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Luke 19:28-44

The King of Glory

  • Matthew Dodd
  • Sunday Night Messages
  • April 14, 2019
  • Sermon Notes
  • Scripture

The King of Glory

Luke 19:28-44

Introduction

1. Today is Palm Sunday. This is the day the Christian Church remembers the Triumphal Entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem.
2. When I think of Palm Sunday, I think of two verses from Psalm 24…

Psalm 24:9-10, Lift up your heads, O gates, and lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in! Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory.

3. But five days later, Jesus was crucified.
4. What happened? How could Jesus be warmly received one moment and crucified less than a week later?
5. Tonight, we’re going to take a break from our study of Matthew’s Gospel to look at the account of the Triumphal Entry from the perspective of Dr. Luke.
6. In Luke 19:28-44, we will discover why the Jews did not recognize the time of their visitation and learn some valuable lessons so that we may let The King of Glory into our lives.

Luke 19:28-44

Context
1. What was the “climate” like in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus’ Triumphal Entry? In a word, “hostile”!
2. After Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, we’re told that while some Jews believed in Him, others didn’t and went to the Pharisees to tell them what Jesus had done.
3. Did the chief priests and Pharisees rejoice at the news? Were they ready to recognize Jesus as their long-awaited and hoped for Messiah? Not at all…

John 11:47-48, 57, Therefore the chief priests and the Pharisees convened a council, and were saying, “What are we doing? For this man is performing many signs. If we let Him go on like this, all men will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where He was, he should report it, that they might seize Him.

4. They were so hostile towards Jesus they even talked about killing Lazarus “because on account of him many of the Jews were going away, and were believing in Jesus” (John 12:11).
5. For a season, until the appointed time, Jesus no longer “walked publicly among the Jews, but went away from there to the country near the wilderness… and there He stayed with the disciples” (John 11:54).
6. But when we come to Luke 19, it’s time for the Passover.
7. Jesus went on ahead of His disciples and ascended to Jerusalem because it was the appointed time! (28)

Transition – Throughout His ministry, there were many signs which confirmed Jesus is the Messiah.
• Now it was the appointed time to present more prophetic signs which further confirmed He is Messiah. The signs also revealed the character of Jesus, the King of Glory.
• Though Luke did not quote Zechariah 9:9, Matthew and John did, directly linking the manner in which Jesus entered Jerusalem to Zechariah’s prophecy. It was a sign the Jews “should” have recognized!

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.

• From Zechariah 9, the Bible once again makes it clear that we do not pursue God, God pursues us!

I. Behold Your King is Coming to You (29-35)

A. He is just and endowed with salvation
1. How was Jesus “just” or “righteous”?
2. Jesus perfectly represented a holy God to fallen humanity through His life and ministry!

Hebrews 1:3, And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature

John 14:9, He who has seen Me has seen the Father

3. Jesus was righteous in word and deed. He overcame every temptation leveled against Him by Satan and was victorious!

Hebrews 4:15, For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.

4. So, Jesus was righteous and just, a confirmation that He was qualified to be Israel’s Messiah, their King.
5. How was Jesus endowed with salvation? What kind of salvation was He offering?
a. The Jews equated salvation with deliverance from their enemy, Rome!

Luke 19:11, … because He was near Jerusalem… they supposed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately.

b. But God’s plan targeted an enemy far worse than Rome, the enemy of our souls; our sin!

Genesis 3:15, And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.

c. John the Baptist’s testimony confirmed God’s plan to defeat sin through Jesus!

John 1:29, The next day he saw Jesus coming to him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
Transition – So Jesus’ life and mission perfectly fulfilled the first part of Zechariah 9:9. Why was a donkey part of the sign? Because there is another message in the sign…

B. He is humble
1. Prior to entering Jerusalem, Jesus stopped at Bethany, approximately two miles away from Jerusalem (John 11:18).
2. He directed two of His disciples to go to a nearby village to get a colt, on which no one had ever sat, and bring it to Him (30-31).
a. Matthew and John specify that the colt was a donkey. The colt’s mother was brought along to comfort the foal because it had never carried a rider (Matthew 21:2).
b. In that day, there was a custom called angaria whereby animals could be called into service for significant persons. That’s why Jesus directed the disciples to respond to anyone who asked that “the Lord has need of it” (33-34).
c. The disciples found it just as He said (32).
3. They brought the colt and its mother to Jesus. They placed their garments on the colt, like a saddle, and then placed Jesus on the colt.

APPL – When I think of an animal that is fit for the Messiah to ride, I think of a great white stallion, with rippling muscles, a flowing mane, exuding authority and strength, not a donkey! But this too was a sign!

APPL – The first mention of Messiah being linked to a donkey’s colt was by Jacob before he died. He declared that Messiah would come from the tribe of Judah, his fourth son.

Genesis 49:8, 10-11, Judah, your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down to you. The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between your feet, until Shiloh comes, and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. He ties his foal to the vine, and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine…

APPL – When there was a threat to David’s son, Solomon, becoming Israel’s next king, David had Solomon ride the king’s mule; a sign that he was the rightful heir to the throne.

1 Kings 1:33-34, And the king said to them, “Take with you the servants of your lord, and have my son Solomon ride on my own mule, and bring him down to Gihon. And let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there as king over Israel, and blow the trumpet and say, ‘Long live King Solomon!’”

