Latest / HBCWestminster / 11.7.21 Luke 19:28-44 Pastor Danny Gardner

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11.7.21 Luke 19:28-44 Pastor Danny Gardner · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  Well, thank you, church. If you're new with us, we're so glad that you're here. My name's Danny. I'm the senior pastor here at the church, and it's my privilege to open God's Word with all of you this morning. If you have your Bibles, you can open to Luke chapter 19. Luke 19, beginning in verse 28, and we pick up right where we left off last week, although this morning we're going to do this a little bit differently. Normally, it would be our custom to stand and read God's Word together right at the front, but I'm actually going to save that for the middle, and the reason will become clear. I'm actually going to do some review.
• 0:30
  And we come, as of this morning, to the final section of Luke's Gospel, the Passion Week of Christ. And we've been studying the Gospel of Luke for more than two years. It's been 26 months since we began our study of the Gospel of Luke. And it occurred to me that about half of us here this morning have been with our church less than 26 months.
• 0:51
  And so you weren't actually here for the start of our study. And if that is you, if you're new, maybe this is your first Sunday, or if you're relatively new, maybe you've been coming for several months. Let me just say right out front, we are so glad that you're here. May I encourage you, jump in, jump in with both feet. Enjoy the genuine fellowship and family of God here at Highland.
• 1:12
  We welcome you with open arms. I would love to meet you. I would love to meet your families. I would love to buy you coffee or lunch. Please allow me to do that. I want to hear your story. I would also be happy to answer any questions you may have about the church or about myself, my family, talk to you about how you can become involved if that's what you're interested in. And in case you're new with us or in case you're not new, maybe you've been here a hundred years and you just haven't really been paying attention. I want to take a moment to catch you up.
• 1:43
  We come to a transitionary text now in Luke's gospel. And I would hate for people to come in in the middle and not really know where we are. Kind of have to jump in to the middle of the story. Maybe it's happened to you where you've woken up in the middle of the night disoriented. Has that ever happened? You wake up and you're like, what day is it? What time is it? Am I supposed to be someplace? Maybe that happened last night because of the time change. Right? You woke up and you're like, wait, things are off. What's going on? One of our beloved sisters at first service came to me and...
• 2:13
  She is just, she is so, so, so funny, has such a great sense of humor. And I came and I said, hey, did you sleep well last night? Did you remember about the time change? And she's one of those who maybe doesn't rely on her smartphone to remind her of the time change like the rest of us do, right? And so she just said, you know, Danny, I set my clock just like I was supposed to. Yesterday I remembered time change, time change, except that I accidentally set it an hour ahead.
• 2:38
  instead of going an hour behind. So she said, I was two hours off this morning. She takes an Uber to church every morning. And so she said, I called my Uber driver and said, where are you? And she said, it's four in the morning. I'm in bed. Where are you? She said, I'm waiting for you to pick me up. She said, I'll be there in two hours. I'll be there in two hours. Maybe that's you. You're coming in halfway through the gospel of Luke. And so you're like, man, I don't know. Not all of this necessarily.
• 3:07
  makes sense and in case that's you allow me to catch you up we have said from the beginning that the gospel of luke is the best news for the worst people it's the best news for the worst people the scope of luke's message is universal it is for everyone no one excluded it is for you no matter what you have done nor who you are there are people and i run into them who believe they have out
• 3:38
  sinned god's ability to forgive and in case that's you the gospel of luke is for you perhaps you've felt left out you feel like maybe you're not smart enough or experienced enough or qualified enough maybe you feel like i'm not even good looking enough you ever felt undeserving or unworthy you know years ago my family was
• 4:03
  taking a family portrait remember when churches used to do church directories remember when that was a thing right and they'd hire these people life touch or whoever that was who would come in they'd do these kind of fancy family portraits you're supposed to get dressed up and they take all of that time to position your family just right and they're like moving your head sideways and doing all these weird angles and you're like this is not how we normally look you know i don't know but they take this picture and then they're they're trying to sell you on this family portrait
• 4:29
  And as a bonus, they make that church directory for free. They give it to everybody at the church. Years ago now, in fact, before my youngest son Chase, who is now 11, before he was even born, my two older sons were just little. You know, Zach was three or four, and Pearson maybe seven years old. We go to have our family portrait done at the church, and the photographer's there, and he says, now Zach, you know, little tiny toddler Zach, sits him on a little stool, and then Pearson, stand next to your brother, good job, and then takes Hallie, and I almost said Haley. I mess with her name all the time.
• 4:58
  Her actual name is Hallie. I'm sorry. It's not my nickname for her. You know, Hallie, come over here. And you, you know, kind of position here. Good. And then Danny, why don't you stand in the back? And, you know, he's moving me and moving me and shift your shoulders and do all of these things. Moving me, moving me, moving me. And takes the picture. He brings us over and he shows us the computer monitor. And he says, oh, Zach, good job. You look great. And Pearson, you look good. And Hallie, beautiful. Good job. And then he says, no, Danny, you know, we offer free touch-up. He really did. He really said that.
• 5:28
  You know, we offer free touch-up for pictures. I'm wondering if you'd be interested in that. And I was like, no. And I have no intention of purchasing your portrait at this point. You just offended the guy with the wallet. No. We don't offer, need free touch-up. And maybe you feel like the person who's maybe not good enough the way you are. Maybe you feel like your life needs the free touch-up. And William Scroggie has said this, Luke.
