Luke 19:28–40 - Palm Sunday

Introduction

Last Week of Lent: Grant God Space to Move

It is Palm Sunday today, and what this means is that we are headed into the final week of Lent, and as we trace the life of Jesus we are headed into the final days of Christ’s life. As Pastor’s it is always our hope that Lent does not pass us by without creating a precious opportunity for God’s people to pause, to slow down, to reflect on goodness of Christ, and the reality of his Supremacy over our lives. For many of you I suspect that perhaps this Lenten season has passed by as quickly and as anxiety-filled as any other season of your life. And if that’s you I want to invite you today to not let this last week pass you by in that same way. Jesus has something to form in you as you head into Easter, grant Him the space in your life and in your heart, to move.

Context

Today we’ll be studying a classic Palm Sunday passage from Luke 19. Up until this point in Luke’s gospel, Jesus has been fairly discreet about his ministry. You recall that very often after he heals somebody, he instructs them to be quiet about what took place. And he doesn’t seem to stay in one place for too long. But recently Jesus has done what many would have considered to be his greatest miracle yet, and that was raising Lazarus from the dead. Since then, a true buzz is circulating about the ministry. Could he be the long awaited messiah, the savior of the Jewish people. The problem of course, and the reason why Jesus was so conspicuous about his ministry is that there was a great disconnect between the kind of messiah the public expected him to be, and the kind of messiah he actually was and is. But in our passage today, by entering into Jerusalem, Jesus forces the issue. He’s going to put the political and religious leaders of his day into the position of needing to make a decision about who he was. So turn with me to Luke 19:28-47. What I’ll try to do today is demonstrate three vital lessons from Palm Sunday from our text.

Palm Sunday Reveals Our False Expectations

First, Jesus changes our false expectations. Let’s begin with the Triumphal Entry in Luke 19:28-40:

Luke 19:28-40 “28 And when he had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 When he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples, 30 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. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’ ” 32 So those who were sent went away and found it just as he had told them. 33 And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 And they said, “The Lord has need of it.” 35 And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36 And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. 37 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 …”

The Lowliness of Bethany

We are told first that Jesus "drew near” to Bethany and Bethpage. We are told in the other gospel records that he stopped in Bethany at this point and rested at the house of Mary and Martha and Lazarus. Lazarus was the one whom Jesus had previously raised from the dead. Why is this an important detail? The name Bethany is a Hebrew name which literally means “house of the poor (Bayit ani).” Historically when Kings make a public appearance during some kind of triumph, the public appearance is done in a way that is surrounded by important people. Kings don’t go to the House of the Poor. Kings are like Caesar, they’re powerful. They surround themselves military might. This gesture, of stopping in Bethany, might be something like a newly elected president choosing to celebrate his inaugural meal with folks staying at Pacific Garden Mission on the Near South Side. That’s the thing about Jesus isn’t it? Jesus had no preference for the poor or the rich. In fact he was quite infamous for regularly associating with the poor, the weak, the needy, the sinners, and the outcast of society. Here at the start of the Passion that would lead to His death and resurrection, Jesus makes his way through the House of the Poor.

The Symbolism of Mount of Olives

Next we’re told that he ascended the Mount of Olives. The Mount of Olives is a beautiful hill that overlooks the city of Jerusalem from the East. This ridge played an important part in many moments of Biblical history.

David Wept on the Mount of Olives

Many hundreds of years prior to this moment, King David would flee Jerusalem through the Mount of Olives when his Son Absolom usurped the throne.

2 Samuel 15:30 “30 But David went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went, barefoot and with his head covered. And all the people who were with him covered their heads, and they went up, weeping as they went.”

The Glory of the Lord Departed the Temple on the Mount of Olives

Secondly, the Mount of Olives played a very important part in the Old Testament book of Ezekiel. One of the tragic moments in Israel’s history was when the glory of the Lord departed from the temple in Ezekiel 11:23 This was hundreds of years before the birth of Christ, but this moment is so important in Jewish history that Jews would have remembered it.

