Luke 19:28-44 Palm Sunday Parkdale Grace Fellowship Sunday AM, April 13, 2014 Palm Sunday is the name given to commemorate the event that we have described for us in our text this morning. It commemorates the day in history when Jesus Christ presented Himself to Israel as their Messiah, their King, making a triumphal entrance into Jerusalem riding on a donkey, in fulfillment of some of the most specific prophecies in the Bible. This triumphal entry as a King took place on Sunday, just five days before Jesus crucifixion. Both the triumphal entry as King and the crucifixion as the sacrificial Lamb of God were the plan of God and both were prophesied in advance. Many were prepared to hail Jesus as deliverer from their enemies, but few were prepared to accept Him as the sacrifice for their sin or as the Lord of their life. The same is still true today many want a God who will take away their problems, but they do not want to confess their need of a Savior to save them from their sin or to yield their will to a Lord who demands the surrender of our lives. We are spending some time this morning looking at this passage in order to help prepare our hearts for Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday. We need to recognize that the one who died on the cross for our sin and who rose again on the third day was the King of the universe, the King above all kings and the Lord above all lords. The religious authorities who hated Jesus opposed Him because He pointed out their sin and because He challenged their authority. They were actively seeking for a way to catch Jesus and put Him to death. In the past their many repeated attempts to catch Him have failed because it was not yet Jesus time to be offered up as a sacrifice for the sin of the world. It was prophesied in the Old Testament that Jesus would die as a Passover Lamb. In God s plan His death had to take place at the Passover. The religious leaders wanted to kill Jesus but they very specifically did NOT want this to happen during the Passover. Mark 14:1 2, "After two days it was the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take Him by trickery and put Him to death. 2 But they said, Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar of the people. " But our God is Sovereign His will, meaning His plan and His purpose, would be accomplished and it is always fulfilled exactly in God s perfect timing. That is still true today there is nothing that can hinder, frustrate or change the plan and the will of our Sovereign God. So now as the appointed time for Jesus death, the Passover, draws near Jesus very publicly makes His way towards Jerusalem. He has repeatedly told His disciples that He was going there to die. Matthew 20:18 19, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, 19 and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again." Jesus death on the cross, which we will celebrate this Good Friday, was not a tragic mistake. It was the plan of God the Father to provide for the salvation of the church, so that we might enter into His eternal joy. Because Jesus loved us He was looking forward to the joy of setting us free from our bondage to sin and releasing us from our captivity in Satan s kingdom of darkness. And because His heart was set on bringing us to abundant life from out of spiritual emptiness and death, Jesus was willing to lay down His life as the ransom price for our salvation.
2 Luke 19:28 29, "When He had said this, He went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 And it came to pass, when He drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mountain called Olivet, that He sent two of His disciples," These two small villages were only about 3 km outside of Jerusalem. The one village called Bethany was the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus. Luke 19:30 34, " He sent two of His disciples," 30 saying, Go into the village opposite you, where as you enter you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Loose it and bring it here. 31 And if anyone asks you, Why are you loosing it? thus you shall say to him, Because the Lord has need of it. 32 So those who were sent went their way and found it just as He had said to them. 33 But as they were loosing the colt, the owners of it said to them, Why are you loosing the colt? 34 And they said, The Lord has need of him. " Notice that with great detail Jesus told them exactly where to go, what they would find, what to do, how people would react and what they were to say in response. The two disciples obeyed and found everything exactly as Jesus said they would. He had given them all they needed to know to successfully carry out their mission. And like these two disciples, we too are often directed by the Spirit of the Lord into assignments. God s word never fails. We can trust what the Lord says to us and we can follow His direction for our lives with confidence that it will work out as He says and that He will provide for us all that we need to succeed. Luke 19:35 36, "Then they brought him to Jesus. And they threw their own clothes on the colt, and they set Jesus on him. 36 And as He went, many spread their clothes on the road." About 500 years earlier the prophet Zechariah made this prophecy about the Messiah who would come as Israel s King: Zechariah 9:9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey. This prophesied that their King, the Messiah would first present Himself to them as a very humble man, riding on a donkey more specifically on a young colt. You can t just hop on and ride a young donkey that s never been ridden before or you will have a wild rodeo. Very often, in order to carry out the will of God, you are going to be required by God to step out in faith and obey Him with something that looks impossible, or foolish to you. He may require you to proceed on a venture with no money; or He may call you to go where it is dangerous; or He may call you to take on something you are not naturally able to do. Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit in front of a large crowd of onlookers, to get onto an unbroken, frisky young donkey and ride it through the crowd into Jerusalem. As Jesus obeyed the Spirit of God enabled the will of God to be done He supernaturally tamed this unbroken young donkey so that Jesus could ride it. Immediately some of Jesus followers recognized the prophesied significance of Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a young donkey and they took off their cloaks and laid them down on the road in front of Jesus. To lay down your garment before someone else allowing them to walk on it was
