When the King Came Near

Intro

If you have your copy of God’s Word, go ahead and turn with me to Luke chapter 19. This morning we will be in verses 28–44. We will be taking a couple of weeks off from our Galatians series for Easter but don’t worry, we will pick up with Galatians chapter 3 after Easter Sunday.

Today is Palm Sunday. And what that means is that today marks the beginning of what the church has historically called Passion Week.

This is the week where we remember the final days of Jesus’ earthly ministry—His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, His betrayal, His crucifixion, and ultimately His resurrection on Easter Sunday.

Church, this is not just another week on the calendar. This is the most important week in all of human history.

Because everything we believe as Christians rises or falls on what happened this week two thousand years ago.

If there is no cross—there is no forgiveness of sin. If there is no resurrection—there is no hope for our resurrection.

Passion Week and the events that took place 2000 years ago change everything.

There are people all around us that celebrate the Easter season but they totally miss the meaning behind Easter.

Instead, it is a time to spend with family. To hunt eggs To eat good food.

And all of those things are good but they are not the point of the Easter season.

And as we will see in today’s text, that isn’t just an issue today.

The people present in Jerusalem during this week also missed the point.

Have you ever miss something that was right in front of you?

Like looking for your phone… while it’s in your hand… or searching for your keys… and they’ve been in your pocket the whole time?

It was there… the whole time… you just didn’t see it.

That’s frustrating when it’s your keys…

It’s devastating when it’s Christ.

And that’s exactly what happens in this passage.

When all of this was happening in real time— when Jesus entered Jerusalem… when the crowds were shouting and celebrating… when prophecy was being clearly fulfilled in front of them…

the people who were there… missed what was really going on.

They had front row seats to the most important moment in history… and they didn’t see it clearly.

And Jesus tells us exactly why.

If you are in Luke 19, just look at what Jesus says at the end of verse 44:

He says, “…because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

That word “visitation” means that God had come near. He was in the flesh with a real body. Walking among people.

It was not from a distance. It was not just in theory.

But personally… historically… right there in front of them.

The King had come. The Messiah was there. Salvation itself had entered the city.

…and they didn’t recognize Him.

They saw Him—but didn’t understand Him. They praised Him—but they didn’t receive Him for who He truly was.

And because they missed their visitation… judgment followed.

Church, here’s what I want us to see this morning from this passage:

When the King comes near, you must see Him clearly.

Because Christ came the first time in mercy… but He will come again in judgment.

So the question we have to ask is this:

Will we recognize Him for who He truly is… or will we misunderstand Him… like they did?

This morning we will have four points from Luke chapter 19. I know in your handout you just have three points so when we get to point four, you will just have to write that one in.

The first point, I want us to see is this,

The Visitation of Mercy (vv. 28–36)

Let’s begin reading in verse 28,

Luke 19:28 ESV

And when he had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.

Luke 19:29 ESV

When he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples,

Luke 19:30 ESV

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.

Luke 19:31 ESV

If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’ ”

Luke 19:32 ESV

So those who were sent went away and found it just as he had told them.

Luke 19:33 ESV

And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?”

Luke 19:34 ESV

And they said, “The Lord has need of it.”

Luke 19:35 ESV

And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it.

So Jesus finishes teaching in Jericho in the first half of chapter 19. He had just spent time with Zacchaeus in his home—showing us that He came to seek and to save the lost.

But now it was time to head to Jerusalem for passover.

As they make their way up, they arrive at the Mount of Olives. And from there, they would have had a clear view overlooking the city of Jerusalem.

And what they would have seen was a city full of people.

Pilgrims from all over were making their way into Jerusalem to celebrate Passover.

The city is alive. There’s movement. There’s anticipation. There’s excitement in the air.

And right there, overlooking the city, Jesus stops… and He sends two of His disciples ahead with very specific instructions.

He tells them to go into the village and find a colt—a donkey—that has never been ridden.

And everything happens exactly as Jesus said it would.

Why a donkey

But why does Jesus need a donkey?

Jesus is doing something very intentional here.

He was very purposeful about needing a donkey.

Why?

Well, put your finger here in Luke 19 and turn back with me just a few books into the Old Testament—to Zechariah 9:9.

We’re gonna be flipping back and forth a little bit this morning but I think it is important that you see that the Bible is the best interpreter of the Bible.

So if you are in Zechariah, listen to what God speaks through the prophet over 550 years before Christ was born.

He says,

Zechariah 9:9 ESV

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.

Do you see what Jesus is doing?

He is showing Jerusalem exactly who He is.

And who is He?

