Sunday, October 29, 2017

JESUS ENTERS JERUSALEM - LUKE 19:28-44

Jesus Enters Jerusalem
19:28-40

This event is often called The Triumphal Entry.

After staying with Zacchaeus in Jericho, Jesus headed toward Jerusalem. The road took him up the Mount of Olives, or Mount Olivet, to the village of Bethany. Bethany was on the east side of the mountain.



Mount Olivet is the middle of three peaks in a mountain ridge just east of Jerusalem. It was named for the olive groves that once covered it. From Bethany, Jesus could follow the road up and over the ridge, then down into Jerusalem.

Jesus intended to enter Jerusalem on a young donkey to show that he is the Messianic King. He would fulfill the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9, which says:
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. 

Therefore, Jesus sent two of the disciples into the village, telling them they would find a colt, a young donkey, that no one had ridden. They were to bring it to Jesus. (Luke’s account only uses the word “colt”, but Matthew 21:2 describes it more fully as the colt of a donkey.)

In the Old Testament law, animals sacrificed for the atonement of sin could not have been used for common, non-sacred, tasks previously. They could not have been used to plow fields or pull wagons. (Numbers 19:2; Deuteronomy 21:3) Similarly, here, the donkey which would serve the Lord was not used by anyone else before.

The two disciples found it just as Jesus said they would. (32) They followed Jesus’ instructions and told the owners the Lord had need of it. That was all the owners needed to hear; they allowed the disciples to take it. Of course, all things belong to Jesus, including this donkey. He created all things and all things were created for him. (Colossians 1:16)

In a sense, Jesus was acting as king, as king of kings. He has the right to claim ownership of everything that was made. He owns what we all possess and may call for it as he wills. The owners of the animal must have agreed with this idea, for they let the disciples take the donkey without protest.

The disciples brought the donkey to Jesus. They threw their cloaks on it and set, or lifted, Jesus onto  it.  (35) This the disciples tribute to Jesus as king. He was too exalted to sit directly upon the donkey, so they put their cloaks on it. They exalted him further by lifting him onto the donkey.

Jesus then began riding the colt up and over the ridge on the road to Jerusalem. He was presenting himself as king in fulfillment of the scripture in Zechariah.

We see that the disciples recognized this, because, as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the ground in front of him so that the colt’s feet touched their cloaks and not the ground. This was an act of reverence and honor to Jesus the king. For example, when Jehu was anointed as king of Israel, the army commanders laid their cloaks on the ground for him to walk on and proclaimed him king. (2 Kings 9:13)

As Jesus began the descent down the mountain toward the Jerusalem, the disciples began to rejoice. They praised God loudly for the mighty works they had seen Jesus do. They yelled “blessed is he king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest.” (38)

They were using the words of Psalm 118:26, which says “blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!. But they changed the word “he” to “the King”. Clearly they understood that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem as king.

They also seemed to refer to the words of the angels who appeared to announce the birth of Jesus to the shepherds. The angels said “glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased”. (Luke 2:24) Here the disciples said “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest”. (19:38) It was great praise.

However, they misunderstood the kind of king Jesus came as. They thought the Messiah had come to be crowned as victorious king, ready to drive out the Romans and restore the kingdom of Israel. Despite what Jesus had taught them about the coming of the kingdom, they believed it was about to happen. Certainly, Zechariah 9:9, referred to the coming of a king. But they missed, or ignored, the part which says he was coming in a humble fashion, represented by the donkey.

Israel had, for a long time, been dominated by greater powers. Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, Syria and Rome had controlled them. Their intense desire to be free of foreign rule colored their expectation and their interpretation of scripture. The Jews longed for a new David who would be mighty in deed, leading a new exodus, driving out the foreigners. It would be the beginning of a kingdom of righteousness and peace.

But Jesus did not come to Jerusalem on this occasion for a coronation. He came to die for our sins. He had told his disciples this three times before but they did not understand it.

There was one group that did not share the joy of the disciples: the Pharisees. They did not believe Jesus was the Messiah, the king, or the Son of God. We see this in their address to him: they called him “teacher’. Therefore, they saw the praise of the disciples as blasphemy. They told Jesus to rebuke his disciples.

But Jesus did not heed the rebuke. He acceptable the disciples’ worship and praise because he was entitled to it. He deserved it. He said, in fact, if the disciples did not praise him, the stones along the road would cry out in praise. (40)

Jesus deserved the praise of all of creation. All things were created for him. He will be praised. Romans 8:19-21 tells us that all of creation groans for the day it will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain freedom of the glory of the children of God.

We today must give Jesus the honor he deserves as king. He is no longer the suffering servant. He is the highly exalted king, sitting at the right hand of the Father in heaven. He has a name that is above all names. (Philippians 2:9)

Jesus Wept for Jerusalem
19:41-44

When Jerusalem came fully into view for Jesus, he wept for it.
Although he was in the middle of disciples who worshipped him, he knew most in Jerusalem would reject him. His coming presented them a dilemma: follow him or execute him.

We see the humanity of Jesus on display here. He was grieved that God’s city, the city of the temple, will reject him. He wept over it. (41) He preferred that they had believed that they could have peace with God through him, but they could not see it.(42)

Jesus also grieved for the consequences Jerusalem would suffer for rejecting him. He told them what that would be: the city would be attacked and destroyed. (43-44) The Romans did it in 70 A.D.

This is an interesting paradox that teaches us something about God: God ordained that Jerusalem be destroyed for rejecting the Lord Jesus, but Jesus grieved for them and  the suffering to come. God is just & will punish sin. But God does not enjoy punishing and wants men and women to repent.

In Ezekiel 33:11, God said:
“Say to them, as I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from you evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel.”

We should share Jesus’ concern for those who are lost and headed to judgment.

As we worship him and enjoy him, let us also tell others about him.


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