3 like rolling out the red carpet for someone very important this was a great expression of honor that was usually reserved for kings. It was also a demonstration of your subjection to the authority of the king. Through their words and actions these disciples were declaring their allegiance to Jesus as their King. John s gospel record of this event informs us that not only did the people cover the road before Jesus with their coats but the people also cut palm branches, waving them and then lying them down on the road for Jesus to pass over. This is where we get the name, Palm Sunday. Luke 19:37, "Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen," Many of those in the crowd had seen the mighty miracles Jesus had been performing for the past three years. Combining their knowledge of His miraculous power with the sight of Him riding publicly into Jerusalem on a young donkey in fulfillment of prophecy, was enough to send the hopes of the multitude soaring. Jesus had made a name for himself as the worker of miracles. He had healed leprosy with a touch; He had made the blind see and the deaf hear and the lame walk; He had commanded the unclean spirits and they obeyed Him; He had stilled storms and walked on water and turned five loaves and two fish into a meal for thousands. He had even raised the dead to life again with a simple word from His mouth. So as He entered Jerusalem, they knew nothing could stop Him. He could just speak and Pilate would perish; the Romans would be scattered. He was sovereign. (John Piper) And the crowd began shouting and singing a well-known line from Psalm 118 which was a song of praise for the Messiah: Luke 19:38, "saying: Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest! " They were calling Jesus the King who comes in the name of the Lord the Messiah. This was the very loftiest declaration in which He could be saluted as the promised Messiah, the King who comes in the name of the Lord. In the past Jesus avoided situations in which the multitudes had tried to make him King, but not this time. In fact this time Jesus had set Himself up to be hailed as King. He knew that once the multitude cried out to Him and once He received their praise, His enemies had to either coronate Him King or crucify Him as a criminal. Thus, He s forcing their hand. Luke 19:39, "And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, Teacher, rebuke Your disciples. " There were three different responses to Jesus that day: There was the group of disciples who were genuinely devoted followers and truly believed that Jesus was the Messiah. Then there was another group of people who aggressively opposed Jesus. These included the Pharisees, who were some of the Jewish religious leaders. They were jealous of Jesus popularity, and they saw Him as a threat to their own position of power and influence. And there was the larger multitude of thousands the majority of the people, who were neither devout followers nor genuinely
4 convinced believers, but while Jesus was popular they wanted to get in on a good thing. This group was fickle and in a few days would switch sides and call for Jesus crucifixion. Luke 19:40, "But He answered and said to them, I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out. " Up until this day Jesus had not allowed any public declaration of Himself as the Messiah He had never before presented Himself to Israel as their King. He had revealed it to some individuals privately, but He d often tell the people not to say anything about it to anyone. But on Palm Sunday, Jesus encouraged this public parade and open declaration of Himself as Israel s King and their Lord. There was something very significant about this particular day it was the appointed, prophesied, foreordained day on which God had planned to present Jesus to Israel as their Messiah who had come to save them from their sins by dying for them on a cross. But then He would rise again and rule over Israel and all the world as King of kings and Lord of lords. Israel and indeed all of creation had been looking forward with great expectation to this day and it should rightly be a day of great rejoicing. Jesus answer to the Pharisees was a rebuke, implying that the inanimate rocks are more spiritually sensitive and aware of what is going on than the Pharisees. But tragically the rejoicing of the crowds was not a heartfelt expression of faith for most they were only praising Him with their lips but their hearts were far from Him. And only those who truly believed from the heart would experience the salvation of the Lord. The Bible indicates that this will again be true in the last days before the second coming of Christ the majority of those who profess Jesus as Lord will do so with their lips only, but their hearts will be far from Him. Luke 19:41 42, "Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, 42 saying, If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes." Now Jesus has come over the top of the Mount of Olives and the city is spread out in full view before Him and He begins to weep. Not with still weeping as at the grave of Lazarus, but with a loud and deep lamentation. (Edersheim, quoted by Dwight Pentecost, p. 374) Jesus knew the hearts of the people; He knew that most of them did not really believe. Jesus knew that in just 5 days (Good Friday), the same crowd would be shouting, crucify Him, crucify Him. Jesus was not weeping because He had to die; He was not weeping because the people were wrecking God s plans. God s plans were proceeding in every detail exactly as He said it would. He was weeping out of compassionate love for the many people around Him whom He knew did not believe, they did not want to be saved from their sin, and because of their hard-hearted rejection of Him as their Master they were destined to everlasting separation from God in the torment of hell. This broke the Lord s heart and it still breaks His heart today. Notice verse 42, Jesus implies that especially in this your day, the people should have known that He was their King who had come to bring them peace. What was so special about this particular day? Close to the same time in history that Zechariah prophesied that the Christ would
