In Joy and in Sorrow Luke 19:28-42 A Sermon Preached by Ernest Thompson First Presbyterian Church Wilmington, NC March 29, 2015 After he had said this, Jesus went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, saying, Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, Why are you untying it? just say this, The Lord needs it. So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, Why are you untying the colt? They said, The Lord needs it. Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power 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 heaven! Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, Teacher, order your disciples to stop. Jesus answered, I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out. As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.
When Elaine and I were married 27 years ago, we promised to, Help and comfort each other, living faithfully together In plenty and in want, In joy and in sorrow, In sickness and in health, Throughout all our days. In our 27 years together we ve experienced a little bit of all of those things. We ve experienced lots of joy and certainly some sorrow, sickness and health, mostly plenty, and no real want. And you don t really get to choose they all come together as a package deal. 2 As I read and pondered our Scripture lesson for this week, I was reminded of that phrase from the marriage ceremony, In joy and in sorrow. As Jesus approaches Jerusalem we see his disciples joy. They begin to recognize more and more who Jesus is and what Jesus has come to do. And so they begin to shout and to celebrate. But we also see in our lesson Jesus sorrow. There are only two places in Scripture where we are told that Jesus wept at the grave of his friend Lazarus, and here on the Mount of Olive as Jesus looks at the city of Jerusalem. In his letter to the Romans, Paul tells us to rejoice with those who rejoice, and to weep with those who weep. That is what it means to be a church family, we rejoice with those who rejoice, and we weep with those who weep. And it s a part of marriage we rejoice with each other and we weep with each other. I think it also applies to our relationship with Christ. As followers of Christ we share in his joy and we also share in his sorrow. 1. Our lesson starts with what seems like a simple geographical note which carries a much deeper meaning. Luke says, After he had said this, Jesus went on ahead of them, going up to Jerusalem. If a basketball fan says this week, My team is going to Indianapolis they are making something more than just a geographical observation. For a basketball team this time of year, going to Indianapolis means playing in the NCAA Championship game. And there will be some joy but also some sorrow there, by the players and by the fans. We are told that Jesus is going on ahead to Jerusalem, and that is more than just a geographical observation. Jerusalem is Jesus Indianapolis. Jesus is going to Jerusalem for a kind of final showdown with the powers of sin and evil and death. A month or so ago Elaine and I went to see the movie Selma. I have to confess that I did not know my history very well. I knew that there had been a march there, and that it was about civil rights.
But that s about all I knew. 3 The movie makes it clear that Selma was an intentional showdown. There was a pattern in Selma of not allowing blacks to register to vote. There was also a history of using violence to keep any protesters under control. And so some said that Martin Luther King should not go there, that it was too dangerous. But King argued that the only way to defeat the racism of that day was to expose it. And that s exactly what the marches did. The first march was called Bloody Sunday because the blacks and others who marched were brutally beaten, in ways that shocked the nation. It exposed the injustice and violence which was practiced there and eventually led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act. King was convinced that evil and injustice could not be ignored they had to be exposed and defeated. And so he went to Selma for this confrontation. Jerusalem is Jesus Selma. In Jerusalem Jesus will show that the temple has been turned into a place of where money changers make a profit from the pilgrims instead of the temple being a place of prayer. In Jerusalem Jesus will show that the Roman justice system was not just at all. He will show the depth of human sin, and how it infects not just individuals but also institutions. On the cross Jesus will expose sin and evil and violence for what they are. But Jesus will do more than just expose sin and evil in Jerusalem Jesus will also show the depth and power of God s love. In Jesus suffering and death on the cross we see what is always going on in the heart of God God is always bearing the cost of sin and evil. In Jesus resurrection we see that God s love is stronger than death, and by God s grace and power we can be resurrected to new life. I know it s just a simple statement, Jesus went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. But this simple statement points to this much larger promise. Jerusalem is where the final showdown will take place, and it is where Jesus will win his biggest victory. 2. The disciples don t yet understand all of this. But they understand enough to know something big is happening and so they begin to rejoice and celebrate. Jesus sends two disciples ahead to find a donkey which has never been ridden, and the disciples understand the significance of this.
