There's A King Coming: Act Like It

Scripture

Luke 19:28–48 NASB95

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 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 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 joyfully with a loud voice for all the 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 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 when your enemies will throw up a 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.” 45 Jesus entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling, 46 saying to them, “It is written, ‘And My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a robbers’ den.” 47 And He was teaching daily in the temple; but the chief priests and the scribes and the leading men among the people were trying to destroy Him, 48 and they could not find anything that they might do, for all the people were hanging on to every word He said.

Turn to your neighbor, and say “Neighbor. There’s a King Coming. Act Like It.”

Introduction

Introduction

Last week, Pastor began a series on “Jesus’ Journey to Calvary,” and he preached from , where Jesus starts his journey to Jerusalem. In last week’s sermon, Pastor pointed out how when Jesus was going through Samaria they rejected him because his eyes were fixed on Jerusalem. The Samaritans and the Jews didn’t get along so they didn’t quite like the fact that Jesus was trying to be friends with everybody. They rejected Jesus because they felt if you are going to be friends with me then you can’t be friends with them too.

And so last week Pastor started with Jesus beginning his journey to Jerusalem. And now today in our text, it the Sunday before Jesus’ resurrection. It would be the equivalent of our Palm Sunday. And Jesus is making his triumphant/victorious entry into Jerusalem. It’s so triumphant for two reasons:

Last week, Pastor began a series on “Jesus’ Journey to Calvary,” and he preached from , where Jesus starts his journey to Jerusalem. In last week’s sermon, Pastor pointed out how when Jesus was going through Samaria they rejected him because his eyes were fixed on Jerusalem. The Samaritans and the Jews didn’t get along so they didn’t quite like the fact that Jesus was trying to be friends with everybody. They rejected Jesus because they felt if you are going to be friends with me then you can’t be friends with them too. And so last week Pastor started with the Jesus beginning his journey to Jerusalem.

First it is triumphant because Jesus is literally undermining what people had accepted as normal. For instance:

And so last week Pastor started with the Jesus beginning his journey to Jerusalem. And now today in our text, Jesus is making his triumphant entry into Jerusalem. This is triumphant because Jesus is going to Jerusalem, knowing that he is going to die a brutal death on the cross.

And now today in our text, Jesus is making his triumphant entry into Jerusalem. This is triumphant because Jesus is going to Jerusalem, knowing that he is going to die a brutal death on the cross.

Jesus is being looked at as a King, yet he is riding in on a donkey instead of a great white horse.

Jesus is coming in as a King, but not as strong warrior, but a gentle peacemaker.

And now today in our text, Jesus is making his triumphant entry into Jerusalem. This is triumphant because Jesus is going to Jerusalem, knowing that he is going to die a brutal death on the cross.

Jesus is coming in as King that is strong, but not bossy, cruel, hard and loud.

Jesus is coming in as a King that is humble, not arrogant and full of pride.

Jesus is coming in as King that that is victorious and yet he is headed to his death.

Jesus is riding in as someone who is victorious and yet he is headed to his death.

Jesus is undermining what people had accepted to be normal. And when we are constantly are being shaped by our experiences and culture and media, it is so easy to begin to develop things that we think should be normal, but are not necessarily how God wants us to think. But when we come into contact with Jesus, it ought to invert our way of thinking. Up ought to be down. Down ought to be be up. Left ought to be right. Right ought to be left. The first ought to be last. The last ought to be first. Servants ought to be the leaders. Leaders ought to be servants. To gain your life, is to lose it. And to lose your life, is to gain it. When Jesus rides into Jerusalem, it is so triumphant because he undermines what people have accepted as normal.

Jesus is undermining what people had accepted to be normal. And when we are constantly being shaped by our experiences and culture and media, it is so easy to begin to develop When we come into contact with Jesus, it ought to invert your thinking. Up ought to be down. Down ought to be be up. Left ought to be right. Right ought to be left. The first ought to be last. The last ought to be first. Servants ought to be the leaders. And leaders ought to be servants.

Second it is triumphant because it fulfills prophecy. It has been almost 500 years since Zechariah prophesied in that the Savior would come in riding humbly on a donkey. Jesus’ entry reminds us that God always follows through on His promises. But I can’t help but think about the amount of time that it took for God to follow through on his promise. Because if the truth be told many of us can’t even handle waiting on God for a few days, let alone 500 years.

But when I look over Scripture, I find that God’s blessings are like good food. The greatest food you will taste is not the food that is cooked by a microwave, by it is the food that took time to make. It is the food that someone had to take time go to store for. It is the food that someone had to take time to chop up. It is the food that someone had to take time to marinade. God blessings is like good food. The longer it marinades, the better is tastes.

