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[0:00] Yelling, crucify him. Our text this morning is the gospel reading for the triumphal entry, Luke 19, verses 28 to 40.

[0:15] ! I encourage you to open your Bibles there.! And before we enter into God's Word, let me pray. Lord God, we thank you for this day.

[0:29] As we remember your triumphal entry and we remember the cross that is before you, where you will accomplish our great salvation.

[0:40] Help us, Lord, even as we embark on the remembrance of this Holy Week, to have our minds fixed on you, to have our minds fixed upon the cross of Jesus Christ, the means of our great deliverance, the place where our bondage was loosed and our freedom was granted.

[1:01] Help us now in the preaching of your Word. Let my words be inspired by you. Lord, give us ears to hear. We pray all of this in Jesus' name. Amen.

[1:18] There's a wonderful and sober realization in our Palm Sunday readings. Especially in the gospel readings, both gospel readings.

[1:31] The gospel reading of the triumphant entry and then the later ones of the passion of our Lord. And we as a congregation, as we recount and reenact our Lord's triumphant entry into Jerusalem, there's an awareness as if we were there.

[1:52] And it should be. We should be thinking that we were participants in that great event over two millenniums ago.

[2:03] The significance of God's entry into the Holy City is that it is the return of the Davidic King, God's Messiah, into His Holy City, Jerusalem.

[2:16] But as we will see this morning, while that return is full of fulfillment of prophecy, there's also a lot in the crowd's expectation that is wrong.

[2:27] There's a lot that is right in the way, in their proclamation, in their reception, and their identifying who Jesus truly is. But there's a lot that is wrong in their expectation.

[2:41] We see that their expectation was misplaced. Because they were longing for something completely opposite of what the Messiah came to accomplish.

[2:52] And because of that, many of the same voices that cried, Hosanna to the Son of David, will in five days cry, crucify Him.

[3:05] Although our text is primarily in Luke 19 this morning, and on the triumphant entry, we cannot, I think, we cannot but look ahead to Good Friday and the immediate events in the Passion of our Lord, which we just participated in reading this just a moment ago.

[3:27] The events that led up to His death on the cross. In fact, I want to invite you this morning to see the arrival of the King into His city in light of His mission that will culminate at the cross.

[3:44] So, notice, notice that Jesus' mode of entrance into Jerusalem is a reversal of His former mode of operation.

[3:56] Remember that up until His journey towards Jerusalem, Jesus throughout the Gospel has consistently told those whom He healed or encountered, not to reveal His true Messianic identity.

[4:10] He sworn many, after healing them, to secrecy. about His miraculous signs. He did this, as He said Himself throughout the Gospel many times, because His time was not yet at the end.

[4:26] The time for Him to accomplish the mission for which He came into the world. So, upon this entrance into Jerusalem, in the very manner in which He did, publicly, to public acclaim, it tells us something, that the time of accomplishing His mission is at hand.

[4:49] There are so many, there are so many Messianic fulfillments regarding this entrance that proves this. And I think for us, we might not readily see it, but it's readily apparent to the Jews of Jesus' day.

[5:06] First, let's look at the means by which Jesus entered into His holy city. He entered on the colt. That's a baby donkey.

[5:16] And the acquisition of the colt and even the procession from the Mount of Olives, as Luke tells us, through the city gate and into Jerusalem, points to Jesus' royal significance.

[5:33] And it is the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy about the Messiah and the King who is to come. It is the fulfillment of prophecy about God's man whom Israel has been waiting for.

[5:45] And I think to us, 21st century, it might seem hard. Or maybe we can even just chalk it up as Jesus being humble by riding on a donkey. And yes, it is that.

[5:57] It shows Jesus' humility and the manner in which He comes as a king. But it shows much more than that as well. To the Jews, all the details of Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem is full of meaning.

[6:11] It's full of meaning about the expected Messiah as a royal figure. There's so much detail there for us. You can see that Luke tells us primarily that Jesus ordered two of His disciples to go and that they will find this coat tied which no one has ever yet sat on.

[6:34] And He tells them to untie it and bring it. I wonder what you would have done if you were those two disciples that Jesus has sent. And He did tell them, if anyone asks you why are you untieing it, tell them the Lord has need of it.

[6:53] So these two obeyed and they went. But this is, in fact, the very fact that the coat is tied harkens back to Jacob's prophecy and blessing of Judah.

[7:06] Remember when Jacob, if you remember your Bible in Genesis, Genesis 49, when Jacob was blessing his sons, his 12 sons, and he came to Judah and this is what Jacob says of Judah, the scepter will not depart from Judah or the staff from between his feet until he, whose right it is, comes and the obedience of the peoples belongs to him.

[7:32] He ties his donkey to a vine and the coat of his donkey to the choice vine. Right? It seems really sort of a minor throwaway detail that the coat is tied.

