WWUTT 2471 The Triumphal Entry and Jesus Laments (Luke 19:28-44)

In fulfillment of the prophecies that had been made centuries before, Jesus enters into Jerusalem on a donkey's colt to the shouts of the people. Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord.

Unfortunately, they did not really know who he was. When we understand the text.

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Here once again is Pastor Gabe.

The Triumphal Entry in Luke 19

Thank you, Becky. In our study of the Gospel of Luke, we're still in chapter 19. But we've arrived at another turning point in the narrative. This is the triumphal entry. We've read of it in Matthew and in Mark.

This is Luke's account. I'm reading from verses 28 through 44. Hear the word of the Lord. And when Jesus had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. When he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples, saying, Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat.

Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, why are you untying it? You shall say this, the Lord has need of it. So those who were sent went away and found it just as he had told them. And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, Why are you untying the colt?

And they said, The Lord has need of it. And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. 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 that they had seen, saying, Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord.

Peace in heaven and glory in the highest. And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, Teacher, rebuke your disciples. He answered, I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.

And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, 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. For the days will come upon you when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another in you because you did not know the time of your visitation.

Let me keep going. I'll read also of Jesus cleansing the temple in verse 45. And 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 he was teaching daily in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people were seeking to destroy him, but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were hanging on his words.

Prophecy Fulfilled in the Triumphal Entry

Now, as with previous gospels, I've taught on this section before. You have the triumphal entry in the gospel of Matthew and in Mark. This is Luke's account. We'll read it again in the gospel of John also.

This is one of those occasions in Jesus' earthly ministry captured in all four gospels. It's a significant event because, of course, it was prophesied about in the Old Testament. Zechariah 9 .9. 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. This is also in fulfillment of those prophecies that were made in Daniel 9, concerning the exact time that this would take place.

So the people were expecting when this was going to happen. That's one of the reasons why there are so many people there and ready to shout the praises of the one who comes into Jerusalem riding on a donkey's colt.

They think that this is the fulfillment of those things that have been prophesied about in the Old Testament. Indeed, they were correct on that front, but they thought that this was our King David who was coming in.

This is the emancipator who has been promised to us. This is the guy who is going to ascend the throne and he's going to make Israel a mighty superpower again. And we will overthrow even the Herods and the Romans.

And Israel would become an independent nation underneath nobody. And the rest of the nations of the earth would only be blessed if they blessed Israel. That's what the people are expecting. That's how they read the prophecies.

And they even proclaim the Psalms to him. That thing that they are saying, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. That's from Psalm 118. We bless you from the house of God. The Lord is God and he has made his light to shine upon us.

Bind the festal sacrifice with cords up to the horns of the altar. This was all happening at the time of the feast. At the time of the Passover. And this is why it said there right at the start of the triumphal entry that when Jesus had said these things he went on ahead going up to Jerusalem.

So he's meaning to come to Jerusalem at a specific time in fulfillment of those things that have been prophesied beforehand. Now again in verse 28 where it says,. After he said these things, that's the parable that we had read about last week.

The parable of the ten minas that we have in verses 11 to 27. And remember that Jesus told his disciples that parable because they assumed, as Luke records in Luke 19 .11, they assumed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately.

Jesus is coming into Jerusalem. And we believe he's the guy. This is why we've been with him. He is our Messiah. He is going to set us free from the oppression of our oppressors. But Jesus tells them that parable to show them that the kingdom of God was not going to come immediately.

But in fact that after Jesus fulfilled the things that he was going to fulfill going into Jerusalem, which he had already talked about, Luke records it three times of Jesus saying to them that he was going to go to Jerusalem and he was going to be persecuted and even killed, but he would rise again on the third day.

But they were too confused about this to ask him any further questions about it. So he's already told them about this. And then with this parable, he illustrates to them that the master would eventually leave.

So he's going to fulfill everything that he was meant to fulfill there for this week that he is in Jerusalem. This is, you know, we typically think of the triumphal entry happening on Sunday. Some would argue Monday, but then he rises from the dead on Sunday.

So in this span of a week, Jesus fulfills these things, all that had been prophesied about him. This is that week that is commonly referred to as the passion of the Christ because this is what he lived for.

This is what he came for, and he is fulfilling it all here. The Gospel of Luke has been recording most of this journey from when Jesus set his face to go toward Jerusalem, we read about in chapter 9, and now up to this point he enters Jerusalem.

So Luke focuses on Jesus going there, and then what we have in the rest of the Gospel of Luke is everything that he is going to do there. So the middle part of chapter 19 through chapter 24, when he rises from the dead, appears to his disciples, and will ascend into heaven.

Luke is the first of the four Gospels to record Jesus ascending into heaven. So we'll get to that as well. But Jesus doing all that the Father had sent him to do and telling his disciples that he was yet going to go away again.

And when he came back again, that's when he would settle accounts with his servants and bring into judgment all those who would not follow him. We also read the account of Jesus and Zacchaeus in Jericho in verses 1 through 10.