And I have recognized that for some reason God likes taking an enormous amount of time when He is getting ready to deliver people out of slavery. For back in the book of Exodus, it took God 430 years before he called Moses to deliver the Israelites of slavery in Egypt and now it has been almost 500 years since Zechariah prophesied about a Messiah, and now Jesus is headed towards Jerusalem getting ready to deliver us not out of physical enslavement, but this time Jesus is coming to deliver us out of spiritual enslavement. He has come to bring:

Deliverance from pride.

Deliverance from hate.

Deliverance from racism.

Deliverance from Sexism.

Deliverance from backbiting.

Deliverance from addictions.

Deliverance from sin.

There’s a King that coming to bring deliverance over sin and death, and I think we ought to act like it.

There’s a King that coming to bring victory over sin, to bring peace between us a God and I think we ought act like it.

So the question is how should we act towards this King, that is Jesus?

And now

The crowd in the text is going to show us two ways in which to respond to a King. First, they are going to show us two things we should do and then they are going to show us what we shouldn’t do. But first, the things we should do.

Release Ownership (vs. 28-34)

The first way the crowd teaches us to act towards a King is to RELEASE OWNERSHIP.

Starting in verse 28, Jesus is still some distance away from Jerusalem. And he sends his disciples out to the village ahead of them, and because Jesus is all knowing, he tells them that they will find a colt or a donkey that has never been ridden, untie it and bring it to him. And because Jesus is forward-thinking and strategic, he says if anyone asks you “Why are you untying the donkey?,” tell them “The Lord needs it.”

So the disciples went ahead to the village, found the donkey, began to untie and lo and behold the owners, which in Greek literally means lords (with little “l”), asks the disciples “Why are you untying the donkey?” And the disciples respond to these lords (with a little “l) that the Lord (with a big “L”) needs it.

When you come into contact with King Jesus, you have to learn how to Release Ownership.

I’m sure the owners or the lords (with a little “l”) had some plans for that donkey, just like many of us have plans for our lives. But when you when you give your life to King Jesus, you have to recognize that you have been bought by the precious price of his blood. And because you have been bought with the precious price of his blood, your donkey no longer belongs to you, but your donkey now belongs to the Lord.

And the truth is, there are some things, like the donkey we have tied our lives to.

We have tied our lives to acceptance.

We have tied our lives to being validated by people and being liked on social media.

We’ve tied our jobs and our economic status.

We’ve tied our lives to our past.

We’ve tied our jobs and our economic status.

And so long as we are tied there, Jesus can’t use us here.

Here is where your purpose is.

Here is what you were destined for.

Here is why you were born.

That donkey was born for Jesus to ride on.

And I’ve come to tell somebody that King Jesus wants to come into your life and he wants to untie you from everything that has held you bondage. Every emotion. Every thought. Every piece of your past.

And when people begin to ask you why you change your walk. Why you change your talk. Why you no longer go to those places. Why you no longer come around. Or why you changed your life.

Tell them it’s because the Lord needs it.

He needs my mouth.

He needs my thoughts.

He needs my emotions.

He needs my legs.

He needs my hands.

The Lord needs it.

I HAVE RELEASED OWNERSHIP.

Untie (five times)

THERE’S A KING COMING AND I THINK WE OUGHT TO ACT LIKE IT!

Acknowledge His Kingship (vs. 35-36)

The second way the crowd teaches us to act towards a King is to ACKNOWLEDGE HIS KINGSHIP.

Luke 9:51–60 NASB95

51 When the days were approaching for His ascension, He was determined to go to Jerusalem; 52 and He sent messengers on ahead of Him, and they went and entered a village of the Samaritans to make arrangements for Him. 53 But they did not receive Him, because He was traveling toward Jerusalem. 54 When His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” 55 But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what kind of spirit you are of; 56 for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” And they went on to another village. 57 As they were going along the road, someone said to Him, “I will follow You wherever You go.” 58 And Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” 59 And He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” 60 But He said to him, “Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.”

Luke 9:51–56 NASB95

51 When the days were approaching for His ascension, He was determined to go to Jerusalem; 52 and He sent messengers on ahead of Him, and they went and entered a village of the Samaritans to make arrangements for Him. 53 But they did not receive Him, because He was traveling toward Jerusalem. 54 When His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” 55 But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what kind of spirit you are of; 56 for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” And they went on to another village.

When the disciples bring the donkey to Jesus, they place their cloaks on the donkey and set him on it. And as Jesus continues to head towards Jerusalem, the crowd began to spread things in the road.

