Jerusalem, weeping not for buildings but weeping for people.  He weeps for religious leaders who are spiritually blind to His Kingship over them.  He weeps for a people who collectively reject Him as Lord.  Even these who are now singing the loudest will in less then a week forsake Him when their tears turn to jeers.  The people are blind to Christ’s coming to them as the King who brings salvation.  And as He weeps Jesus sees into the future, seeing the inevitable consequence of a people who reject the Lord.  He sees the future destruction of the city by the hand of the enemy.

 

43 “For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side,

44 “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.”

 

This prophecy, of course, is fulfilled just 40 years later under the Roman General Titus.  You can read all the details in Flavius Josephus’ writings, The Wars of the Jews.  Like the disciples’ finding the donkey, the people of Jerusalem would find the destruction “just as He had said to them.”  The very city whose name means “city of peace” would be destroyed in war.

 

Jesus weeps for the people: “If only you had known the things that make for your peace!”  Peace.  Not political peace with men, but spiritual peace with God.  The things that make for their peace are the things inextricably united with following Jesus.

 

That conclusion is unmistakable as the narrative ends in verse 44.  Jesus said that the people of Jerusalem “did not know the time of their visitation.”  God had visited them in the Person of His Son Jesus Christ and they rejected Him.  And because they rejected Him they did not know peace.  It was “hidden from their eyes.”  What the blind beggar could see (18:35-43) the leaders of Jerusalem could not.

 

The Bible says in John 1:11, “He came to His own and His own did not receive Him.”  The Jews did not receive Him.  They “did not know the time of their visitation.”  They rejected Him.  The next verse, John 1:12, says, “But as many as receive Him (receive Jesus), to them God gives the authority to become children of God.”

 

And the result is peace, peace with God.  Romans 5:1 says that when we place our faith in Christ God declares us, “Not guilty.”  Paul says, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

 

Conclusion / Invitation

Peace in our lives, true peace, lasting peace, peace with God, begins the moment we “make way in our lives for King Jesus.”  Make way for Him by trustin Him this morning.  Turn to the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

The Son of God in tears

The wondrous angels see.

Be thou astonished, O my soul,

He shed those tears for thee.

 

(G. Campbell Morgan)

 

 

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