God's Appointed King Has Come
And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation. Luke 19:44b
Luke 19:28–48 – Holy Week—Luke
Palm Sunday – March 28, 2021 (am)
Introduction:
Good morning Grace Church. Please open your Bibles to Luke chapter 19 verse 28 for our Scripture reading this morning. As you do . . .
I would like to begin today simply by acknowledging that many of you have probably came into the service today with a heaviness upon your hearts. . . .
I acknowledge these things at the outset of our message this morning, if for no other reason than to get on the same page with one another – the page that says, “This has been a heavy week” and “Lord, I sure need you to speak to my heavy heart this morning,” . . . “Lord, I need to hear Your voice this morning”
And I would want to say to those for whom this is true – He knows that. Our God knows the heaviness of your hearts. And he came to earth so that he could bear the full weight of it. He rode a colt into Jerusalem knowing full well what it would cost him to bear the weight of all that pull us down. And he did it because he loves you. And He is here with us this morning, in his Word and in our hearts and in our midst, for, as Jesus said, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”[1]
With that said, let’s read from Luke 19, and pray, and trust that the Lord will meet us in his God Breathed Word this Palm Sunday morning.
Read Luke 19:28-48
Pray
Lord, meet us now in the exposition of Your Word. Calm our anxious hearts, quiet our distracted thoughts, sooth the ache within our souls, and draw us to yourself. Speak Lord, for your servants are listening.”
Visitors
The four points for today’s message, which you can find in your bulletin, are drawn from Jesus’ words at the end of verse 44. They are the words spoken over the city of Jerusalem. Words that were spoken through tears. Not a tear, not with teary eyes, they were spoken through chest heaving, voice cracking, uncontrollable sobs – for that is what weeping is.
They are words that conclude Jesus’ lament that began with Jesus saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace!” (v. 42) They are the words that follow Jesus’ prophetic pronouncement about enemies who would soon come to barricade, surround and destroy this city, and all who are within it (vv. 43-44a). They are the words, “. . . because you did not know the time of your visitation” (v. 44b).
Have you ever had a visitor show up that you did not expect?
After completing my freshmen year of college, I along with three other Wheaton College teammates from the men’s soccer team decided to spend our summer serving with a sports ministry called Athletes in Action, a ministry whose headquarters were based out of Vancouver, British Columbia.
We thought it would be fun if, rather than all flying out there, we turned it into a road trip. We all lived in various regions of the US but by chance, each of us had connections in the area of Denver, Colorado, so we made that our meeting point.
From Denver, we drove our way across the Rockies, turned Northwest once we were in Utah, and stayed the night in Twin Falls, Idaho before traversing Oregon and Washington State on our second day of driving with the hope that we would be able to line up a place to stay somewhere near Seattle before crossing into Canada for the final leg or our trip.
With the great amount of foresight that is bestowed upon four young men in a minivan, the furthest we’d thought ahead was to bring a Wheaton College directory with us with the hopes that we could find someone who lived in Washington, call them the day of our arrival, and ask them to prepare to house the four of us in just a few short hours.
As incredible, or incredulous, as that plan may sound to you, what is even more incredible is that it worked. There was an acquaintance of mine who I’d met in the dorms by the name of Ben Buckley, and he lived just outside Seattle. When we called, not only did he himself answer the home phone, a miracle in and of itself, but he quickly confirmed that his family would be happy to host us.
When we arrived at the Buckley residence, it was no surprise that they weren’t quite ready for us. Beds needed to be made, rooms rearranged, and dinner ordered out.
Guess what my compatriots and I didn’t do when we saw that they weren’t completely prepared for our arrival? We didn’t begin weeping and lamenting their lack of preparation and pronouncing judgment upon the heads of the Buckley family as we prophesied the besieging and destruction of their four bedroom home.
We understood the situation! And we were just thankful that they’d agreed to let four unkempt guys in the door after two days in the car and at a few hours notice!