He is the fulfillment of this prophecy from 550 years before he was even born.

Isn’t that amazing?

Zechariah shows us that He is the King. The righteous King.

The King who brings salvation.

And He comes—not on a war horse like a typical king would—but on a donkey.

Why?

Because this King did not come to make war. This is just like when Solomon rides into Jerusalem on a donkey in 1 Kings chapter 1.

When Kings were riding to war, they rode warhorses. But when they came in peace, they rode on a donkey.

Jesus came to bring peace. Jesus came to bring salvation.

And the donkey doesn’t just point to peace—it points to the humility of Jesus.

Have you ever really thought about the humility of Jesus? Just how low he made himself during the incarnation?

Go ahead and leave Zechariah, but keep your finger in Luke 19, and turn with me to Philippians chapter 2.

Philippians chapter 2.

And look down beginning in verse 5,

Philippians 2:5–8 ESV

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Do you see what Paul is saying?

Jesus is fully God—equal with the Father—

and yet He willingly stepped down.

He took on flesh. He took on weakness. He took on the form of a servant.

And He didn’t just humble Himself by becoming a man— He humbled Himself all the way to the cross.

That’s what this moment is pointing to.

This isn’t just a king entering a city— this is a King on His way to die.

He’s not riding in on a warhorse to take lives or to wage war against Rome— He’s riding in on a donkey to give His life.

Church, Jesus’ first coming was a visitation of mercy. And we are living in this time of mercy. A time when salvation can be found by sinners.

The King had come near…

not to condemn… but to save.

And if the crowds had understood that… everything would have been different.

But they didn’t.

They saw a King… but not the kind of King He came to be.

So yes, the crowds were singing and shouting. They were praising God and singing Hosanna while waving palm branches.

But there was a problem.

They didn’t understand the kind of salvation Jesus came to bring.

And this is the second point in your notes,

The Visitation Misunderstood (vv. 36–40)

Back in Luke 19.

Look at verse 36,

Luke 19:36 ESV

And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road.

Luke 19:37 ESV

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,

Luke 19:38 ESV

saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

Luke 19:39 ESV

And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.”

Luke 19:40 ESV

He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”

Yes, the crowds were praising Jesus—but their praise was misinformed.

John actually gives us a detail that helps us understand what’s going on here.

In John 12:13, it says:

“So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!’”

They were crying out, “Hosanna.”

That word literally means, “Save us now.” “Please save us.” “We beg you—save us.”

And they pair that with Psalm 118:26:

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

So don’t miss this—the crowd knows something significant is happening.

They recognize that this is Messianic.

They’re not completely wrong.

But they don’t fully understand what kind of salvation Jesus came to bring.

Because those palm branches they’re waving… they meant something.

Palm branches were symbols of victory. Symbols of national triumph.

And in their minds, they’re thinking back about 200 years to the time of the Maccabees.

When Judea was under attack by the Seleucid ruler Antiochus IV Epiphanes… and Judas Maccabeus—“the Hammer” as he was known—led a revolt and won independence for Israel.

That’s the kind of salvation they’re expecting.

A political deliverer. A military victory. Freedom from Rome.

They want a king who will overthrow their enemies…

and restore their nation.

But that’s not why Jesus came.

They didn’t want Jesus…

They wanted their circumstances to change.

Don’t we do that?

We want Jesus to fix what’s around us… but not necessarily what’s inside of us. Right?

We want Him to take away our problems… but not our sin.

We want Him to make life easier… but not to take over our lives.

We want what Jesus can do for us but not necessarily Jesus himself.

That’s exactly what the crowd was doing.

They were shouting “Hosanna”—“save us now!”— but they meant, “save us from Rome.”

And Jesus came to save them from something far greater.

He came to save them from their sin.

They were praising the right King… but for the wrong reasons.

And listen—misunderstanding Jesus is not neutral.

Because if you misunderstand Him… you will eventually reject Him.

Let me ask you this—what is the greatest news that you could possibly hear right now?

Is it that you got a promotion at work? Is it that your financial situation suddenly changed? Is it that your health improved… or your problems disappeared?

All of those things might make your life better… for a moment.

But none of those things deal with your greatest problem.

Your greatest problem is not what’s happening around you—it’s what’s happening inside of you. Your sin.

And the greatest news you could ever hear…

is not that your circumstances have changed— but that your sins can be forgiven.

That you can be reconciled to God.

That you can have peace—not with Rome…but with God Himself.

That’s why Jesus came.

Not to make your life easier—

but to save your soul and to make you a child of God.

And the crowds didn’t get it.

And Jesus knew it.