[7:44] But it is harkening back even to the very prophecy of the king that is coming in the line of Judah to wound the scepter, scepter meaning the totem of authority and power and rule will never depart from the everlasting king.

[8:01] So Jacob blesses Judah pointing to the line of kings that will come after him but specifically pointing to the king in the line of kings that will come among his descendants.

[8:13] So we see that the coat was found tied as Jesus prophesied and they were told to untied. So that's one of the royal significance right there in the beginning. The very fact that the coat is tied. Jesus then says that as king he reserved the prerogative to commandeer this animal.

[8:33] Imagine someone coming and just taking your pickup truck because that's the best way I can think of what a donkey will mean in those things. It's a means of transportation and modes of work.

[8:46] So imagine someone just coming up and just getting into your pickup truck looking up in your lap, grabbing the keys and starting it up. What would you say? Hey, what do you think you're doing?

[8:57] And you'd be right to say that. That's exactly what happened here. But the response of these people is not what you would expect because upon asking what are you doing?

[9:08] What do you think you're doing? They said the Lord has need of it. Well I think it's because God's hand is at work in these details to bring about the fulfillment of his word.

[9:21] It is also in keeping with what Samuel told Israel when they clamor for a king. Samuel says you want a king but this is what the right of the king is if you want a king.

[9:32] The king will rule over you. The king has a right to your sons and your daughters to take his servants to work for him.

[9:43] The king can take your best cattle and your donkey and use them for his work. and they say we still want a king. Well here and this is true in all of Israel's history.

[9:56] This is true by the way in all of history. The king has a right to some of these things. So Jesus you can see here that Jesus is self-identifying that he is king in a very public and really intentional way.

[10:13] And so rightly he has prerogative to ask for the use of the donkey as king in Israel. So we see Jesus exercising the right of a king in taking the coat.

[10:25] I think it's not helpful for us to think as an American here. We don't understand really what it is to live in a kingdom under a king. We don't really fully we can never really fully understand it. But here is the right the very you might say well I mean no king is going to come and take my stuff.

[10:42] This is right and proper for a king to do. Let's just let's just agree on that point. So those who were sent away found just as he had told them that the donkey was there.

[10:56] And on tying the coat its owners like we said before said what are you doing? Why are you on tying the coat? And said the Lord has need of it. There's a significance in that because actually in the original Greek it says that as they were untying it its owners the word there for its owners is its lords meaning the lord the people who are master of the donkey rightfully said what are you doing?

[11:21] But then the disciples responded the lord has need of it. Right? It places the supremacy and the majesty and the overlordship of Christ above all other demands of obedience or allegiance.

[11:39] and it fulfills another prophecy also in doing so Zechariah chapter 9 verse 9 this is what the prophet Zechariah said rejoice greatly daughter of Zion shout in triumph daughter of Jerusalem look your king is coming to you he is righteous and victorious humble in riding on a donkey on a colt the fall of a donkey this is king Jesus coming into his royal city as the righteous and victorious king humble riding on a colt as prophesied of old this is also the royal custom this is important to note this is actually the riding on a donkey into the city is the royal custom of all Davidic kings to ride on their coronation day on a donkey into the holy city of Jerusalem so all of this meaning is is is is close in mind to all the observers and very close in mind to the disciples of Jesus as they see all of this taking place you can imagine the excitement yes it's finally happening and verse 37 said tells us as he was drawing near already on the way to the mount of olives the whole multitude these excited disciples a crowd that are following the whole multitude of his disciples they began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen they know the meaning of the symbolism before them they remember remember now that since chapter 13 of Luke a crowd has been following

[13:25] Jesus as he made his way from Galilee to Jerusalem so these crowd of people that have been following in anticipation in great anticipation knows the meanings of all of these things the royal significance and they were yelling and praising God they also have seen all the great works that Jesus has done as the Messiah of God the crowd started praising God for all these miraculous signs that they have seen the signs that pointed to Jesus' identity as the Christ and they began to say verse 38 blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord peace in heaven and glory in the eyes this is an echo a loud echo of Psalm 118 and in case you're wondering why you don't see because what we said in our procession Hosanna in case you're wondering why you don't see in Luke here the word Hosanna you'll have to look in Matthew's account in Mark's account they did say that

[14:28] Hosanna this is Mark 11 9 and 10 Hosanna blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David Hosanna in the highest it's not vague to the crowd they understand what's going on they understand this is the son of David that was promised the Messiah that is coming from the line of David and in accordance they were crying out Hosanna the significance of their paraphrase of Psalm 118 is that the psalm this very psalm was used during the times of the kings as a psalm of royal entry this psalm will be sung as the king comes into the city in victory whether at his coronation or maybe he's gone out to war and he's coming back into the city in victory this psalm will be sung by the people it was actually antiphonos antiphonos psalm that means it's a call and response psalm so the crowd following the king as he enters will call out to the people on the gate and in the city and the people on the gate in the city of Jerusalem and in the city will respond it's a call and response as the king proceeds that's what's going on here as Jesus enters Jerusalem all these acts are signs of royalty of kingship and the establishment of a kingdom the king long promised has finally arrived but what does it mean it means that it's the establishment of peace but to them it also means to these people and their expectations remember it means the defeat of their enemy the defeat of the Roman occupiers it means the ascendancy of the house of David to the glory days of king David and Solomon that's all they have in their mind but there is misplaced expectation the people are right they are right to welcome

