[0:00] All right, before I get into this sermon, I am to invite all junior church members up.! Junior church members, if you are over the age of, I don't know what age it is up there, three! Five, five, okay. Five to grade five? Six. Goodness, I'm being corrected every day here.
[0:24] It's like reading my Bible. You're just getting corrected all the time. All right, we usually send our kids away with a prayer of blessing and ask for the Lord's grace on them as well. Dear most holy heavenly father, we just thank you for these young ones that you have given us the pleasure of stewarding, just both as parents, but also as members of this church who seek to make sure that those that do not know you know you and that first grounds of evangelism is our children to teach these children the goodness of you and how we live our life and how we grow with you, oh father, and how we accept correction and how we ask for forgiveness.
[1:13] And father, right now as they go to junior church, I pray that they continue just learning this gospel message that is so important for all of us to understand, oh Lord. We pray a blessing upon the teachers just as they use this opportunity to get to know these young ones, oh father, and I just pray that these relationships would be bound and effectual for many years, even beyond these young years.
[1:42] We ask these things in your most holy, glorious, and everlasting name. Amen. Please turn with me in your Bibles to Luke chapter 19. Luke chapter 19.
[2:01] If you are new or visiting, my name is BK. I have the pleasure of serving here as one of the pastors. And we've just kind of finished this series on the Old Testament.
[2:11] And now we're kind of going into a quick four-part series on Easter. Just as we prepare for the Easter season, I thought we would take this time to go over for sermons looking at the story of the Passion Week, but also focusing on this word King.
[2:35] This morning we're going to be looking at the presented King. Next week we're going to look at the rejected King. And obviously for Good Friday and Easter we'll be looking at the crucified King and the risen King.
[2:54] Now I got a question for some of you, and maybe some of you can relate, maybe not. But has any of you ever been late to something? And I'm not just talking to church kind of late.
[3:05] We're talking to kind of late that you're picking up all your bags and you're running like through an airport terminal like your hair's on fire. Anybody ever been there?
[3:16] Right? Because if we are late and we miss it, we miss it. There's no going back. So I haven't shared this story with many people, but I'll share my most recent experience at being late.
[3:31] So at the very end of September, if you guys remember, we had a parenting conference. And on the Monday, my wife and I had gotten a cruise. So we were heading out. If you didn't know, we took off to Tokyo on a three-week cruise to celebrate our 10-year anniversary.
[3:46] So Daniela, my wife, the ever-wise one, says, Hey, maybe we should head down Sunday night, sleep in Seattle, and then kind of have an easy day.
[3:59] But of course, I'm being Mr. Cheapo. I've just forked out all this money on a cruise. And I said, Are you nuts? I don't want to spend another $150 on some hotel. So we'll just leave in the morning.
[4:10] Like what problems could there be? The cruise leaves at 4 o'clock. So we kind of get up, do our thing. And, you know, I do the responsible thing looking on the app, the border.
[4:21] It's only a 20-minute wait. We're going to have no problems at all. And of course, I give myself or ourselves a three-hour buffer. So we're heading down.
[4:32] And as you know, anybody who's going on the highway and you're going to be jumping on the I-5, there's these, you know, the signs that tell you how long the wait's going to be. At first, it just says an hour. Or, hey, no problem.
[4:43] We got this. We got this. Then all of a sudden, it goes to two hours, the next sign. And then all of a sudden, it's like three hours, right? And I'm like, that's our whole buffer time.
[4:54] I don't know if we're going to make it. So we finally get to the line. And the line had been seriously the longest line that I'd ever seen at Peacearch. So I get out of the car and I run over to the security guard or one of the police that's kind of monitoring the road.
[5:09] And I said, hey, the last sign, three hours. What do you think? And it goes, yeah, that's only if everything goes perfectly. But, yeah, that's probably an underestimated time.
[5:20] So I get back in the car and I'm looking at my wife and I'm like, oh, baby, we're in trouble. And so I come up with this masterful plan.
