The Triumphal Entrance of the King

Scripture Introduction: Today’s passage of Scripture is a turning point in Luke’s Gospel. Jesus is now headed to Jerusalem for the final time. His earthly ministry is coming to a close. His time with His disciples is getting short. His teaching ministry upon this earth will be over soon.

With all of these things, most likely weighing heavily on His mind, He is keenly aware of a prophecy that needs to be fulfilled. He is to ride into town, not on a stallion, but a colt. He comes into town, not to conquer the Roman government, but to once and for all, conquer sin and the consequences of sin. There are three things this morning I would like us to notice regarding His triumphal entrance.

First, notice

In this passage we see . . .

A Deliberate Entrance

EXPLANATION: Jesus knew WHERE He was going and He knew WHY He was going there. Verse 28 reveals to us that He was going to Jerusalem. Nothing was going to keep Him from His mission. To fulfill His mission, He had to go to Jerusalem one last time. On His way to Jerusalem He deliberately calls aside two of His disciples and gives them an interesting mission (see verse 30).

To Bring Him Praise

God in His sovereignty provided a colt, that had never been ridden, to be tied in a certain place at a certain time. The owners of this colt, who were possibly followers of our Lord, would be cooperative and giving, when they were told, “the Lord has need of Him.” When God chooses to take what we have and says to us, “My kingdom needs this,” are we willing to let it go just as the owner of the donkey was willing to let it go?

Not only was Jesus going to Jerusalem to deliberately fulfill His mission, but also to deliberately fulfill Scripture’s prophecy. Notice a Scripture that had been written hundreds of years earlier in :

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.

You see this was no coincidental entry. This was a deliberate entry, deliberately planned by God and deliberately fulfilled by the Son of God at just the right time and in just the right way.

ILLUSTRATION & APPLICATION: It is important for you and I to understand that God does not do things haphazardly. God is not impulsive. God has a plan and nothing is going to foil His plan. God is in control and He is on the throne of the universe!

Rest assured, that just as God sent Christ deliberately into the world through the Virgin’s womb, and just as Christ deliberately showed up while John the Baptist was baptizing, and just as Christ deliberately crossed paths with Nicodemus in , and the woman at the well in , He has been deliberately fulfilling His plan and His purposes for all of eternity.

When He decides to return for His bride, the church, He is going to do so deliberately then as well. When all is ready, He will not choose a lowly colt, but this time He will choose a white horse and He will ride into this universe from the regions of Heaven and He will have another deliberate entrance to finish what He started!

A Defiant Entrance

EXPLANATION: Not only do we see a deliberate entrance, but we also see a DEFIANT ENTRANCE. By this time there was a price on Jesus’ head. Note :

John 11:57 ESV

Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know, so that they might arrest him.

Jesus was a wanted man. Rather than lurk in the shadows and stay in hiding, he defiantly enters Jerusalem in a very public way. Note what William Barclay said in his commentary on the book of Luke:

But he entered in such a way as to focus the whole limelight upon himself and to occupy the centre of the stage. It is a breathtaking thing to think of a man with a price upon his head, an outlaw, deliberately riding into a city in such a way that every eye was fixed upon him. It is impossible to exaggerate the sheer courage of Jesus. (The Gospel of Luke (p. 284). Louisville, KY; London: Westminster John Knox Press.)

Barclay, W. (2001). The Gospel of Luke (p. 284). Louisville, KY; London: Westminster John Knox Press.

ILLUSTRATION: Jesus had been upsetting the proverbial religious apple cart of the Pharisees for quite some time now. The chief priests and the pompous religious leaders wanted Him silenced and eventually would have Him crucified. However, this entrance was anything but silent. There were all kinds of noises taking place . . . there was rejoicing and praising God with a LOUD voice (v. 37), there were people referring to Jesus in light of

Psalm 118:26 ESV

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We bless you from the house of the Lord.

There were people who were referring to Jesus as KING! This would surely defy the priests and the Pharisees, as well as the Romans if they got wind of it. Yes, Jesus’ entrance was a defiance of the norm, it was a defiance of their nice, little, neat religious system.

APPLICATION: It’s also important for us to understand that God often chooses to defy societal norms to fulfill His purposes and His will. What He wants to do in and through our lives is in complete defiance of our sinful and selfish natures. What He wants to do and what He will eventually accomplish is in complete defiance of the world, the flesh and the devil. He is not a timid God.

