The King Nobody Wanted | Luke 19:28-44
SLIDE 1
Read Luke 19:28-41
-At the beginning of the holy week, Jesus, was worshiped as the true king of Israel. By the end of this week; some of the crowd wanted Jesus killed—what happened?
What were people expecting?
- Jesus knew exactly what He needed to do as the True Messiah.
“ After He had said these things, He was going on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. When He approached Bethphage and Bethany, near the mount that is called Olivet, He sent two of the disciples, 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. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of it.’” So those who were sent went away and found it just as He had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” They said, “The Lord has need of it.” They brought it to Jesus, and they threw their coats on the colt and put Jesus on it.”
--Luke 19: 28-35
Luke is showing the gentile audience how intentional Jesus was. This ‘triumphant’ entry was heavily planned; Jesus knew what the people needed to see—He knew the exact year, the exact time and the exact age He needed to be in order to fulfill the prophecies of the Messiah’s sacrifice for humanity. He is showing everybody that He is the Messiah; He is their King.
“And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’”
--Luke 4:20-21
Luke continues to highlight how Jesus had an intentional Messianic (God) complex. Jesus claimed to be God and continues to be the true Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament.
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
--Zechariah 9:9-10
Jesus is clearly fulfilling this prophecy as an intentional sign, to tell people that He is their savior. The root of Jesus, the true king of Israel through the Davidic lineage. Jesus boldly claims to be God. However, Jesus didn’t match the Messiah the Pharisees envisioned or wanted because of the their unbelief and false reading of the Old Testament.
- There was no doubt that many believed in Jesus on Palm Sunday
“They brought it to Jesus, and they threw their coats on the colt and put Jesus on it. As He was going, they were spreading their coats on the road. As soon as He was approaching, near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God [p]joyfully with a loud voice for all the [q]miracles which they had seen, shouting: ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord; Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!’” – Luke 19:35-38
The whole crowd is shouting this; they are proclaiming in Jesus’ name as the King, their Messiah. A crowd gathers around Jesus and follows Jesus through Jericho into Jerusalem.
--Zaccheus, a chief tax collector, meets Jesus and Jesus’ calls him to come down from a tree. Zaccheus meets Jesus, repents, gives half his money to the poor, and proclaims Jesus as His Lord and saviour. (Luke 19:1-10)
“And Jesus said to him, ‘today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which is lost.”
--Luke 19:9-10
Jesus saves sinners! He saves Zaccheus after Zaccheus puts his faith in Christ. God Himself has come down into the world to find what was once lost, to save His children and make them found. This is how much God loves His creation—Humanity.
Before Zaccheus, Jesus, heals Bartimaeus’ blindness. This man was a blind beggar and Jesus hears him calling out for Jesus’ help.
“Those who led the way were sternly telling him to be quiet; but he kept crying out all the more, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’…I want to regain my sight! And Jesus said to him, ‘Receive your sight/ your faith has made you well. Immediately, he regained his sight and began following Him, glorifying God; and when all the people saw it, they gave praise to God.”
--Luke 18:39-43
This crowd followed Jesus and witnessed Jesus’ many miracles along the way. Jesus then comes into Jerusalem not with a royal guard, but a humble following, a humble group of disciples sitting on a humble colt. This is Jesus’ humble coronation. No army, no royal guard, just Him and His disciples, and followers.
They view Him as their King, their savior:
--They place their coats down in front of the colt and on the colt as a makeshift saddle. They are literally paving the way for their King and showing true allegiance and subservience to Jesus, their king
“Then, they hurried, and each man took his garment and placed it under him on the bare steps, and blew the trumpet, saying, ‘Jehu is the king!’” – 2 Kings 9:13
“Took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet, began to shout, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel.’” – John 12:13
--In John’s gospel and Matthew the people have palm branches which they wave as Jesus comes into Jerusalem. The palm branches were again reserved for royalty; they would be used as a symbol of peace, victory. It came from the Jewish festival called Sukkoth or ‘the feast of the tabernacles or Booths.’ This is one of the most popular holidays / celebration in Jewish culture.
The feast of Tabernacles or Booths:
Worshippers would process through Jerusalem to the Temple in Jerusalem waving a ‘lulab’ in their right hand. Lulab is a collection of leafy branches. They would proclaim Psalm 118:25 ast hey walked in Jerusalem and the temple waving their “lulab.” This festival signified the Israelites salvation out of Egypt during the Exodus time and would take place after the harvest time. It reminded the people of their reliance on God for salvation and provision, for God’s will to take place.