[5:31] We're going to run it. We're going to ditch the car and we're going to run for the border. All right? So we think that's going to be easy. And my wife, of course, is like, I think we should pray about this. And I'm like, no, we're going to run.
[5:43] So we get out and we're hauling all our luggage and we run. Because usually if you cross by foot, it's a lot quicker. We get to the border. And no word of a lie, I would say half of Southeast Asia is in line.
[5:59] It's a Monday. Who goes across the border on a Monday? Okay. So I go to the guy and I go, please, oh, please. Is there any way that I can get a little bit of grace?
[6:10] So the guy says, hey, take the Nexus line. So we take the Nexus line and we get out. So the next problem is how do we get from the border to the cruise terminal?
[6:22] Hey, I hit Uber, right? And, of course, Uber gives you just punch in the address and it tells you what the estimated cost is. Well, when I put in the thing, nobody wants us.
[6:32] All of a sudden, all the Ubers disappear from the map and nobody wants to drive us. And finally, some guy accepts it and he takes 20 to 30 minutes to get there.
[6:43] But thankfully, he's got a Dodge Charger. Just a two-door sports car. And I go, my friend, there's a $100 tip in this if you can get us within that 15 minutes.
[6:53] And sure enough, guess what? We made the cruise with 15 minutes to spare. Just bombing down the high five. So the problem, I think the reality is we all know what it's to be late.
[7:07] But sometimes there's far more important things that we can miss other than a cruise. If you're familiar with the Easter story, and we're going to go into that right now, there's a group of people who miss their king.
[7:23] The king had revealed himself. The king had demonstrated exactly who he was. This king had demonstrated what he wanted to come about, but people did not listen.
[7:34] Like me, they were busy on their apps doing whatever, saying, I've got time. I've got time. And the time came and the time passed. So if you look at with me at Luke 19, beginning in verse 28, basically I'm going to read the passage that we're going to focus on this morning.
[7:53] And we're going to look at three issues dealing with this passage. So beginning in verse 28, just please read along with me in your Bibles. And when he had said these things, that he is Jesus Christ, he went on ahead going up to Jerusalem.
[8:09] So he had been in the city of Jericho. It's not the Old Testament city of Jericho. But if you're familiar with the landscape of Israel, it kind of marks the place where you come in from the flatlands of the river, and you're about to climb up the hill to Jerusalem.
[8:26] And it said, when he drew near to Bethpage and Bethany at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of his disciples. Say, 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.
[8:44] I untie it and bring it here. But when one asks, why are you untying it? You shall say this, the Lord has need of it. So those who are sent away and found just as he, Jesus, had told them.
[8:59] And as they were untying the colt, its owner said to them, why are you untying the colt? And they said, the Lord has need of it. And they brought it to Jesus.
[9:10] And throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. 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 that they had seen, saying, and I want you to focus on this, blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord.
[9:44] Peace in heaven and glory in the highest. And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, teacher, rebuke your disciples. He answered, I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.
[10:01] Verse 41, when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, 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.
[10:19] 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.
[10:32] And they will not leave one stone upon another in you because you did not know the time of your visitation. So I want to walk through this moment.
[10:45] I want to look at three critical scenes that really speak to us about not missing our moment with Jesus. About not missing our moment with Jesus.
[10:57] Verse 28, it says, and when he had said these things, he went on ahead coming to Jerusalem. So I need to give you a little bit of context. If you're familiar with the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and if you're not, there's actually four different themes that happen in all the Gospels.
[11:16] They're not written to the exact same group. Matthew, for example, is written to the Jewish audience. There's far more Old Testament allusions in the Gospel of Matthew than any of the other Gospels.
[11:33] Mark was written to present to the people in Rome at that time, and there's a lot of action in that Gospel. Not a lot of teaching, but the primary purpose that Mark wrote his Gospel was to demonstrate the power of Jesus Christ that was so unlike the gods that were in Rome.
[11:56] They had statues to all their dead, powerless gods, and when Mark wrote his Gospel, I want you to see what a real God does. John, written many years after the first three Gospels, kind of fills in the blanks and picks up different themes, but Luke is unique.