Ezekiel 11:23 “23 And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and stood on the mountain that is on the east side of the city.”

And so when the glory of the Lord left Jerusalem, it stopped on the Mount of Olives. Then later in that same book of Ezekiel, the glory of the Lord returns and fills the temple, he comes from that same East side. Think about this incredible symbolism of this moment when Jesus (who is the glory of the Lord in the flesh) stands on that same Mount of Olives and approaches the temple.

Zechariah Predicted the Messiah Would Stand on the Mount of Olives

Thirdly, in Zechariah 14:4, we learn of the Jewish messiah standing on the Mount of Olives.

Zechariah 14:4 “4 On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east...

You can almost imagine Jesus standing on the Mount of Olives at the beginning of our passage today, preparing for his triumphal entry, and the week ahead. As he does so his mind goes back through to King David and how important this mountain ridge was in history.

The Symbolic Imagery

Jesus then sends two of his diciples ahead of him into the city to get a donkey to ride on into the city. And a number of things happen here. First, Jesus sits on top of the donkey and rides into Jerusalem. As he does so, the crowds lay their garments down underneath him and other gospel writers tell us that they waved Palm Branches and laid those down underneath him. All of these symbols (the donkey, the laying of the cloaks, and the laying of the Palm Branches) are each incredibly symbolic and also reveal the dissonance between what the people expected, and what Jesus actually was.

The Donkey

First, we are told that he rode in on a donkey. This is the fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9, a messianic prophecy that stated when the Jewish messiah came he would arrive at Jerusalem on a donkey.

Zechariah 9:9 “9 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.”

The donkey is humble in the sense that it is not a military animal. There is actual a slight play on words here with this text, as the word in Hebrew that is used in the name of that town Bethany “house of the poor.” A donkey is humble and lowly in a unique sense. All throughout Old Testament history kings and judges rode on donkeys. When David was dying he instructed his son Solomon to be inaugurated and ride into Jerusalem on a donkey. What makes the donkey unique is not that royalty doesn’t ride on a donkey. The donkey’s humble nature is that its not a war horse.

The Clothes & The Palm Branches

The people also laid their cloaks and palm branches down underneath Jesus as he rode in. Laying cloacks down was a common thing to do for a dignitary or someone of royalty. And so the people are acknowledging Jesus is a King. But the Palm Branches have a very unique meaning in Jewish history. During the intertestamental period, the Palm Branch had become associated with the idea of Jewish Independence from nations ruling over them. In fact in the extra-biblical book of 1 Maccabees the people celebrate the removing of one of Israel’s enemies from Israel by laying Palm Branches down.

The Singing

Lastly, the words the crowds are singing is startling. The crowds of these Jewish men and women who knew their Old Testament and knew the promises of scripture, recognize the significance of what is taking place. It says they, “began rejoicing for all the mighty works they had seen.” They begin shouting, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!” Psalm 118 a classic Psalm in historic Judaism. Psalm 113-118 are called the Egyptian Praise Psalms because they recorded praise for God’s delivering the Jews in the Old Testament from Egypt, and praise for the Passover when God passed over all the Jewish households and spared their lives. Psalm 118 as the final Psalm in that collection, in a sense the ultimate song in that collection, is a fitting psalm to pull from. Think of the irony in this moment. They’re singing this song which is a song that celebrates the Old Testament Passover and Exodus from Egypt. They’re likely singing it and appying it to Jesus thinking he is going to deliver them from the Romans like Moses delivered them from Egypt. But in reality, the song is fitting for a different reason. Jesus is about to deliver them from a stronghold and an enemy far greater than Rome.

What Does this Mean

What does this all mean? The disciples and those near in the crowd have an expectation of Jesus at this moment. On the one hand they recognize his royalty. He is a King. And on that they were right. But their expectations of what he is about to do is likely very flawed. Here comes their King, coming from the East, entering into Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, on a donkey. They are hoping for a political messiah who would remove the Romans from their occupation of Jerusalem. But within one week, those very same Romans will crucify this same Jesus as if he were a common criminal. By the end of the week they are all going to be disapointed. Jesus accomplishes what he set out to accomplish but he does it in a way that is different to what they had anticipated.