[16:34] Jesus as king for indeed he is the messiah and king they've been waiting for he's the one promised to come to liberate and set captives free only the only problem is that they and this includes even Jesus' closest disciples they were thinking too small if all their pronouncements about Jesus and their praise of God concerning him is correct how then do we think how is their expectations misplaced so as they cry Hosanna which is both a cry of praise and a prayer Hosanna actually means save us can you imagine that they were crying save us everything that they said and they cried was absolutely true it was tragic though that they didn't see the full ramification of what it is that they were pronounced they were crying and pronouncing because indeed Jesus did come to save his people he he is the long expected king and he came in the name of the Lord as they said rightly but what they failed to see is that the means of his salvation is the cross that was that was to many of them in fact maybe all of them that was to them a scandal a king who dies on a cross is no king to them and the cross is still a stumbling block for many today as Paul says in 1 Corinthians this is why undoubtedly some who are yelling

[18:16] Hosanna on Palm Sunday will yell crucify him on Good Friday when they see well what you know this isn't what we expected they could not grasp God's plan of redemption by which his Messiah will accomplish his task the king comes in humility to die this king comes in humility to serve his people to be the sacrificial lamb of God for them Jesus always had the cross set before him but all around him people were still clamoring for a king and a kingdom of their own fashioning I think here herein lies the call of God for us today the significance and beauty of identifying with the crowd is seen in our reading as we read participatory in the passion reading we place ourselves in their shoes in our readings and we do so rightly to acknowledge that we alongside them are guilty it is

[19:27] I know it's hard to cry crucify him with the crowd knowing really what it means we ought to though we rightly did no matter how sober the thought is for us because in crying to crucify him we acknowledge first that it is our sin your sin and my sin that necessitates a sacrificial lamb and secondly we recognize in thankfulness that because of his perfect once for all sacrifice we can indeed have peace in heaven as the crowd were yelling peace in heaven with God because of what he did in the confession of the cross little did the crowd know how true their cries were I wonder if we truly know how true it is our cries are this morning as we join them in our proclamations and yet they were so far from truly receiving the means of their salvation that's a tragedy here they were so close yet so far notice that there will always be opposition to God's redemptive plan there will always be opposition and the

[20:52] Pharisees typify this rebellious opposition because they come at the end of this reading they come scolding Jesus and they demanded that Jesus rebuke his disciples for crying out Hosanna blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord but Jesus what did Jesus say to them Jesus says I tell you if these were silent the very stones will cry out instead what Jesus does is he embraced the crowd claim of him as Messiah we should never lose sight of the fact that Jesus fully self-consciously embraced his identity as king and Messiah and he interprets what all of that means as him going to the way of the cross that's the way in which he will accomplish that what he came to do he has indeed come to establish his kingdom he does it though by way of the cross this has been the plan all along

[21:58]  Jesus will not be derailed from accomplishing his plan of salvation for you and for me and it is important brothers and sisters in Christ for all who will be part of this kingdom of his to know that there is no way for this kingdom to be established except by the king going to the cross to reconcile heaven and earth to reconcile sinful humanity with a holy God I don't know what Jesus you're following but the Jesus that comes to die for our sins upon the cross to be the atoning sacrifice to be the propitiary to take the sin of the world upon himself the wrath of God upon himself that is the Jesus that saves that is the only Jesus that can save you and I for our sins he's not just a mere example for us to follow he's not just a good teacher in the likes of Gandhi and Buddha and any other wise men in the world that the world venerates he is singularly the only means by which you have peace with God and to reject him is to reject life and to reject that peace let us not be so close and yet so far like many in the crowds were in our count this morning as we enter holy week let us keep the cross in the forefront of our mind without the cross without his blood shed for you and me we have no hope here's the exaltation for us to remember we are to remember the cross daily especially during this holy week meditate on the cross daily and cling to it there on that cross our redemption is accomplished by our king and redeemer as he was lifted up on the cross he draws all people to himself as he promised he would and as we rest on his finished work accomplished there on our behalf we also follow the same road knowing that the way of the cross is the way of glory if you are looking elsewhere this morning may I encourage you may I implore you to look to the cross where you will find lasting peace with God and redemption for your soul let us pray almighty god whose most dear son went up not up to joy but first he suffered pain and entered not into glory before he was crucified mercifully grant that we walking in the way of the cross may find it none other than the way of life and peace through the same thy son jesus christ our lord amen amen to you