Notice now the rest of the chapter ()

A Declarative Entrance

EXPLANATION: Jesus’ entrance was not about pomp and circumstance! Jesus’ entry was about making some DECLARATIONS:

Jesus’ entry was about declaring to those around WHO He was by the fulfillment of prophecy! We’ve already mentioned His entrance into Jerusalem by riding on a colt was a fulfillment of prophecy, but several other things happened while Jesus was in Jerusalem that remind us of WHO He is. . .

Here are just a few:

It was prophesied that He would be sold for 30 pieces of silver, AND HE WAS.

It was prophesied that He would be betrayed by a friend, AND HE WAS.

It was prophesied that His disciples would forsake Him, and THEY DID.

It was prophesied that He would be hit and spat upon, and HE WAS.

It was prophesied that His hands and feet would be pierced (before crucifixion was even invented), and HE WAS.

It was prophesied that they would cast lots for His clothes, and THEY DID.

It was prophesied that none of His bones would be broken, and THEY WEREN’T

It was prophesied that His side would be pierced, and IT WAS.

On and on we could go about the DECLARATIONS Jesus made through these fulfilled prophecies in Jerusalem. However, He also took the time to declare a prophecy (note ).

Luke 19:43–44 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 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.”

As Jesus enters the city of Jerusalem He realizes destruction is coming and he weeps. He is broken and God weeps. William Barclay said: The tears of Jesus are the tears of God when He sees needless pain and suffering in which men and women involve themselves through foolish rebelling against His will.

Sadly, just as Jesus predicted, Jerusalem was destroyed in AD 70.

There was also one more DECLARATIVE statement Jesus made as He arrives in Jerusalem. Verse 45 tells us that one of the first places He goes to is the temple. He drives out the moneychangers, those who were taking financial advantage of the worshippers who were going there to make sacrifices and DECLARES (see )

Luke 19:46 ESV

saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers.”

The money changers in the temple would take advantage of people paying the Temple tax every year, and deliberately swindle the poor. Those who sold animals for the temple sacrifice would take advantage of those who had to travel great distances and had to purchase an animal for the sacrifice once they arrived. They were involved in legalized robbery and Jesus, declared by His words and actions, that they were nothing but thieves!

After His defiant actions and declarative statements, Jesus spends time teaching daily in the temple.

Then He spends time teaching daily in the temple. As He awaits His destiny to freely and willingly lay down His life for the sins of the world, He declares God’s truth everyday in the temple.

What can you and I learn from this triumphal entrance that Jesus makes? What truths can we apply to our lives today and this week?

First:

We Must Learn to be Deliberate

The definition of deliberate is this: “done consciously and intentionally.”

"a deliberate attempt to provoke conflict"

Synonyms include words like: intentional, calculated, conscious, intended, planned, willful, purposeful.

Getting up everyday and walking with Jesus and developing a deep relationship with Him is not going to happen accidentally or by coincidence. You are not going to accidentally spend quality time in the Word of God. You are not going to unintentionally come boldly to the throne of grace to find help in your time of need. Your time with God and your time in His Word must be intentional, planned and purposeful.

I think our giving should be deliberate. When the owner of the colt was informed that Jesus needed it, he simply surrendered it to the Master’s use!

We need to be like Joshua who said: -

Joshua 24:15 ESV

And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

We Must Learn to Live in Defiance of the World, the Flesh and the Devil

Following Jesus is not for wimps! Following Jesus means going against societal norms. It means defying our pride and walking in humility. It means saying “NO” to the way of the flesh and saying “YES” to the Spirit. It may mean displeasing those we love, in order to please the ONE who loves us like no one else.

Notice

Titus 2:11–12 ESV

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,

Just as Jesus defied the religious leaders and the Pharisees, we must also defy the world, flesh and the devil.

Finally,

We Need to Make Some Declarations

As Jesus made His journey to the cross He made some powerful declarations on the way there. We will look at many of these over the next few weeks. I want to ask you, what kind of declarations is your life making?

When people look at your life, is it crystal clear WHO you belong to? If you were put on trial for being Christlike would there be enough evidence to convict you among your peers and your family? Your life should leave no doubt WHO it is you belong to. People shouldn’t have to wonder whether or not you are a Christ follower and those who know you best shouldn’t be surprised to learn that you are in love with Jesus. Your life needs to DECLARE you belong to Him!

Not only do we need to declare the truth with our lives, but we also need to declare the truth with our lips! We MUST speak the truth in love. We must share the Word of God, because faith comes by HEARING and HEARING comes by the Word of God.

I want to challenge you to be DELIBERATE, DEFIANT and make some DECLARATIONS for the glory of God!