[12:15] One, Luke was done as an investigation. Luke, as you may not know, was not one of the apostles. He was mostly connected with Paul during his missionary journeys, but it's got more of a Greek flavor to it.
[12:30] It's teaching to the Gentiles, so he doesn't always focus on some of the Old Testament allusions. So those are the differences in the Gospels. So the Gospel of Luke has essentially four sections.
[12:43] The first is the birth of Jesus Christ. The second segment is the ministry that Jesus Christ had in Galilee. If you did not know, there's essentially two sections where Jesus ministered.
[12:55] The northern section where he lived, which is in the area of Galilee, and then to the south where Jerusalem was. So Jesus would kind of come down to Jerusalem, usually for a festival, go back up to Galilee.
[13:07] So most of his ministry, and he did three tours up in northern part of Israel performing his ministry. And that happens between Luke 4 and 9. The third segment is found between Luke 9 and Luke 19, verse 27.
[13:23] And this is a journey that Jesus takes with many of the Israelites as they're heading to Jerusalem for the Passover weekend. So that's those three segments.
[13:35] And this section is the beginning of the fourth segment, which is the beginning of the Passion Week, the week where Jesus will offer himself as the perfect lamb to be sacrificed for us.
[13:51] So that's kind of what's going on in the background. So when he said these things, he's kind of ending that teaching, and he's now heading up that long walk to Jerusalem where he will eventually be crucified.
[14:06] Now notice the text says, and when he had said these things, this is the transition area. And in verse 29, it says, when he drew near to the Bethpage and Bethany, those are two towns right outside of Jerusalem, at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of his disciples.
[14:24] So they go in and they get this cult. And it's kind of a funny story. Like why on earth do they need to explain that there's a cult that he's got to get and the disciples kind of have this kind of password thing that's going on.
[14:39] And I believe that there's two things that Luke wants us to understand here. The first one is that Jesus Christ is not wandering into Jerusalem.
[14:50] Okay? He's not wandering in like he has no plan. The fact of the matter is Jesus is orchestrating his plan to perfection.
[15:04] For many of you who were in our Old Testament series, we truly saw how God was orchestrating every single event that happens in the Old Testament.
[15:16] And it's all coming to fruition right now in this Passion Week. So notice like in verse 30, it says he tells the disciples where to find the cult, what to say, and how it will play out.
[15:30] And why does he all do that? And if you were picking up on the reading that Joshua read for us this morning, Zechariah 9.9 is actually attributed to be a prophecy of what's going to happen in this very exact moment.
[15:46] It says, Behold, your king is coming to you, righteous and having salvation as he, humble and mounted on a donkey, in fact, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
[16:01] So my point is, God, or Jesus Christ, is not stumbling into history here. He's actually writing it to perfection. And how Jesus Christ first presents himself to the people, he doesn't do it on a war horse.
[16:18] He does not appear on a chariot. He does not show up as any king in a full processional. But he comes in on a donkey, fulfilling this prophecy.
[16:34] This donkey that Jesus Christ had prepared beforehand that he would ride in. Now, some people would say that this donkey was available to him because he had foreknowledge.
[16:47] I do not believe that. I believe that Jesus Christ had purposely prepared that this donkey be ready for him. So there's that that's going on, but there's this other controlling aspect that Luke doesn't really write about.
[17:03] If you were here for the story of Jesus Christ that I preached on a couple years ago, the Gospel of John tells us the story of Lazarus. Do you guys remember the story of Lazarus? Lazarus was a very close friend of Jesus Christ and he lived in Bethany and he had died.
[17:20] And two weeks before this Passion Week, Jesus showed up and raised him from the dead. Now, two specific events grew from this.
[17:31] One, people started to believe. Like, the crowds got so big and interested in Jesus that they were actually talking about whether or not he was going to come for this Passover week.
[17:46] The other main event that Jesus triggers is that the religious ruling class, when Lazarus had been raised and people were beginning more so to believe in Jesus, started a plan to arrest and kill Jesus.