He knew they didn’t understand… and it broke His heart.

Because while the crowd is celebrating… Jesus is weeping.

And this is the third thing in your notes,

The Visitation Rejected (vv. 41–44)

Verse 41,

Luke 19:41 ESV

And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it,

Luke 19:42 ESV

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.

The shouting fades into the background and Jesus looks over the city…

Slow

…and He weeps.

Pause

Think about that.

Pause

The King is being praised… and He is weeping.

The Greek word used here for weeping is κλαίω (Klaio). It means that he wan’t just crying but he was wailing. It is a word for crying that emphasizes the noise you make when you are grieving.

It’s different from the word used in John 11 (δακρύω) when Jesus weeps over the death of his friend Lazarus. That word just means that he shed tears.

Why was Jesus so upset?

What was he grieving?

It is because they missed it.

He says,

“Would that you… had known the things that make for peace…”

They wanted peace from Rome… but rejected peace with God.

They wanted salvation… but not the kind Jesus came to bring.

And Jesus sees all of it.

He sees the celebration… He sees the misunderstanding… He sees what’s coming…

And it breaks His heart.

Church, don’t miss this—

Jesus is not cold toward sinners. He doesn’t look down on the poor in spirit.

He doesn’t look at this city with anger first— He looks at it through tears.

He weeps over people who are blind to their own need.

He weeps over people who think they’re fine… while judgment is right around the corner.

He weeps… because they are missing the very thing that would bring them peace.

Pause

Slow

That is how we need to be.

When was the last time you wept over the lost souls around you? When was the last time you felt the weight of someone’s eternity?

When was the last time you looked at someone—not just as a coworker, or a neighbor, or a friend— but as a soul that will either be with Christ… or separated from Him forever?

Spurgeon said,

“Do you believe that souls are perishing? If you do, you will not be long without weeping over them.”

Church, the problem is not that we don’t know lost people…

The problem is that we don’t always see them the way Jesus does.

Because when Jesus looked over Jerusalem…

He didn’t just see a city—

He saw souls… …and He wept.

And there are people all around us—right now— who are missing the visitation of mercy.

Christ has come near.

Salvation is available to all who will repent and believe.

But if they do not see Him for who he is… if they do not respond…

Slow

they will miss Him.

And here’s the reality— we cannot use our personalities as an excuse for not caring about the lost.

If Christ is in you…

He will begin to shape your heart to feel what He feels.

To see people the way He sees them.

To care about souls the way He does.

And the reason He is weeping is because He knows what is coming.

Because they rejected Him…

judgment was coming.

Verse 43,

Luke 19:43 ESV

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

Luke 19:44 ESV

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 Jesus is not speaking vaguely here—

He is predicting a real moment in history.

About 40 years later in AD70, Jerusalem would be surrounded by Roman armies, destroyed, and the temple torn down—just as He said.

Why?

“Because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

God came near…

and they missed Him.

And don’t miss this—

this wasn’t just a tragedy… it was judgment.

Judgment for rejecting their King.

Judgment for missing the mercy that was right in front of them.

Slow

And that moment in history is a warning to us.

Because when God comes near…

and He is rejected…

judgment follows.

Not just then…

but later when Christ comes the second time.

And that leads us to our final point,

And that point is this,

The Visitation You Cannot Miss

Here’s the reality— the first time Jesus came, the crowds misunderstood who He was.

But people today still miss who He is.

No one really denies that Jesus existed anymore.

Even the most skeptical scholars will affirm that Jesus Christ was a real historical person.

But what people do with Him… is where the problem is.

Some say He was a great moral teacher.

But not God.

Not the Messiah.

Not the One who takes away sin.

And certainly not risen from the dead.

Have you ever heard what C. S. Lewis said?

He pointed out that you can’t just call Jesus a good teacher.

Because of what Jesus claimed about Himself—

He is either telling the truth… or He is not.

Which means He is either Lord… or He is a liar… or He is a lunatic.

But He cannot simply be a good man.

You don’t get to misunderstand Jesus safely.

You have to decide who He is.

And listen—every single person will make that decision.

Either now… or later.

And as followers of Christ, we believe that He is not only the One who came… but the One who is coming again.

But when He comes again… it will not be like the first time.

The first time, He came in humility.

Riding on a donkey.

Offering peace.

But when He comes again…

Revelation 19 tells us He will come riding on a white horse.

Not in humility— but in glory.

Not to offer peace— but to bring judgment.

Not to be rejected— but to rule.

Do you remember when we read out of Philippians chapter 2 when we were talking about the humility of Christ?