They know the prophecy from Zechariah, the promise that the new king will come riding on a donkey. And so they know that Jesus is making a claim about his identity that he is the promised Messiah. They also know that Jesus is not just being drawn into a trap. They know that this journey to Jerusalem is part of a larger plan. And so the disciples begin to celebrate. They sing out one of the Psalms, Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven. It reminds us of the angels who sang at Jesus birth. Now as Jesus is approaching Jerusalem the song begins again. 4 The Pharisees try to get the disciples to be quiet. They may be worried that Roman spies will see this celebration and report that some Jewish rabbi is claiming to be king. If that word gets to Jerusalem, it would be bad news for Jesus and bad news for the Jews. Or they may be offended by Jesus symbolic claim to be the Messiah. They were already worried that Jesus was claiming too much authority for himself, and he was not following their version of the rules. But now Jesus is acting out Zechariah s prophecy. For whatever reason they go to Jesus and tell him to make his disciples be quiet. But Jesus says, If they are silent, the stones themselves would shout out. Telling the disciples to be quiet would be like telling basketball fans to be quiet after their team has unexpectedly made it to the sweet sixteen or after they ve won the championship game. Jesus says that his disciples can t keep quiet. And even if they did stay quiet, others would take up the song. There are some times where we just have to shout and celebrate. There are some times when we can t keep the joy we feel inside - we have to find some way to let it out. And Jesus says, this is one of those moments. They understand who I am. They know what my coming means. And so they have to celebrate. Jesus knows what will happen in Jerusalem, but still he says it is right for them to celebrate. He knows that joy is always at the center of discipleship. And so we as a church and we as Christians don t ever want to lose this sense of joy and celebration. It is a central part of what it means to be a follower of Christ and it s at the very heart of the Christian message. When we understand who Christ is, and what he has come to do, and when we experience his presence and power, we have to celebrate. In Christ s presence there is always fullness of joy. That doesn t mean that there is not also sorrow - we ll see that in the very next verse. But before the sorrow and after the sorrow there is always joy.
3. Our lesson ends with a surprise. While the disciples celebrate Jesus looks out over Jerusalem and he begins to weep. 5 Jesus is not worried about his own pain and suffering here he s worried about the pain and suffering of those who will be blind to his coming. He is weeping for those who will not join in the celebration. Jesus sees the city and begins to weep and says to the city he loves, If you had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace, but now they are hidden from your eyes. Peace is possible. Jesus comes to Jerusalem to offer forgiveness and reconciliation and new life. But most people will not see it. They will not recognize the things that make for peace. I m afraid that Jesus is still weeping, and too often we still don t recognize the things that make for peace. Jesus is still weeping over Jerusalem, as the Middle East turns more and more chaotic and violent. Jesus is still weeping in so many places around the world today, where warfare and hatred and violence are a way of life. Jesus is also weeping over our nation and our community and our lives as well. There is still so much sin and so much evil and so much violence, and so Jesus continues to weep. Paul says that we should rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. And so as followers of Christ we celebrate Christ s salvation and the peace and joy he brings. But we also join Christ in weeping for a world that does not recognize the things that make for peace. We cannot wash our hands of it. We cannot simply look for people to blame. We cannot say It s not my problem. If Jesus is weeping then we must be weeping too. Jesus does not stay on the Mount of Olives weeping over the city. He goes down and enters the city and begins working to bring peace. He starts by going into the temple and driving out the money changers, those who were taking advantage of pilgrims to make a profit. That doesn t sound very peaceful, but confronting injustice and exploitation is a first step towards true peace. Jesus teaches in the temple and tells the truth. That does not make him very popular, and the truth is still not very popular, but it is also the path that leads to true and lasting peace. Mostly Jesus works through self-sacrificial love. He exposes sin and then forgives it. He shows that evil can be overcome by good. He shows that life is finally stronger than death. And then Jesus calls us to follow him. He calls us to be willing to speak out against injustice and exploitation.
He calls us to speak the truth in love, even if it is not what people want to hear. He invites us to love sacrificially, to refuse to return evil for evil, and to join him in working for peace. 6 Jesus weeps over the city, and then he enters the city to work for peace. And he calls us to do the same. To be a follower of Christ means to begin a journey which will bring both joy and sorrow. There will be times to celebrate, times when the presence and power of Christ and what he is doing in us and in the world will fill us with shouts of joy. Joy will always be at the center of discipleship. But there will also be times to weep, times of deep sorrow as we see the suffering that sin and evil and death can cause. In these next seven days of Holy Week, we will seek to journey with Christ, sharing his sorrow, and sharing his joy. And we will renew our commitment to continue that journey with Christ, in plenty and in want, in joy and in sorrow, in sickness and in health, throughout all our days.