5 come into Jerusalem riding on the foal of a donkey the prophet Daniel also made a very specific prophecy about the Messiah. Daniel 9:25, Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven sevens and sixty two sevens. This was a prophecy giving the exact date for the revealing of the Messiah to Israel. Seven sevens plus 62 sevens are referring to a total of 69 sevens of years. 69x7 = 483 years would pass from the time the command was given to restore and rebuild Jerusalem after the Babylonians had destroyed it, until the Messiah would be revealed to Israel. Daniel was in Babylon using a Babylonian calendar when he made the prophecy. (Converting this into a solar calendar we get 476 solar years, or 173,855 days). Historical records reveal that on about March 4 or 5, 444 BC, King Artaxerxes gave the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. 173,855 days later from March 5 bring you exactly to Palm Sunday, March 30, 33 AD, the day when Jesus fulfilled Zechariah s prophecy and rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, showing Himself to be the Christ. (Dwight Pentecost, citing Hoehner, in The Words and Works of Jesus Christ, p. 375) The religious leaders of Israel were aware of this prophecy and they of all people should have been expecting their Messiah to enter Jerusalem on a donkey on that very day, or at least during that very month. Look again at verse 42. If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes." Since that day, Israel as a nation and the Jews as a people, have not known peace, because the people of Israel (particularly her leaders) rejected their Messiah. There is hardly ever a day of the year when the news does not carry a story about trouble in Israel or persecution of Jews somewhere in the world. Jesus had come to bring peace to Israel, but Israel was about to reject her King the prince of Peace and nailed him to a cross. Jesus knew what lay ahead for Israel and He wept for her. Israel will never experience any lasting peace until Jesus returns a second time and the Bible prophesies that the next time that He comes Israel will recognize and accept Him as their King. Then Jesus went on to prophecy over the city of Jerusalem. This prophecy that Jesus makes in verse 43 and 44 was fulfilled exactly less than forty years later when in AD 70 the Romans under Titus, destroyed the city of Jerusalem, killing nearly one million Jews in the process. Luke 19:43 44, "For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, 44 and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation. " In many places the Bible assures us that Jesus is coming again, but on His second return He will not be riding humbly on a little donkey going to the cross. In His second return He is coming in power to judge the world. The Bible says in John 1:12, that As many as received [Jesus], to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name. We are all called upon to receive
6 Jesus Christ as our King, our Master and our God. Do you know in this your day, what will bring you peace with God? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. But if you continue to reject Him there is no hope. Discussion Questions 1. Luke 19:28-44. Jesus triumphal entry in to Jerusalem accompanied by the joyful praise of the people on Palm Sunday, just five days before His crucifixion, was to make it clear to Israel who it was that they would be crucifying their Messiah, the King of all kings and Son of God. a. What is it that could possibly change the public opinion of the people 180 degrees from popular support for Jesus on Sunday to total rejection and hatred of Him just four days later? What motivated and triggered the sudden opposition to the one who had been so wildly popular during most of His ministry? b. What can we learn from this about how quickly public opinion could change in our land toward the followers of Christ? What could cause such a change? 2. Read Luke 19:30-34 and identify as many similarities as you can find to the responsibility Jesus has given us in Matthew 28:19-20 and Mark 16:14-18, 20. a. What insights or lessons do you gain from making this comparison? b. How does this passage in Luke 19 encourage you regarding putting confidence in trusting and obeying any direction the Lord may give us today? 3. Read Luke 19:41-42. Jesus indicated that there was something very significant about that particular day. Part of the significance is that it was a very precise fulfilment of Daniel s prophecy in Daniel 9:25 giving the time Messiah the Prince would be revealed. The total of 69 sevens is 483 years based on the Babylonian Lunar calendar (which converts to 476 solar years, or 173,855 days). This is precisely the time, to the exact day, that lapsed between when King Artaxerxes gave Nehemiah the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem (March 5, 444 BC), and Palm Sunday when Jesus rode triumphantly into Jerusalem on a donkey (March 30, 33 AD), which was also a fulfilment of the Messianic prophecy made in Zechariah 9:9. a. Assuming that Israel s religious leaders were familiar with the significance of Daniel s prophecy and knew the date of the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, they therefore would have known at least the year, if not the month or even the day when the Messiah was to be revealed. How could they have known this and still reject Jesus when He fulfilled such a precise prophecy? b. If all the proof and evidence of miraculous power and fulfilled prophecy does not convince people to believe what does it take to cause a person to believe in Jesus? c. How should this affect our approach to evangelism? 4. Describe how you were challenged by some aspect of these scriptures and also describe what steps you need to take now in order to be obedient to what God has spoken to your heart.
7 Copyright 2014 by Parkdale Grace Fellowship Permission: You are permitted to reproduce and distribute this material in any format, provided that you do not alter the wording in any way and do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.