So why does Jesus react the way he does when he approaches Jerusalem? Why the tears? Why the lament? Why the pronouncement of judgement at Jerusalem’s lack of preparation for his visit?
To answer those questions – let us turn to the first of our four question outline: 1) Who is this that is visiting?
1) Who is this that is visiting? (vv. 28 – 36)
To do this question justice, we really need to go back to the beginning of Luke’s gospel where we hear the angel Gabriel telling Mary that her son, Jesus, “. . . will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end” (1:32-33)
There is no question in the gospel of Luke as to who Jesus is. He is the King! Not just A king, and not just THE NEXT king, he is THE King!
He is God’s many times prophesied, long awaited, descendant of David, divinely appointed, now and forever King!
But as we read Luke’s gospel, we come to see that his is not a life of kingly comfort until he eventually comes to sit on his throne in Jerusalem.
In fact, the only times before our passage that Jesus sets foot in Jerusalem are to be dedicated to the Lord as an infant, to celebrate Passover as a twelve year old, and to be tempted atop the temple by the Devil himself.
Aside from these three instances, Jesus’ upbringing was spent in Galilee, in the town of Nazareth, and after his temptation at the pinnacle of the temple, the very next verse says, “And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee” (4:14). It’s almost as if Jesus’ is intentionally avoiding Jerusalem and the regal associations that may come with it.
But in Luke 9, that all changes. For there we read the account on the mount of Transfiguration, where Jesus is met by Moses and Elijah, who Luke says, “appeared in glory and spoke of his [meaning Jesus’] departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.”
From this point on in Luke’s gospel, Jesus is said to have “set his face towards Jerusalem” (9:51; 53) and over the next ten chapters, Luke gives us twelve geographic reminders telling us that Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem.[2] Reminders like the one in Luke 13:22 . . .
He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. (13:22)
. . I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.” (13:33)
On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. (17:11)
As they heard these things, he proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem . . . (19:11)
And as you enter into our passage for today, these geographic reminders keep coming. In fact, they come with greater frequency in closer intervals. Luke tells us . . .
Jesus is going up to Jerusalem
Then he is drawing near to Bethany and Bethphage, the last villages outside Jerusalem
·Then Jesus is drawing near – already on his way down the Mount of Olives – the mountain that faces Jerusalem
Then Jesus sees the city
And finally he enters Jerusalem and the temple within it
These geographic reminders are like the beats of a heart that is pulsing more and more quickly with each step Jesus takes towards Jerusalem. They add to the suspense. For Jesus is no unexpected visitor, He is the many times prophesied, long awaited, descendant of David, divinely appointed, now and forever King who had set his face toward Jerusalem, and has now completed his ten chapter journey through Luke’s gospel to finally arrived at the holy city.
In details that may seem odd to modern ears, the arrangements Jesus makes for his entry into Jerusalem serve only to underline just who He is as he arrives at her gates.
Having walked all the way from Galilee, a three day journey by foot, Jesus arranges to ride the final mile into the city, which indicates that his mode of entry is steeped with symbolism and significance, and is not merely for the sake of convenience.
He sends two disciples to find and untie a colt that has never been ridden and to bring it to Jesus that it might carry him into Jerusalem – an act that clearly calls to mind the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9. A prophecy that portrays a humble and gentle king, victorious and triumphant, bringing good news of salvation over their enemies. A prophecy that said,
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
righteous and having salvation is he,
humble and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Luke’s description of the scene portrays Jesus as single minded, purposeful, and determined, not to mention prophetic, in the way that he makes and carries out these arrangements. You get the sense that he has been planning his arrival for a long time now, indeed, that it has already been planned in prophecies long before his incarnation, and that the moment has come to enact these prophecies, fulfilling them for all to see.
He will not slip into Jerusalem unnoticed. It is time for his identity to be known by all.