[18:06] What's important is that wasn't by accident. Jesus orchestrated the events that happened with Lazarus two weeks prior so that there would be the sustained energy.
[18:21] And Luke doesn't really talk about it that much, but when you read the other Gospels, the multitudes are massive. In fact, Matthew speaks about how the earth shook so that when Jesus walked in or on this, the cult walked in with Jesus on its back, it would have been to a thunderous applause.
[18:44] The multitudes, the people would have been there and praising and excited. The King is here. The King is here. So this is the picture of what's going on.
[18:56] The city is abuzz. It is the Passover celebration, the highlight of the Jewish festivals. The markets are full. The temple is full.
[19:06] The streets are full. But the people's idea of a King is far different than the King that Jesus presents himself to be.
[19:21] You see, for many in the crowd expected Jesus Christ to be the one to overthrow the Roman Empire and they could return to the time of David where they ruled.
[19:34] They wanted their own ruler. They wanted their own kingship. But as I said, Jesus doesn't arrive on a war horse, which is what a king would have rode on during a time of war, but he rides in on a donkey, which is what a king would have rode in during a time of peace.
[19:55] Not only that, it's an unridden donkey. No donkey had carried a person before, which symbolizes that Jesus had been set aside for God's purposes, not man's purposes.
[20:11] That Jesus chose this donkey coming with humility and peace and not by force, which if you know your Bible is contrasted with how Jesus is coming next.
[20:24] If you're familiar with Revelation 19, he is coming with a war horse the next time he comes. But at this moment, Jesus is not entering Jerusalem to crush his enemies.
[20:38] He's entering into Jerusalem to carry our sins. The fact of the matter is we all want a king who comes on our own terms, right?
[20:52] We want a strong, victorious king who will fix all our problems. But Jesus comes first in humility, riding low, not high.
[21:06] And it begs the question of us is how do you see Jesus? Do you receive Jesus for who he is? or do you receive Jesus for the God that you want him to be just for you?
[21:25] Because Jesus only presented himself in one way. So that is the first presentation of Jesus. My second point that I want you to pay attention to is how the crowd perceives Jesus.
[21:40] Verse 36 and it says as he rode along they spread their cloaks on the road and he was drawing near already on the way down to 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 that they had seen.
[21:57] And let's be honest, Jesus' works were unquestioned the miracles that he had did. No one could challenge him. We would later see when they challenged him that the Pharisees they couldn't.
[22:12] They couldn't go to a false blind healing or a false lame healing. Every single miracle that Jesus had done had been done to perfection.
[22:24] And in verse 38 they say blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory on in the highest.
[22:37] Verse 37 again, they were rejoicing and praising God with a loud voice. That's got to be good, right? That's got to mean something.
[22:49] Let's be honest, it's a parade of praise. There's cloaks on the road. The other gospels tell us they laid down palm leaves and they waved these branches and people were shouting.
[23:02] It was like this worship festival. It looked like worship, sounded like worship. But here's the thing that we know. Not all that sounds like praise actually comes from the heart of one who believes.
[23:18] Not all that sounds like praise comes from the heart that truly believes. The greatest tragedy to this story is that in a week's time, less than a week's time, the crowds will shout crucify him, crucify him.
[23:36] you see, the crowd they wanted to deliver her. They wanted someone to save them, but they did not want a Lord.
[23:47] They shouted Hosanna, expecting him to overthrow Rome, but they did not realize that Jesus came to overthrow our sin.
[23:57] As I said, these crowds are no small thing. Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.
[24:09] We saw that prophecy fulfilled in Psalm 118, 26. It says, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. We bless you from the house of the Lord.
[24:21] So how Jesus came, the songs that they sang were riddled with prophetic expectations that this is the heir of David coming to take his throne.
[24:37] But in verse 39, if you notice, the Pharisees in the crowd were insulted by this. How could the crowd call this Jesus, this religious outsider, this Galilean king?
[24:52] How could they praise him? Teacher Jesus rebuke them. Jesus answered, I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out that Jesus was indicating that he is indeed the presentation of the king to his people.
