INTRODUCTION:

1. In Luke 19:28, we read that our Lord was “ascending up to Jerusalem.” In the Bible, people are always going “up to Jerusalem” or “down from Jerusalem.”
2. This was to be our Lord’s last trip into the city. He had come to Jerusalem to die on the cross (cf. 18:31-34).
3. The next time our Lord visits Jerusalem it will be in judgment. We read about that in Zechariah 14.
4. Zechariah 14:4 says, “And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.”
5. Now as we continue in our study of the book of Luke, we see that our Lord is getting very close to the cross. “He was come nigh to Bethphage and Bethany” (19:29), on the eastern side of the Mount of Olives.
6. He was now only a few days away from the cross, and it appears that our Lord was constrained to make a final appeal in the city of David, to let His people know that He was the promised Son of David, their King and their Messiah. There would be one final appeal before He went to the cross.
7. The Bible says, “He came unto His own, and His own received Him not” (John 1:11).
8. In preparation for His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, our Lord instructed two of His disciples to go ahead and get a colt (of a donkey) and bring it back to Him (19:30). This was according to the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9.
9. All four Gospel accounts record this incident but none of them gives the names of these two disciples (19:29, 32, 33, 34, 35).
10. When they returned, our Lord rode into Jerusalem on the donkey (19:37).
11. Many churches, especially those that are of the Romish persuasion, commemorate this historical event and call it “Palm Sunday.” John 12:13 says they “took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet Him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.” It is only John that mentions that the branches were from palm trees.
12. The fickle people praised our Lord as the King of Israel (Luke 19:38). John 12:13 says they cried, “Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.”
13. But it would be only a few days later that these same people would be crying out, “Crucify Him…We have no king but Caesar” (John 19:15).
14. It is interesting to observe how people respond differently to the Lord Jesus Christ. Tonight, we will look specifically at three different groups of people: the two unnamed disciples (19:29b), the great multitude (19:37), and the religious leaders, specifically the Pharisees (19:39).

 

I. THE TWO DISCIPLES WENT AND DID AS JESUS COMMANDED THEM (19:28-35; cf. MATT. 21:6).

1. This sounds rather elementary – a “disciple” must be obedient to his Lord and Master. Otherwise he is not really a true disciple.
2. However, some so-called “disciples” are not obedient.
3. Take for example, our Lord’s commandment to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. Yesterday, we saw JWs all over Elmont, but we saw very few Christian soulwinners.
4. What concerns me is we see quite a few people come forward to get saved and then they disappear and we seldom ever see them again. Only God knows if they are genuinely saved.
5. I remember years ago, when I started this church I used to preach down at the McCauley Rescue Mission downtown. Scores of men would come forward at the invitation but I often wondered, “What about the follow-up? Who is going to disciple them?” This bothered me.
6. Allow me to make an analogy with a physical birth. We do not bring a baby into this world and then ignore him. We must feed him and clean him and take care of him until he is grown and able to take care of himself. And so it is with a spiritual birth.
7. To be a disciple, one must learn “discipline.” Yet many Christians today lack discipline. Many Christians can’t even wake up in time for Sunday School.
8. This is where many churches have problems – lack of discipline.
9. So, we read here in Luke 19:32 that the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them. As I said earlier, we do not know the names of these two disciples, but we do know they did as they were told. Can the Lord say the same for us?
10. Many Christians say they love God, but Jesus said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). His commandments are clearly laid out for us in the Bible – commandments concerning baptism, Bible reading, prayer, tithing, church attendance, soulwinning, etc.
11. A member once complained to my assistant, “Pastor Barker stresses soulwinning too much.” He asked him, “How did you get saved?” That’s a good question!
12. Jesus said, “Go ye into the village” (Luke 19:30). “And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them” (Matt. 21:6).
13. We read, “And they that were sent went their way…” (19:32). They did not really understand everything that was going on at the time (cf. John 12:14-16).
14. “These things understood not His disciples at the first…” (John 12:16). But they still went. They still obeyed. Beloved, there are many things that we may not understand down here, but when we get to heaven we will have plenty of time to figure it all out. In the meantime, let’s just obey God!
15. Notice also that to make a saddle for the Lord, the disciples put their clothes on the colt (Luke 19:35). They were not told to do this; they did it willingly, voluntarily, and gladly because they loved the Lord.

 

II. THE MULTITUDE SAID, “BLESSED BE THE KING THAT COMETH IN THE NAME OF THE LORD” (19:38).

1. The reason for this “great” multitude was that Jews from all over had jammed into Jerusalem for the Passover. Some Bible teachers estimate that two or three million people had crowded into the city.
2. “The whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God…” (19:37). For a short time, they held our Lord in high honor. Soon these same people would be demanding His crucifixion.
3. It is amazing how fickle people can be. Phocion was a great Greek statesman and general. He ruled the city of Athens from 322 to 318 BC. When Phocion was returning home from a successful military campaign against Philip of Macedon, huge mobs of people crowded the streets of Athens to cheer him. When an aide remarked that Phocion did not seem very pleased at their enthusiasm, he replied, “They will cheer just as loudly when I am hanged.”
4. His words proved to be prophetic for later on the people of Athens deposed him, convicted him of treason, and then executed him. Then shortly after he was buried they put up a big statue in his honor.
5. At Caesar’s funeral, they cheered loudly for Brutus. But not long after Brutus finished his eulogy they chased him out of Rome.
6. Scofield refers to this mixed-up mob in Luke 19 as “an unthinking multitude” (p. 1028, bottom of page).
7. Another preacher (W.A. Criswell) suggests that Matthew describes our Lord’s entry into Jerusalem not so much the triumph of a king but the procession of a victim to the sacrifice. Indeed, the shadow of the cross hangs over these festivities.
8. Spurgeon said: “Alas! How soon this gleam of sunlight gave place to black darkness. The day of palms was closely followed by the day of crucifixion. Thus, fickle are the sons of men.”
9. According to Matthew 21:9, the people did acknowledge our Lord as “the son of David” (a Messianic title), but apparently they did not truly understand the significance of that term. As the son of David, Jesus was the promised Messiah. He was not merely coming “in the name of the Lord” (Luke 19:38) – He is the LORD.

 

III. THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS WERE SORE DISPLEASED (LUKE 19:39).

1. Matthew gives us more information regarding their sore displeasure. We read in Matthew 21:15 that when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that Jesus did, and when they saw the children shouting out, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they “were sore displeased.”
2. To see and hear children singing praises to our Savior should bring joy to a true servant of God, but the religious leaders “were sore displeased” (Matt. 21:15; cf. Luke 19:39).
3. Over and over in the Gospels, we see the hatred and animosity that the chief priests and scribes had for Jesus.
4. When we see how wonderful Jesus is and how sinful we are, we should be sore displeased at ourselves, not at Him.
5. Some of the Pharisees said to our Lord, “Master, rebuke thy disciples” (19:39).
6. Our Lord answered and said to them, “I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out” (19:40). This expression seems to be proverbial. The point is clear – our Lord’s entry into Jerusalem ought to be celebrated, and would be celebrated.
7. It would be impossible to restrain the enthusiastic people, and it would be improper to try. There was great joy among the people, and it would be wrong to try to repress it.
8. Then if that were to happen “the stones would immediately cry out.”

 

CONCLUSION:

1. While all four Gospel writers tell this story, only Luke adds the touching picture of our Lord weeping over Jerusalem (19:41-44).
2. We need to weep over our city because it too does not know the time of its visitation (19:44b).