Listen to the rest of what the Apostle Paul writes:

Philippians 2:8 —

“And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

Verse 9—

“Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,”

Verse 10—

“so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,”

Paul says that every knee will bow.

Every tongue will confess.

What this tells us is that the second coming will be unmistakable.

No one will be able to misunderstand it.

Revelation 1:7 says

“Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him…”

The first time Jesus came—

He came in humility.

Riding on a donkey.

Weeping over sinners.

Offering peace.

But the next time He comes… it will not be like this.

He will not come riding on a donkey— He will come in glory.

He will not come weeping— He will come judging.

He will not come to offer peace— He will come to establish His kingdom forever.

And on that day… no one will miss it.

J.C. Ryle said,

“Christ came once in humility to save; He will come again in glory to judge. Let us take heed that we do not refuse Him in the day of His mercy.”

And church, this means something for us.

It means that right now— we are living in a time of mercy.

Right now is the time of visitation.

Right now is the time when Christ is offered freely in the gospel.

But that time will not last forever.

Because there are people all around us—

in our neighborhoods… in our communities… in our workplaces… in our schools…

People going through the lines at our food drive… people receiving help at our clothing drive… people who misunderstand Christ’s first coming.

But they will not misunderstand His second.

And that’s why what we do now matters.

That’s why we speak. That’s why we share the gospel. That’s why we don’t stay silent.

Because there is a day coming… when it will be too late.

This reality should move all of us to weep for the lost around us.

Slow

Just like Jesus wept.

As we conclude this time. I want to leave you with five key takeaways from this text:

Key takeaways

See Jesus for Who He Truly Is

Don’t settle for a version of Jesus that fits your expectations.

Remember, the crowds saw a king… but not the kind of king he truly is.

And we can do the same thing.

We can reshape Jesus into someone who makes us comfortable… someone who affirms us… someone who just fixes our problems.

But Jesus is not who we want him to be. He is he we need him to be as he was revealed in Scripture.

He is Lord.

He is Savior.

And he calls for our full surrender as his disciples.

The second key takeaway is this,

Don’t Confuse Proximity with Faith

The crowds were close to Jesus… but they didn’t truly know him… they didn’t understand who he was.

They saw him They heard him they even praised him.

But they still missed him.

And it is possible to be in church every week… to sing ever song… to hear the sermons… and still not truly belong to him.

Don’t confuse being around Jesus with actually knowing him.

The next key takeaway is this,

Ask God for a Heart That Weeps

Jesus looked at a city full of people… and he wept.

Not because they were annoying or difficult.

But because they were lost.

And if Christ is in you… He will begin to shape your heart to feel what he feels.

To see people not kust as neighbors or coworkers…. but as souls in need of Christ.

Souls that will either be with Christ forever… or separated from him forever.

The fourth takeaway is this,

Live with Urgency Toward the Lost

There are people all around you.... who are missing the visitation of mercy.

And they don’t need a better life— they need Christ.

We have to remember that this church-thing… Christianity… is not a game. This is eternity.

Real souls are in danger of eternal judgement.

And God placed you where you are… with a purpose… a mission.

So be bold and speak. Share the gospel. Don’t stay silent and hope that someone else will share with them.

Because there is a day coming when it will be too late.

And the last takeaway from this text is this,

Remember—Christ Is Coming Again

The first time Jesus came… many misunderstood him.

But the next time he comes… no one will.

Every knee will bow Every tongue will confess Every eye will see him.

And on that day, there will be no confusion…

Only reality.

So live now…

Slow

In light of that day.

Let’s stand and pray about it.

Response

As we transition now to our time of response, let me ask you something—If you are not yet a disciple of Jesus…

Jerusalem missed their moment.

The question I want to ask you is—will you?

Christ has come near to you.

You’ve heard the gospel that we celebrate every Easter season.

You’ve heard that you are a sinner… and because God is perfectly holy… you stand guilty before Him.

But you’ve also heard that Jesus Christ came— lived the life you could not live… died the death you deserved… and rose again in victory.

You’ve seen who He is.

And now the question is— what will you do with Him?

This is your moment of visitation.

Don’t miss Him. Don’t misunderstand Him. Don’t push Him away.

Turn to Him.

Repent of your sin.

Trust in Him as your Lord and Savior.

Because the same Jesus who came in mercy… will come again in judgment.

And on that day… no one will miss Him.

So come to Him… while He may be found.

I and a couple of our elders will be standing up here at the front if you need someone to pray with. Or maybe you just want more information on what it means to follow Christ as his disciple.

I’m going to pray and then we will sing together.