John Calvin says about this occasion, “as kings are wont to ascend their chariots, from which they may be easily seen, so the Lord intended to turn the eyes of the people on himself, and to place some mark of approbation on the applauses of his followers, lest any might think that he unwillingly received the honour of a king.”[3]
Jesus has clearly communicated that he is the King – what response did this elicit from those who were present?
2) How is He received? (vv. 37 – 40)
Luke invites us to consider two responses elicited by Jesus’ mode of entry into Jerusalem . . .
The first is the response of Jesus’ disciples.
Luke tells us in verse 36, that as Jesus rode along, his disciples “spread their cloaks on the road” and
As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his 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!” (vv. 37-38)
Luke doesn’t tell us who all was included in this multitude of disciples. We’d be safe in assuming that it included Jesus twelve disciples, but beyond that, we can only speculate who all the others must have been - perhaps it included the 72 disciples he’d sent out back in chapter 10, and perhaps it included those Jesus had met with and ministered to along the way like Mary and Martha and Zacchaeus. But there is one man we know who was part of this multitude. He is the once blind now healed beggar who recognized Jesus for who he truly was as Jesus approached Jericho on his way up to Jerusalem, for, as Jesus came near, this blind beggar cried out to him, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” (18:38) Son of David – that is, God’s appointed King – have mercy on me.
And Luke tells us that this crowd of disciples now see what, in the last chapter, was so clear it could be seen by a blind man - Jesus is the King, and he must be welcomed as such.
And so, the multitude of disciples spread their cloaks on the ground before him – a gesture that had its origins in Israelite history, an act performed when one welcomes a King.[4]
And then this multitude, filled with the memory of all the mighty works they had seen Jesus do, took on their lips the words of Psalm 118:26 saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!” – a Psalm whose use here is of no small significance, for this Psalm was, as Greg Gilbert explains, “an ancient song that the people used to greet their king as he approached the temple to offer sacrifices.”[5]
It was a Psalm that Alec Motyer describes as being written in Christ’s shadow.[6] One that found its original expression in the true events that make up Israel’s history, but one that was ultimately written for the moment these disciples would speak it to God’s chosen King as he rode a colt down the Mount of Olives and into Jerusalem.
While much speculation has been made about the crowd that welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem, speculation about the genuineness of their words and the true nature of their hearts, Luke’s account of the crowds actions lends itself to only one interpretation and that is, that at this moment, this multitude of Jesus’ disciples are exactly right in what they are doing and saying.
Jesus has made it crystal clear that he intends to ride into Jerusalem as a king, and that is exactly how his disciples receive him.
But all is not well in paradise . . . for the disciples response is quickly interrupted by the words of the Pharisees who were in the crowd.
The response of the Pharisees
These Pharisees, rather than welcoming Jesus, call him to rebuke his disciples, to stop them and silence them, for the outlandish implications of their words and their actions.
By doing so, the Pharisees set themselves apart from and against God’s appointed king and instead, side with those who, in the parable taught by Jesus just before the triumphal entry, say “We do not want this man to reign over us,” as well as those who Jesus will go on to say, “did not know the time of their visitation.” [7]
Their response is a tragedy.
It is akin to the sitter, who shushes the cries of jubilee from the children whose parents have just returned home, or to the soldier who silences the shouts of the captives whose allies have just arrived to deliver them from bondage.
It is an act of sedition against God’s appointed King and it signals to the reader, that Jesus’ reign will not be initiated without opposition and that he will not be enthroned apart from bloodshed. It spells the coming end of the temple, for which the Pharisees speak, and of the city in which it resides. The city, which of all cities, ought to have been on the lookout for God’s appointed King.
And so Jesus weeps, but not before giving a statement that ought to stir within us a sense of wonder and awe at the man who is riding into Jerusalem.