False Expectations: Safe, Risk-Free Christianity

I think Palm Sunday, and the expectations of these crowds provides us with a good moment for reflection on our own walk with our King. These crowds had taken bits of the Bible and bits of their own desires for what would make life a whole lot easier, and they had developed this syncretistic expectation of God and of the messiah. Even with the clarity of the New Testament at our disposal, we in our day often do the very same thing. One example, We have an expectation of what it means to live a life as a Christian that safe. It’s non-controversial. It’s risk-free and sacrifice-free. Modern Christianity looks a lot like that shiny temple in Jerusalem that people were trusting in. And while we really know deep in hearts that Jesus was a rugged man, who called His disciples to die to themselves, and pick up their cross and follow Him, we tend to justify at every corner why our risk-free, sacrifice-free, courage-free faith is what Jesus really wants from us.

Let Palm Sunday ReIntroduce You to Jesus on His Terms

Just like crowds who had gotten Jesus wrong, and were about to get a big splash of cold water in their face, perhaps we’ve been getting Jesus wrong, if even subtly. I want to ask you to go back to the life of Jesus. Even this week, pick one of the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John). Read it through from beginning to end, and ask yourself, “Does my life look like this?” Where have your expectations of what Jesus is going to do in your life need to be reformed by what the Scriptures actually say. Where have I settled for shiny risk-free Christianity, rather than following my King into whatever mission field in this city He calls me to? Let Jesus change your expectations.

Palm Sunday Reveals Our False Securities

Secondly, Jesus changes our false securities. As Jesus descends down the Mount of Olives he gets closer and closer to the city and the Temple becomes clearer and clearer in his vision. What you need to know about the temple is that this was not only the pride and joy of the Jewish people (because of its sheer size and grandiosity), but it also was the center of all true Jewish religion. Inside the walls of the temple is where all the daily and annual animal sacrifices took place. The expectation of the crowds as it pertained to the messiah was likely that when the messiah came he would take his seat in the temple and rule from Jerusalem.

Luke 19:41-44 “41 And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42 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. 43 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 44 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.””

This scene is quite jarring, and its full of importance. First, Jesus is violently weeping and bawling while the crowds are praising him. What a dissonance and strange thing that must have been to be near enough to Jesus in the midst of that crowd to see what was actually going through his mind. I imagine Peter and James and John, the closest disciples who were likely close enough in the crowd to see Jesus thinking, “What is going on?” Tears are streaming down his face.

Discusses the Destruction of the Temple

Then Jesus begins to say that the temple is going to be torn down by the enemies of the Jews. What a dichotomy between what the crowds expected Jesus to do and what Jesus knew was going to happen. And Jesus was correct. In 70AD, the Romans surrounded Jerusalem just as Jesus predicted they would and they tore down the temple stone by stone. Today you can walk through the ruins of that temple still.

If You Knew the Things that Made For Peace

But he has this ominous line. He says in verse 42,

Luke 19:42 “42 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.”

What is Jesus saying here? Jesus is looking at the very building, the very symbol, the Jews were believing was and would become the place of peace. And he declares that, that very building would be torn down, that very symbol was wrong. And rhetorically wishes that the people would see the reality in front of their very eyes of that which can bring peace.

Our Secret/Hidden False Securities

What makes for peace…? This is a question has been asking a lot recently. And its worth asking this Palm Sunday what do you truly believe? What is the symbol of your safety and security? It may be that, like these Jews, we say we’re following Jesus but trusting in temples that are easily destroyed.