According to John’s gospel, they began to spread palm trees in the road. It is the reason why we call Palm Sunday PALM Sunday. And palm trees was a sign of victory. So when they were throwing palm trees on the road, they were acknowledging that Jesus was a King that was coming to give victory. So when we come here on Palm Sunday we too are acknowledging that Jesus is the only one that can bring victory in your life. It’s not drugs, its not sex, its not people, but the only one who can bring victory in your life is Jesus.

When the disciples bring the donkey to Jesus, first they throw their cloaks or outer garments onto the donkey and place him on it. And as Jesus continues down the road, people began to spread things on the road. According to John’s gospel,

But Luke doesn’t include Palm trees in his gospel, so you won’t see that in our text.

But Luke does include how the people took their cloaks or outer garments and threw them on the road. And they did this to acknowledge Jesus as King and to show their submissiveness to his authority. And they do it as if it is just the things to do. But I wonder how this picture would change if some of us Americans were standing in the crowd.

I wonder how many of us with our 21st century Western American mindsets would be willing to take off our expensive suit coats and nice hats and throw them on the dirty ground just to watch Jesus trample on them with a donkey. 

I wonder how many of us would hesitate to take off our jackets because we know how many hours we had to work to buy this suit.

I wonder how many of us would hesitate to take off our hats because it's our favorite hat and so many people compliment us.

I wonder how many of us, who grew up poor and had to work hard to buy some of the stuff we have, would be willing to throw our possessions in the dirt just to acknowledge that Jesus is King.

Because the truth is that living in America, it is so easy our possessions to become king in our lives. But this picture of people spreading their clothes on the dirty road before Jesus, ought to teach us that if we are going to acknowledge Jesus as King in our lives, then all of our possessions ought to be like dirt when we compare them to the majesty of Jesus.

Because the truth is that living in America

THERE’S A KING COMING AND I THINK WE OUGHT TO ACT LIKE IT!

Pharisees See Jesus as Threat(vs. 37-44)

As the story unfolds, Jesus is still headed towards Jerusalem, and the crowd begins to praise God for every miracle that they had seen Jesus perform and they began to sing : “BLESSED IS THE KING WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

Peace in heaven and cglory in the highest!”

And all of a sudden the story takes a turn, because there are some people in the crowd that do not welcome Jesus as a King, but as a threat.

And you would have thought that it was the heathens, or the prostitutes, or the tax collectors, or the sinners that might have recieved Jesus as a threat. But it wasn’t any of them. Instead, it was the Pharisees. The ones who grew up in church. The ones who went to Bible Study every week. It was the Sunday School teachers and preachers. The one who read their Bibles everyday and read it from cover to cover. It was the church folk that saw Jesus as a threat. And they saw him as a threat because when Jesus came he messed with their traditions and he messed with their money. They rejected him because they didn’t like what he told them. They didn’t like the light because it revealed their darkness. They didn’t like the fact that Jesus told them to sell their possessions and give to the poor.

And they saw him as a threat because when Jesus came he messed with their traditions and he messed with their money.

And so as people were lifting up the name of Jesus, the Pharisees same out of the crowd and told him to make his disciples be quiet. But Jesus tells them, that if they keep quiet, then the rocks will cry out.

And so as Jesus approaches Jersualem, he begins to weep because he see’s it’s future destruction. And he says the reason why it will be destroyed is because they did not recognize the time of their visitation. They did nor recognize him as King.

And I wonder how many lives Jesus is weeping over because people won’t recognize him as King.

I wonder how many broken families have been created because people did not recognize him as King.

I wonder how many poor decisions that have been made because people did not recognize him as King.

I wonder how many people have fallen to addictions because they did not recognize him as King.

I wonder how many people are living in debt because they did not recognize him as King.

I wonder how many people have committed suicide because they did not recognize him as King.

I wonder if there is someone here today that do not recognize Jesus as King.

I wonder.

Either you are going to see Jesus as a threat or someone to bring victory.

Either you are going to see Jesus as a threat or someone to bring victory.

483 years after Nehemiah started to rebuild Jerusalem, the year that Jesus would send a Savior.

It was an intentional/deliberate entrance (He was going to Jerusalem)

God does not do things haphazardly and is not compulsive, he is not spontaneous. He is in control.

When we allow God to ride into our lives, there is strategy.

Jesus is fulfilling a prophecy that was given by Zechariah hundreds of years earlier.

Defiant entrance - Defies Pharisees

The Colt

We should release what we have for the Lord glory and his purpose. Are we willing?

The Cloak

What does Jerusalem stand for?

The place where Jesus will die.

The place of purpose.

Jesus gets to Jerusalem and he weeps because he knows that though he is king, Jerusalem is not waiting to put a crown on his head, but to nail him to a cross. They had the Scripture to let them know that everything that Jesus had done had fuflfilled Scripture, yet they chose to be blind. I wonder if Jesus still weeps. Weep over the broken families, etc......