The potential response of the rocks
Jesus says, in response to the Pharisees, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”
There are statements in Scripture that are too glorious to just be explained, and this is one of them. There are statements best left to the poets and the song-writers and the story weavers and the artists among us, for the truths they contain are more wonderful than can simply be spoken, instead they must be sung and rhymed and danced and rehearsed and displayed in color, in ways that leave us humbled, and breathless, even as they cause us to cry out with joy, and this is one of them.
But one thing I will say, we must do away with statements such as the one I read in a commentary this week where the author says, – “That stones would shout is, of course, a figure of speech.”[8]
Is that what Jesus is saying here? That this is just a metaphor? Is that all that is behind this statement? A figure of speech to highlight the importance of what the disciples are saying?
As if ALL OF CREATION, the creation of which Jesus was the divine architect, isn’t also waiting and longing and groaning for the day when God’s appointed King, the King of all creation, will come to set it free from the bondage and decay to which it was subjected on the day that Adam sinned.
Instead, let us sit with these words from Jesus, spoken not in pride nor in spite, but in the truth of who He truly is, the King of all Creation, and let us wonder and let us worship.
Sadly, we’ll have to save such Spirit enabled ponderings for a later time, since we have two more points still left in today’s sermon – but it will be time well spent if you do decide to set your mind to it, and perhaps the church will gain a song or a story or a work of art because of it.
3) What will He do about it? (vv. 41 – 48)
What will Jesus do about the mixed response evoked by his royal arrival into Jerusalem. The answer: Jesus will weep and then he will get to work.
When you crown the Mount of Olives, coming over the top of it from the east, there is a point where you go from being able only to see the Judean horizon to, in just a matter of steps, seeing the whole of the ancient city of Jerusalem, encompassed by walls with the Temple at the forefront.
It is as Jesus takes those steps and the city comes into view that he begins to weep “saying, ‘Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.’” And then he pronounces days soon to come, days when Jerusalem and the inhabitants within her would be destroyed, and he laments that this ancient home to God’s appointed King “did not know the time of [her] visitation.”
As I mentioned in the introduction, the impression Luke gives here is not just that Jesus got choked up as he said these things, but that he actually wept. That grief got the best of him. That even in the glory and wonder of the disciples reception and creation’s itching to join their chorus, it was not enough to quell the fact that Jerusalem and her many inhabitants stood opposite him with no words of welcome or processions of praise, no one came out to usher him into her gates.
Instead, the city went about her business, the business of Passover, of exchanging currency for the sales of animal sacrifices, a business that was built on the belief that the presence of the temple and it’s systems served to gain them God’s ongoing favor and protection,[9] a business that -Jesus’ actions in the Temple make clear - turned God’s house into a marketplace rather than a place of prayerful expectation, where hearts were turned to God and God was expected to show up, a place that, rather than housing righteous, had become a den for robbers and so blinded Jerusalem’s inhabitants that they couldn’t see that God Himself had come to visit, and that he was outside their gates at that very moment, with no one from the city there to welcome him.
And so after weeping, we see Jesus get to work. Luke tells us that he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, saying to them, ‘It is written, my house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers.” And having driven those who sold from the temple, having emptied the area of money changers and animals, Luke tells us that he began to fill it with what was proper for the house of God and the city in which it dwells, namely, his own words – for Luke tells us, “he was teaching daily in the temple.”[10]
That is what Jesus did about Jerusalem’s failure to receive him when he rode into town as the many times prophesied, long awaited, descendant of David, divinely appointed, now and forever King. He cleared the temple of its marketplace and he began to fill it with his Word.
And, as is foreshadowed near the end of our passage, Jesus’ decision to do so resulted in his death, though not before he taught many things, things that caused the people who were present to hang on his very words.
And having arrived at the end of our passage for today, we now ask the fourth and final question:
4) What will we do about it?
Here is my answer. It is my hope that we would come away from this passage with a greater understanding of the heart of Christ for sinners and welcome him into our lives.
We get a glimpse into the heart of Christ when we see how Jesus, in the lack of reception from the inhabitants of Jerusalem, weeps and laments for those who have caused him this offense.