What Can Bring Peace: There are only two worldviews

There are only two worldviews that exist. There is the Biblical Worldview, and then there is everything else. The wordlview that finds its peace and solutions in Christ alone, and the worldviews that find their peace and solution anywhere besides Christ. The Biblical worldview says that the main problem in the world, both in your own life, and in society at large is sin. And that the only solution to that problem, the only thing that can bring peace into those broken sin-filled areas is the gospel of Jesus Christ, his blood shed for the atonement of your sin. Every other worldview states the exact opposite. They root the main problem in the world as something other than sin, and the main solution is an ideology that has nothing to do with Jesus. As Christians we must adamently stand on the Biblical worldview. Every issue we face individually, and as a society finds its peace, its solution, its way forward, in Christ and His death and resurrection on the cross. Oh how easy it is to begin thinking, like these Jews that something other that the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, even something as religiously symbolic as the temple, can offer the world peace.

Resolve in Your Heart: Only Christ Can Bring Peace: Gospel

Oh Christian brother and sister. Resolve in your heart find peace in Christ in every circumstance. Resolve in your heart that you will not settle for cheap answers to life’s difficult questions. When the world tells you to trust in some modern “temple,” some new ideology, some new politician, some new school of thought. Or when your life hits some difficult spot: When your marriage is struggling. When your children are struggling. When your health is struggling. When your finances are struggling. When it feels like there is no peace. Resolve in your heart to not be duped by the pretty stone walls of that temple. And resolve in your heart to fix your eyes fully on Christ and the gospel. Christ alone died for your sin on the cross by bearing your curse for you. Christ alone is the Prince of Peace.

Palm Sunday Reveals Our False loves

Worshipless Christianity

Lastly, and I’ll close this point. Jesus reveals our false loves. Remember, Jesus is coming down the mountain and the crowd is expecting him to waltz into Jerusalem and throw out the Roman oppressors. Well he throws someone out, but it isn’t the Romans.

Luke 19:45-47 “45 And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, 46 saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers.” 47 And he was teaching daily in the temple. The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people were seeking to destroy him,”

What a scene. What a flipped expectation. He didn’t throw out the Romans. He threw out Jews from the temple. What was happening was there were Jews who were making a prophet off of travelers who were coming to Jerusalem to make sacrifices but didn’t have the right money. And at the time of a festival like this, where Jews were coming from all over the known world, they would have been making a fortune from these travelers. Can you imagine what the crowds were thinking? This moment, is a direct attack on the leaders of the Temple, the Pharisees who had been permitting this money changers to be in the temple.

Always Be Reforming

The great Reformers of the Reformation: Martin Luther, John Calvin, Theodore Beza, Zwingli. They had a saying, Semper Refermonda. It means, “Always be reforming.” Palm Sunday offers us a reflection point on how we are doing, staying true to God’s vision for the Church, and how we are doing staying true to God’s vision for our Christian lives and our families. There are times when you look around at how you have been permitted things to be structured in your life, in the rythm of your week, in your commitment to your Church family, in the way you manage your finances, the list goes on. And there are times when you look at it all, and the Holy Spirit prompts to say, “The way that’s being done, that’s not right. And either you change it, or the Holy Spirit going to come in and flip tables.” What areas of your life need reforming? Where have you permitted pet scenes to just become part of the decor of your life, unchecked. Don’t let Palm Sunday go by without a true repentence and confession and turn towards Christ.

When was the last time you got down on your knees just overcome in worship of God’s goodness to you?

When was the last time you called into the noon prayer hour at park, not out of a sense of obligation because your Church asked you to, but because you needed your Church family.

When was the last time worship overtook you.

When was the last time you had a free evening, and rather than turn on Netflix, you opened your Bible or a great book on Christian devotion to stir you to worship

You see, Jesus in the habit of flipping tables in our lives and revealing our false religion. It is so easy to do the Christian thing, and not really know and love Christ. Do you know the gospel? Have you felt what he has saved you from? As soon as you get comfortable, he reveals some new work to do, some new worship to experience. We are babies in this journey. So far to go, all of us. Do not settle. Let the Lord reform always.

Application

Let me close by saying that Palm Sunday ought to be a day of celebration of the one true King. He is Lord. He sits enthroned at the right of the hand of father, where is seated right now interceding on behalf of the Saints. May He get the glory.