[25:15] This is the time, and if there were no crowds here, yet nature itself would shout out its praises to my entrance.
[25:30] So the key question is, how does it happen? How does the crowd go from blessed to the king to let's nail him to the cross? The answer is simple.
[25:43] You love Jesus more for what you think he will do for you and not what he actually is. As I stated, they wanted a deliverer and not a lord.
[25:58] They wanted a Jesus that would march into Jerusalem, storm Pilate's palace, then head on to Rome and throw the emperor off and give Israel back her crown.
[26:12] throne. But Jesus in this moment isn't headed to a throne. He's headed to a cross. And when Jesus didn't play their games, they turn on him.
[26:26] He didn't take down Caesar. He started flipping tables in the temple. Jesus didn't run to the palace. He ran to the poor and he rebuked those who took advantage of the poor.
[26:42] Jesus didn't call down fire on his enemies. He called out the religious hypocrisy of his day. And suddenly, the crowd is not so loud anymore.
[26:56] You see, this passage is a sobering one for us, my friends. It teaches us that we can sing on Sunday even really loudly. We can even sing the right words, say the right words, and still not walk with Jesus.
[27:12] It teaches us that we can be loud in the crowd but dead in the heart. One author observing this situation, he says, we can love Jesus when things are going our way, but we can grow rather cold when Jesus doesn't fix our life.
[27:32] We cheer him on when he blesses us, but we grumble when he convicts us. We proudly wear the cross around our neck, but we will not carry the cross on our backs.
[27:52] Here's the truth of the matter. Jesus is and was not ever interested in fans. Jesus is calling for disciples, those who will follow after him.
[28:13] He's not calling you to have a wonderful idea about Jesus or even to love his teachings. He's calling for something much more, which begs the question.
[28:28] Do you praise God for what he might do for you? Or do you praise God for what Jesus has already done for you on the cross?
[28:43] The question is, is the cross enough? Is the cross enough? You see, that is the ultimate test of whether you are a fan or a follower.
[29:00] Is the cross enough? It's sobering when we think about this, that this crowd, this multitude that filled the streets, filled the temple, filled the courtyards over 2,000 years ago got Jesus wrong.
[29:19] They saw Jesus. They heard Jesus. They knew Lazarus, who lived about two miles outside of Jerusalem, who's a well-known person in the community who was once dead.
[29:33] They went to his funeral, and now he was probably there cheering, yelling for the real king. It's sad that they wanted power more than salvation.
[29:49] And here we get to know the heart of our God. How does Jesus respond to this? Look at verse 41. When he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it.
[30:10] In case you did not know, this is one of the most shocking moments in the entire gospel narratives. the crowds are cheering, the city is buzzing, and Jesus is weeping.
[30:26] Now, this isn't the shedding kind of a tear down your cheek kind of cry. The Greek word here means to wail, that it was an external expression of deep grief, deep gut wrenching, sobbing.
[30:48] Literally, Jesus breaks down as he looks over the city. This is Jesus weeping over their fake sentimentality.
[31:00] This is Jesus weeping over their superficial faith. Jesus didn't ride the donkey with his arms raised up in victory over their cheers.
[31:17] He wept. Why? Because they missed their moment.
[31:29] This was their moment to truly declare Jesus as king. Look at verse 42. Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace, but now they are hidden from your eyes.
[31:52] If only you had known, if only you had seen me for who I am, for how I truly presented myself, if only your shouts of praise had turned into hearts of repentance.
[32:09] But no, you wanted a savior on your terms, on your time. Your eyes are blind, your ears are deaf, your moment has now passed.
[32:28] See, this just wasn't personal sadness that Jesus felt, but this was also prophetic heartbreak, because Jesus knows what's coming.
[32:41] Verse 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 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.
[33:04] what Jesus is referring to is when Rome finally came against Jerusalem in 70 AD. It's when the Romans besieged the city and burnt it to the ground.
[33:19] Within their lifetime this prophecy was fulfilled. Literally. The Romans utterly demolished the city, the temple, the residents, the people, men, women, and children were brutally slaughtered by the tens of thousands.