Only a profound depth of love for one’s enemies, could evoke such tears and we would do well to pause and consider that the heart that is on display here is the very same heart that is active towards us, in our own sin and aloofness to God’s presence. We would do well to hear from Jesus’ lips the destruction that is pronounced over those who do not love his appearing. We would do well to consider what are the things that make for peace – so that we might not suffer a similar fate. And we would do well to consider, that while Jerusalem’s visitation was two thousand years ago – that ours is both today and at a future day, and that if we reject him today, he will reject us on that future day.
Allow me to explain.
I began this morning by reminding us that God himself is present among us today. He is here in his Word, by His Spirit, and just like Jesus’ presence demanded a response from the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so his presence among us today demands a response.
What Jesus said in Revelation 3 to the church of Laodicea is true for you today, for there he says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. 21 The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”
Jesus, today, stands at the door of your heart and knocks. He does not pound neither does he does not knock only to turn and walk away, no he knocks and he knocks and he knocks. He knocks through the preaching of His word, and through the witness of his followers, and through the God ordained minutia of your life that, if you will have eyes to see it, is calling you to forsake your sinful ways and turn to him, repenting of your sin and welcoming in the King of Creation for whom, if you remain silent, the rocks will cry out.
And if you open that door, then he will come in, and he will be a most welcome visitor. For he will conquer the consequences of your sin, on your behalf, and then he will teach you to conquer the power that sin holds over you. He will be gentle and lowly towards you. Instructing you in the ways you ought to go, guiding you, comforting you, and loving you. And upon his entry, he will cease to be a visitor, for he will make his home within you, never to leave you again.
He will be to you the shepherd of Psalm 23 – making you to lie down in green pastures, restoring your soul, leading you in paths of righteousness, walking with you through the valley of the shadow of death, and preparing before you a table in the presence of your enemies, bringing you goodness and mercy until you come to dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
He will be your firm foundation and comforting guide – even through the harshest of trials – through broken ankles and gestational diabetes and births complications and amniotic fluid embolisms. Through cross country moves, and being uprooted from your community, and the departure of friends, along with a myriad other trials that come from living in a fallen world.
This Jesus, for the soul, that on Him has leaned for repose
He will not, he will not desert to its foes
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake
He’ll never, no never, no never forsake.
And on the day of visitation, when Christ comes to earth again, he will gather up those who have opened the door to him and they will reign with him, over sin and death forever and ever from the throne of our gentle king.
But for those who do not–for those who do not open the door to Christ before he returns– a fate far worse than the one that befell Jerusalem is coming.
So I exhort you today, do not be like the inhabitants of Jerusalem in Jesus’ day. Know the things that make for peace and open the door to the one who is here, even now, knocking – and enter into His kingdom, so that his second coming, and every day leading up to it, might be lived with Jesus, in the comfort of his love, and the strength of his Spirit, and the hope of his resurrection, to the glory of His name.
Now, as we conclude todays message and turn our minds and our thoughts towards the week and the world that await us, let us pray.
Intercessory Prayer – Ps. 118
Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!
Let Israel say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” Let the house of Aaron say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” Let those who fear the LORD say, “His steadfast love endures forever.”
As we’ve acknowledged many times this morning, Lord, we come to you with heaviness in our hearts, for what we have seen and what we have heard and what still remains unknown in the lives of loved ones in our church family who face trials and transitions in this life.
Our hearts ache with them, and for them, and on their behalf, even as we work to bear up under the weight of our own tests and trials and tribulations.
But we are reminded this morning, and it is a sweet and soul strengthening reminder, that we are not alone in this. That the Brendsels are not alone in this. That Katie, as she lies in her hospital bed awaiting your touch of healing and as Josh waiting for signs of her recovery and as little Emily awaits the day her mother will speak loving words into her ears and as Rueben and Camden wait for their family to be reunited, that they are not alone in these trials - For the Lord is on their side, for the Lord is on our side, and because you are on our side O Lord, we will not fear – for what can man do to us? What can sickness do to us? What can death do to us?