So after that event, and then the parable of the ten minas, after he had said these things, he goes on up ahead, and it says going up to Jerusalem. And remember I said that Jericho was about 3 ,000 feet in elevation lower than Jerusalem.

The two cities are spread apart by about 16 to 18 miles. So that's a steep climb in just a short stretch of distance. So they are ascending up the road from Jericho to Jerusalem. And, of course, the temple is on top of the mount there in Jerusalem.

The temple was a high place. This is why you have the Psalms of ascents in the Psalms. These are the Psalms that the children of Israel would sing as they went up to the place of sacrifice. And so here Jesus is literally making a climb from Jericho up to Jerusalem.

He is going up to the place of sacrifice. But, of course, the sacrifice is going to be not the lamb. That's what the disciples are expecting. We're going to go up and eat the sacrifice. Jesus is going up to the place of sacrifice to sacrifice himself.

He draws near to Bethphage and Bethany, which are on the eastern side of Jerusalem. In fact, as often said, Jesus was probably staying in Bethany at the time that he's going back and forth between Bethany and Jerusalem, teaching in the temple those days before he is eventually arrested and put to death.

Bethany was on the other side of the Mount of Olives. So on those days that Jesus would go into Jerusalem, he would go over the Mount of Olives into Jerusalem, teach, and then he would come back to Bethany before sundown.

So it says that he's at the Mount that is called Olivet. And he sent the two disciples, two of his disciples, saying, Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied on which no one has ever yet sat.

Untie it and bring it here. And if anyone asks you, why are you untying it? You shall say the Lord has need of it. So Jesus even showing his role as a prophet here. He knows the colt is there. He's sending the disciples to get it, a specific colt that no one's ever sat on.

And when somebody asks him, Hey, what are you doing? They're just simply to say that the Lord has need of it, and that will be enough. And so they found it just as he had told them. And as they were untying the colt, its owner said, Why are you untying the colt?

And they said, The Lord has need of it. And they brought it to Jesus. And throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. Now, this is a little more illustrated in the Gospel of John.

But this procession started on the Mount of Olives. It's kind of suggested here in the Gospel of Luke. It's more clearly stated in John's Gospel. But it starts on the Mount of Olives. And the people are singing his praises and throwing down palm branches and cloaks from the Mount of Olives all the way into Jerusalem.

Now, Matthew records that as they're going through Jerusalem, there are people that are even confused about who this is and what's going on. And so it has to be said, Well, this is Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth.

So like some people are going, Who is this guy? And why are people making all this commotion? This is Jesus of Nazareth. And then that sends the Pharisees in a tizzy. Oh, he's finally come. We've been hearing about him all over the place.

And now he's finally come to Jerusalem. The Pharisees at one point, this was also in Luke's Gospel, tried to discourage Jesus from coming to Jerusalem by saying, Hey, Herod wants to kill you. And Jesus responds by saying, Oh, go and tell that fox.

No, I'm coming. So here he is finally in Jerusalem. And the people singing his praises. And again, this procession starts up on the Mount of Olives. So typically the way that the triumphal entry is depicted is that it's like a parade, like the parades we're used to seeing in America.

We know that there's going to be a parade and floats are going to be going by. So you kind of camp up on a certain space on the street. You'll set your chairs. You've got your spot. And then as the floats go by, you ooh and ah, right?

So that's often the picture that we have of the triumphal entry. You'll see it depicted that way and TV shows and movies and things like that. But the crowd moved with Jesus. And as Jesus is coming down the Mount of Olives with the donkey, there are people in front who will lay down their cloaks.

Jesus will go by. They will pick them up and then run around to the other side and lay them down again. So that as the donkey is proceeding, it is never touching the ground. And this was a reverent gesture that the people are making, as if to say that the ground that he is walking on is holy.

He should not be touching the ground. And so we're laying our cloaks down so that he will not touch the ground. And so this is the picture of Jesus coming into Jerusalem on this donkey's cult, which is a symbol of peace.

It is also a symbol of royalty. When Solomon, David's son, was crowned king, he was given David's donkey. And he rides into Jerusalem with the shouts of the people proclaiming his praises and declaring that he is the next king.

And so this is what is being done with Jesus. The people believing him to be the king that Luke even records in 1938. Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest.

And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, this is verse 39, Teacher, rebuke your disciples. And he answered, I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out. Remember that John the Baptist said, back in Luke chapter 3, that God can raise up children for Abraham even from these stones.

So you have the same sort of metaphor that's going on here. God will fulfill his purposes no matter what, even if he has to raise up praises from the rocks themselves. But Jesus, the son of God, has come in fulfillment of the scriptures.

And the scriptures will be fulfilled. There's no stopping it. God, in his sovereignty, has ordained these things, and so they have come to pass. Now, it's in God's sovereignty or recognizing God's sovereignty that we even read the next portion.

Jesus Weeps Over Jerusalem and Warns of Judgment

The interesting thing about this portion is it appears as if it happens before what we just read in verses 28 to 40. So as far as the chronology of events go, you would actually put Jesus weeping over Jerusalem before his coming into Jerusalem.