[33:36] The few survivors, we know history tells us, were actually carried off to become victims in the Roman circus games and gladiator bouts because they did not know the timing of their king.
[33:54] Jerusalem's utter destruction was divine judgment for their failure to recognize and embrace their Messiah when he came to them. It's like a firefighter pounding on the door of our house that's burning down.
[34:12] He's at the door and he's screaming, get out, get out, get out. And you're in your home, you're on your couch scrolling through your phone, perhaps you're sipping coffee, watching Netflix, thinking everything's okay, everything's okay.
[34:33] But when the smoke comes in and gets you, it's too late. This is exactly Jesus here. Jesus is not cold, Jesus is not angry, Jesus is not detached, but he's looking down on the city with disgust and he's weeping while he warns.
[34:58] He knows the coming fiery judgment. I came to save you from this. But you religious leaders still wanted your religion.
[35:12] You wanted peace, but not peace with God. You wanted comfort and control. And in seeking their version of peace, they forfeited the only peace that could literally save them.
[35:29] peace. So my question to you this morning is, are you missing Jesus? And I mean, are you missing the moment?
[35:42] Has Jesus been calling and you've been delaying? Have you, has Jesus been knocking and you've been distracted? been vaccinated?
[35:53] Has God been speaking to you through his word, through your circumstances, through your convictions, and you just keep brushing him off?
[36:07] Maybe you think you're like Jerusalem, that you think you've got time. You think you can circle back to him when it's more convenient. convenient. But here's the thing that we learn most pointedly here.
[36:23] Jesus doesn't wait forever. Jesus is patient, but he is not passive. Jesus is merciful, but he will never be manipulated.
[36:38] And there is a time of visitation. That's what he says in verse 44. You did not know the time of your visitation.
[36:52] Perhaps that time is right here, right now. You've been here, you've been listening to these sermons through the Old Testament, you've understood them, but you wonder, are these for me?
[37:04] But you keep pushing off. Perhaps you've got a Christian parents, Christian brother, sister, spouse, and they're sharing the good news of the gospel. And you say, no, that's good for you now, but I still want to do me.
[37:22] There's no guarantee that that gospel is coming back to you. So my question is, where do you stand today?
[37:35] Some of you love the idea of Jesus, but only if he fits into your plan, that he's some sort of sidekick. He's not your Lord. Some of you have the right words, but your hearts are far off.
[37:54] We call it church on Sunday, compromise on Monday. Or some of you have been resisting the tug of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus has been clearly telling you that there is a need for you to repent and follow after him.
[38:17] My plea for you is don't miss your moment. Don't miss your moment.
[38:29] The king has come. The king has presented himself. He came humbly, riding into your life, offering, peace.
[38:41] Will you follow him is the question. Because the next time he comes, he comes to render justice. And there's no takebacks.
[38:53] Let me pray. Let me pray. Dear Holy Heavenly Father, I just pray that during this next few weeks we'd be preparing our hearts for truly is the highlight of our faith.
[39:10] it is both a sobering moment and a time of celebration. It's a time where we can relate to the crowds.
[39:25] It's a time where we can consider ultimately who Jesus is. the events surrounding Jesus' death have been written about so much that there is no doubt to what has happened, what was said, and how he died.
[39:48] God Father, I pray that your words, your words of the gospel, your words calling us to you to repent of our old way, and we know that means to turn from our life and turn towards Jesus, to simply say, I'm not controlling things.
[40:12] God, I want you to control things. Father, I am not simply a fan. I want to be a disciple. I want to follow you in all areas of my life, how I work, how I love my wife, how I love my husband, how I parent my kids, how I relate to my parents, how I connect with my neighbors.
[40:41] Father, if there is such a heart that needs to be stirred this day, I pray that you would stir it and reveal to them their need of a Savior, and there is no time like now, because that presentation of Jesus may no longer be available tomorrow.
[41:02] So we call you on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. We ask you to redeem us. In your most holy and precious name, amen.
[41:14] to