APPL – What did the sign mean?

• If Jesus rode a war horse, it would signify that He did not come in peace but was ready to make war.
• But He, the Messiah, is humble and identified with the humble and lowly.
• He did not come to lord it over those He came to save like the Gentile leaders, nor load burdens on His people like the religious leaders of His day. Jesus came to be our Burden-Bearer.

Matthew 11:28-30, 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 SHALL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy, and My load is light.

Transition – So what was Jesus’ message? He is their Messiah, their King. What is the right response?

II. Let the King of Glory Come In (36-44)

A. The King of Glory offers us peace
1. Jesus began the climb of the Mount of Olives with people spreading their garments on the road; creating a “royal red carpet”, showing their allegiance and submission to Him (36).
2. As He reached the top of the Mount of OIives, the dynamic intensified as the crowd began to praise God for all the miracles they had witnessed through Jesus (37).

ILLUS – Going up to Jerusalem for the first time!

3. It hit a crescendo when the crowd sang Psalm 118; a Psalm reserved for Messiah!
“BLESSED IS THE KING WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” (38)
APPL – This was the first time that Jesus permitted people to praise Him openly! The people were publicly declaring that He is their long-awaited Messiah, Israel’s King! Though not all…

4. Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.” (39)
5. This was an official rejection of Jesus by the religious leaders. They were declaring that Jesus is not Israel’s Messiah.
6. Jesus answered, “I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!” (40)

APPL – Jesus’ words give us a window into the hearts of men. How hard can a man’s heart be? Creation recognizes the presence of its Creator and King, but man, in his stubbornness, is unwilling to do so!

7. Jesus wept over the city (41). This was not the watering of the eyes, with a few tears dropped. Jesus was wailing over the city of Jerusalem!
a. He came to offer peace to the “City of Peace”, for that’s what the name “Jerusalem” means!
b. Ironically and tragically, the leaders, who represented the city and the nation, rejected His offer of peace!
c. The blessing of His offer was hidden from their eyes because of the hardness of their hearts.

APPL – The truth is, if you want to have a hard heart, God will respect your wishes.

C. S. Lewis wrote in The Great Divorce, “There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.’”

• But that does not mean that He agrees or is pleased with your choice!
• God loves you and wants to bless your life!

Ezekiel 33:11, Say to them, “As I live!” declares the LORD God, “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?”

B. The King of Glory offers us freedom
1. It was for freedom that Jesus came!
a. To set us free from the penalty of our sin.
b. To set us free from the pain of a broken life.
c. To set us free from the pain of a fallen world.
2. But His offer was rejected, so Jerusalem would eventually feel the full weight of Rome’s wrath instead. (43-44)
a. This occurred in 70 A.D. under the Roman General Titus.
b. Rome destroyed Jerusalem, and even destroyed the Temple, leaving no stone on another.
3. Why? Because they did not recognize the King of Glory and time of their visitation! (44)
4. They should have known for through the prophet Daniel, God gave the timeline for the coming of Messiah into Jerusalem, down to the exact day!
Daniel 9:24-26, Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place. So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be 7 weeks and 62 weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat even in times of distress. Then after the 62 weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary.
a. 173,880 days by the Babylonian calendar.
b. Why did God do this? So Israel would know and not miss the King of Glory!

APPL – Like the birth of Jesus, they should have known!

APPL – It’s important to see the different responses to Jesus. In many ways, it’s similar to what we see today.
There were three groups of people represented in Luke 19.
• There were believers, many from Galilee, who declared Jesus is the Messiah!
• There were the religious leaders and those with them who rejected Jesus and wanted Him dead.
• There were still others who never heard of Jesus and wanted to know more…

APPL – The question is, where do you stand?

Conclusion

ILLUS – My wife is the best at finding great deals!

APPL – Here is Jesus’ offer. He died on the cross to pay the penalty of our sin so that we may have eternal life, peace with God, and all the freedom that comes with knowing Him. It is available to all, but terms and conditions do apply.
• You must receive this offer God’s way, by believing in your heart that Jesus is your Savior, by confessing your sins, and asking Jesus to be Your Savior.
• You must receive it before the deadline. When this life is over, it’s too late!

Romans 6:23, For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Will you open up the gate of your heart and let the King of Glory come into your life?

Luke 19:28-44 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
Triumphal Entry
28 After He had said these things, He was going on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.
29 When He approached Bethphage and Bethany, near the [a]mount that is called Olivet, He sent two of the disciples, 30 saying, “Go into the village ahead of you; there, as you enter, you will find a colt tied on which no one yet has ever sat; untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of it.’” 32 So those who were sent went away and found it just as He had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its [b]owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 They said, “The Lord has need of it.” 35 They brought it to Jesus, and they threw their coats on the colt and put Jesus on it. 36 As He was going, they were spreading their coats on the road. 37 As soon as He was approaching, near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God [c]joyfully with a loud voice for all the [d]miracles which they had seen, 38 shouting:
“Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord;
Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
39 Some of the Pharisees [e]in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.” 40 But Jesus answered, “I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!”
41 When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, 42 saying, “If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. 43 For the days will come upon you [f]when your enemies will throw up a [g]barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, 44 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.”

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