Because consider what Luke says in Luke 19 .41. When he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace. Now, Matthew records Jesus weeping over Jerusalem, his lament over Jerusalem, he puts it after the seven woes.

So this is when Jesus ultimately leaves Jerusalem and doesn't come back in again until he is arrested and brought in for trial. So after teaching in the temple and he issues the woes against the Pharisees, that's in Matthew 23, he leaves and the lament over Jerusalem is at the close of Matthew 23, verses 37 to 39.

And then at the start of 24 is when the disciples come to him and say, When will all these things be? This is regarding to Jesus' statement about the temple stones being thrown down and not one would be left on top of one another.

When will these things come to pass and what will be the sign of your coming in the end of the age? That's the question that they ask of him. So they record Jesus' lament over Jerusalem after he's left Jerusalem a couple of days after the events that we're reading about here in Luke 19.

Now it's possible that he lamented over Jerusalem more than once. That's entirely plausible. But this one here with Jesus weeping over Jerusalem, though it comes after the triumphal entry, it appears to be before.

So when Jesus drew near and saw the city. So this is when he is ascending up from Jericho and he's coming to Jerusalem. So when you look back at verse 28, it says, When he had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.

And when he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany at the mount that is called Olivet. So Luke is telling this account in a way that's like, here's what's happening. Here's what's going to happen as he goes into Jerusalem.

But before that happens, this happens. And then he kind of flashes back to Jesus standing there looking at the city and he weeps. And he says, Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace.

So he's not weeping after the fact that those things have happened, but knowing that he's going to go in and the people are going to proclaim his praises. But what they are wanting is not who he really is.

They are wanting a descendant of David to ascend to the throne. That's who Jesus is, just not the way that they want to get it. Jesus is the son of God who came to die to offer himself as a sacrifice, the lamb who takes away the sin of the world, as John the Baptist would say.

And in shedding his blood for our sins becomes that atoning sacrifice so that whoever believes in him will not perish under the judgment of God, but have everlasting life. That's not what the people are expecting.

That's not what they want. They want international rule. They don't want this hidden spiritual kingdom stuff. They don't even think that they need a sacrifice to forgive them of their sins. We have a sacrifice.

It's this lamb that we're sacrificing this week during the Passover. Not knowing that, as said in the book of Hebrews, the blood of bulls and goats never had the ability to forgive sins anyway. These were all types and shadows of the one who is to come.

Jesus is that one who comes and fulfills these things, but the people don't know who he is. But now they are hidden from your eyes, he says. For the days will come upon you when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and him you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another in you because you did not know the time of your visitation.

And this is Jesus talking about the destruction that's going to come against Jerusalem at the hands of the Romans. God's judgment upon them at the hands of the Romans because they did not know Jesus when he came.

Now the same thing is being said to us, my friends. We have an opportunity now to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins. As Paul says to the Corinthians, today is the day of salvation.

You have today to turn from your sin to the Lord Jesus Christ before judgment comes. Or do you not know the one who has come to you at the time of your visitation? We all have a day of visitation. In the way that God will reveal himself to us in some way, that we would turn from our sin to the Lord Jesus Christ and live.

But should a person not do that, then they will be destroyed on that day of judgment. There is an opportunity that is happening in our culture right now, a real move that is taking place because of the assassination of a very influential figure, a man who said that he stood on his faith and wanted to be remembered for his faith and shared his faith fervently in the public square, telling people to turn from their sin to the Lord Jesus Christ.

And only by faith in Jesus Christ can you be forgiven your sin, and you will have everlasting life with God. You will be spared from judgment even in eternity in hell, and you will live forever with God in glory.

That man was Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated last week. As he was proclaiming the truth, he was shot dead by an assassin. This has stirred the hearts of the public conscience, and they're looking for answers in ways that they weren't looking before.

And so as people are searching, their minds are open to just how bad things are out there. We need some kind of guidance. We need a solution to all of this evil that is in the world, and that's where we have the opportunity to share the gospel.

Every once in a while, opportunities like this come along. It would be wise for us to take those opportunities, and we would share the gospel with somebody else so that they, too, can come to faith in Jesus Christ and live.

There may be other opportunities, something on a more personal level that happens with a friend in your life or a relative or something like that. Somebody dies or some earth-shattering event takes place in their lives, and they're wondering, surely there is more to life than this.

And that's an open door for you to be able to say, I do have a solution to this thing that you are asking about, and the solution is Jesus. In this world, we will have trouble, as Jesus even said to his disciples, but take heart, for I have overcome the world.

Trust in Jesus, even in times like this. Share the gospel of Jesus Christ with others, for it is only the power of the gospel that has the power to save. Heavenly Father, we thank you for what we have read here with regards to Jesus' entry into Jerusalem, fulfilling those things that had been spoken about in the scriptures, that he might be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

He who died, rose again from the dead, ascended into heaven, is seated at the right hand of God, is coming back again to judge the living and the dead, only by faith in him are we forgiven our sins and have everlasting life.

May we know that truth and be bold and courageous to share it with others, no matter the times, no matter the days in which we live. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

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