We don’t ask these questions flippantly. For surely we know they can bring us much pain, and grief, and heartache, and in fact they already have.
But this we know – for those who love the Lord, and are called according to his purposes – they do not get the final say and good, as incredulous as it sounds, good, can come from them. For the Lord is our helper, and because you are our helper, we know that we will, indeed that we already can, look in triumph on these dreaded consequences of the fall, for Jesus has conquered them in his death, that we might live in Him, even in the midst of them.
So Lord, as we turn to the week ahead of us, we do so courageously, knowing it is better to take refuge in the Lord than in anything else. And though we may feel surrounded and hemmed in on every side by the trials of this life, by enemies that are without and within, by our own weakness, and frailty, and sin, we push back and we say, the Lord, the LORD, is our strength and our song, for he has become our salvation, for he has visited us in His Son, and He has fought valiantly for our souls, and the souls of our loved ones, and he has conquered death, and bought us life, and because of this, we know that we shall not ultimately die, but we shall live, and we shall recount the deeds of the Lord forever.
And so we say with the disciples of Jesus, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD!”
You are our God, and we will give thanks to you;
You are our King; and we will extol you.
Go with us now, O Lord, assuring us with each breath we breath, that you are with us, and you are good, and your steadfast love endures forever.
In Jesus Name, Amen.
____________________
Bibliography
Beale, G.K. and D. A. Carson (Editors). Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament. BakerAcademic: Grand Rapids, 2007.
Calvin, John. Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, and Luke (Volume Second) in Calvin’s Commentaries Volume XVI. Translated from the original Latin, and collated with the author’s French version, by the Rev. William Pringle. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2003.
Calvin, John. Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, and Luke (Volume Third) in Calvin’s Commentaries Volume XVII. Translated from the original Latin, and collated with the author’s French version, by the Rev. William Pringle. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2003.
Craddock, Fred B. Luke (Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching). John Knox Press: Louisville, 1990.
Green, Joel B. The Gospel of Luke (NICNT). William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company: Grand Rapids, 1997.
Marshall, I. Howard. The Gospel of Luke (The New International Greek Testament Commentary). Grand Rapids: The Paternoster Press, 1978.
Motyer, Alec. Psalms By the Day. Christian Fodus: Fearn, 2016.
[1] Matt. 18:20
[2] Luke 9:31; 9:51, 53, 57; 10:38; 13:22, 33; 17:11; 18:35; 19:1, 11.
[3] Calvin, 448
[4] King Jehu, 2 Kings 9
[5] Gilbert, 46. Cf. Green, 686.
[6] Motyer, 330.
[7] Luke 19:14, an observation by Green, 687: “. . . these Pharisees exemplify all who set themselves over against the divine plan. They are those who, in v 14, ‘do not want this man to rule over us’; who ‘do not recognize the time of God’s visitation’ (v 44).”
[8] Craddock, 227.
[9] “Jeremiah unmasks the false sense of security of the Judeans who believe that their misdeeds cannot rob them of the protection that the existence of the temple in Jerusalem provides, guaranteeing the presence of Yahweh. Jeremiah is told to proclaim a message of destruction, even though the Judeans will neither listen nor obey . . .” (B&C, 358)
[10] Some helpful thoughts:
“Jesus’ action in the temple symbolically expresses his conviction, expounded in his teaching based on Jer. 7, that the present ‘visitation of God (19:44) no longer needs the temple, whose destruction is announced.” (B&C, 360).
In the context of his message of the dawn of God’s kingdom, Jesus’ action in the temple was a challenge to Israel’s leadership in Jerusalem not to continue the sacrificial cult in the face of God’s new revelation, but to prepare, in the temple, for the time of the eschatological, new worship of God.” (B&C, 360)
Next Week: Easter Sunday–Peace to You, Luke 24:1–49