“O, Lord, do save, we beseech you; O Lord we beseech You, do send prosperity!” –Psalm 118:25
This crowd views Jesus as their saviour, as even God’s will to save the people from their sin. They are waving palms in victory, knowing that Jesus will bring God’s kingdom in and God is here for His people in this moment. Jesus is their prophesied king, the righteous branch of King David, the true heir to the Jew’s throne.
What happened? Why was Jesus falsely accused as a blasphemer later in the week?
- Jesus was the king people didn’t want; His humble demeanour did not match their expectations.
“Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, ‘Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.’ But Jesus answered, ‘I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!’ When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, 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.’”
--Luke 19:39-44
It was a small but powerful group that initially and always rejected Jesus, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Jewish Hight Priest and the Scribes.
“Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, ‘Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” –Luke 19:39
“Pilate summoned the chief priests and the rulers and the people. ‘You brought this man to me as one who incites the people to rebellion,’”
--Luke 23:13-14
The Pharisees’ influence spread throughout the people over the course of this last week of Christ’s life. Again, Jesus knew this would happen which is why He weeps (Luke 19:41-42). Ultimately, Christ will be rejected and sacrificed on the cross. Jesus did some things in this last week that drove the anger from the Jewish high priests also confirming that Jesus wasn’t the Messiah who they were expecting.
- Jesus drives out the market sellers from the temple—Luke 19:45-48
- The chief scribes and elders of the Temple question Jesus’ authority – Luke 20:1-8
- The confront Jesus on Caesar and allegiance to Caesar—Luke 20:19-26.
“And the bow of war will be cut off. And He will speak peace to the nations; and His dominion will be from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth.” –Zecharaiah 9:10
Some people believed Jesus, followed Jesus, but the Jewish high priest and some of the Jews rejected Jesus as Messiah—He didn’t match how expected the Messiah work. They thought the Messiah would bring total peace to Jerusalem and would bring in His dominion over the Roman governments/ across the world. Zecheriah 9:10 is about Jesus’ first coming, riding in on a lowly donkey, in such a humble nature but Zech. 9:10 is about Jesus’ ultimate victory over this world, it is about His second coming. The Jewish high priest did not know this distinction (or they ignored it) they though the first and second coming would be once coming—so when Jesus didn’t overthrow the government, when Jesus didn’t establish His ultimate rule over the Earth, they called Him a blasphemer.
“Why do Jews not accept Jesus as the Messiah? Judaism does not believe that Jesus was the Messiah because he did not fulfill any messianic prophecies . . . The Messiah will bring universal peace . . . It has been obvious for over nineteen hundred years [and] the messianic days of peace have not arrived.”
--Dennis Prager
This rejection makes Jesus sad—gives Him sadness and grief. God does not like it when His people reject His good news, reject Him as their saviour even if He knows it is going to happen anyways. Jesus’ response to the Pharisees (vs. 40)
“Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house. To put his nest on high, to be delivered from the hand of calamity!...Surely the stone will cry out from the wall, and the rafter will answer it from the framework.”
--Habakkuk 2:9,11
This is referencing the judgement of the proud nation of Judah. Prophet Hab. Is explaining that justice, God’s justice, will always humble the proud—especially when they think they can save themselves from their greed, their earthly works, and earthly treasures.
Jesus is saying that no man, no government, no Pharisee can stop God’s will from happening—even the stones will cry out for their saviour!
“When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, 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. 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, 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.’”
--Luke 19:41-44
“The cry was that of a frustrated desire. He had visited the city, with the desire to deliver it from the things of destruction; and with the offers of peace. The spiritual leaders and the people did not properly discern the meaning of Christ’s humble visitation. The result was inevitable. There could be no escap from the destruction.” --G. Campbell Morgan
“Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming.” – 1 John 2:28
Christ loves humanity. He weeps because he knows that many people will be without Him eternally. He knows that Jerusalem will be taken over, destroyed and that God’s judgement will be on those who reject Him. He knows that many people (including His people) will be unrepentant to what He is about to do, dying on the cross and coming back to life three days later.
Abide in Him. Study your bible. Talk to Him daily. Listen for Him. Invest your time into your church community—spend your life in worship of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Jesus came as the king people didn’t want but He is the king we need. Invite the people in your life to meet this amazing King, the God/Man who will save them from their sins, and bring them into a life transformed, shining His glory.