• 5:59
  is the gospel of sympathy, especially for the outcast. Jesus has pity for all who are in need. And we have said this phrase so many times, church. It is the gospel for those for whom in all ages the world has had no gospel. If you feel like, man, I just couldn't possibly be saved, you don't know what I've done, you don't know what I've said, you don't know who I've hurt, then the gospel of Luke is for you. Maybe perhaps in reading some of the other gospels, there are four gospel accounts.
• 6:29
  Maybe reading the other Gospels, you've drawn the conclusion that Jesus was maybe the Jewish Messiah. He was for the Jewish people and not necessarily for everyone else. And Luke disagrees. After all, Luke was himself a Gentile. One of the four Gospel authors was a Gentile. In fact, if you total Luke's writings, the Gospel of Luke and then the book of Acts, those are the two books that he wrote.
• 6:53
  then a Gentile authored nearly a quarter of the New Testament. He authored more than any other New Testament writer. I know the Apostle Paul gets a lot of press. He wrote 13 of the books. But don't forget, his books were short. Sometimes only a page long. If you compare him to Luke in terms of number of words, number of verses, then Luke wrote more of the New Testament than the Apostle Paul did. Nearly a quarter of it was written by a Gentile.
• 7:23
  writer. We've said that Luke was a physician. He was a doctor, which means he was intelligent. He was credible. He was diligent. He was a gifted writer. He had a large vocabulary. There are 800 words used by Luke that are unique to Luke, not used by any other author. Imagine how extensive his vocabulary was. 800 unique words. We often erroneously, I think,
• 7:51
  think believe the ancient writers to have been kind of bumbling fools kind of literary morons i mean if you'll excuse the phrase whose words cannot and therefore should not be taken seriously you'll hear people explain away difficult passages saying well they were so dense dumb uneducated unenlightened that their words can't be taken seriously we as now modern and enlightened people
• 8:20
  should not be bound and limited by the gospel writers because they, after all, didn't know very much. They were working with such limited resources. And so although I know that's what it says, allow me to tell you what it means. And their meaning is completely different than what it says. But church, that's false. Luke was a brilliant man. He was highly educated. He could have chosen any word he wanted from his extensive vocabulary, which means the words he chose were carefully selected.
• 8:51
  We've said that Luke was a historian. More than any other gospel, Luke includes dates, names, events in history. He includes historical places to ensure the validity of these events to his readers. You'll notice when you're reading the gospel of Luke, you are not reading a fairy tale. This was not once upon a time in a land far away.
• 9:12
  This was in this date, and this guy was the Caesar, and this guy was the governor in this town. And you'll remember it because this historical event happened. I mean, it was very specific. He was a careful historian. Church, Luke's gospel is for you. After all, Luke's theme is forgiveness. That is the theme of the book. From John the Baptist's teaching in chapter 3 to the forgiving of the paralytic's sins in chapter 5.
• 9:41
  To the declaration that if you forgive others, you will also be forgiven in chapter 6. To Jesus forgiving the sins of the prostitute in chapter 7. To the Lord's Prayer in chapter 11. To the forgiveness offered to anyone who speaks against the Son of Man in chapter 12. To the forgiveness extended to the sinning brother in chapter 17. I know we haven't even come to it yet, but in chapter 23, Jesus is crucified. And when he is crucified and looking down on his crucifiers, he actually begs the Father for their forgiveness.
• 10:12
  Forgive them, Lord. They don't know what they're doing. Forgiveness, forgiveness, all the way to the end, the last chapter, chapter 24, forgiveness of sins offered to all nations in the Great Commission. The single thread that binds Luke's gospel together is the message of forgiveness. And church, that is good news because we are a people in need of forgiveness. Amen?
• 10:41
  I know we polish ourselves up and we make ourselves look nice and smell nice and all of that when we come to church. And praise God, we're not asking you to change that. Feel free to smell nice, okay? But church, we don't always present who we actually are in terms of our own obedience, in terms of our own faithfulness, in terms of how our marriage actually is. We typically present to the church a united front, even when it's not necessarily united at home.
• 11:11
  We typically present ourselves as great parents, even though we know what it's like on Thursday nights, you know, and as our kids are tired and they're coming to the end of their week too, and our patience has run thin. Church, we are a people in need of forgiveness. And the good news is that Luke's gospel is a message of forgiveness. Luke is also uniquely the gospel for all people, no matter their backgrounds and lifestyles. And I've had people tell me,
• 11:42
  that it's boring to read the Gospels because they say the same things over and over. They just repeat themselves. I've had people say, why did Jesus give us four Gospels? Why not just one really good Gospel? Why not just compile them, harmonize them, and just present one Gospel story? And the reason is because some of this material between the four is unique. It's meant to point out the uniquenesses. You know, there are two unique conversions.
• 12:09
  in the Gospel of Luke. Without the Gospel of Luke, we'd have never known about Zacchaeus. It's the only place that we little man, the tax collector, who extorted money from his friends and neighbors, he was the most hated man in town, and yet he came to Christ. He was saved. He wasn't saved because of who he knew, his friends and whatever, like he can, you know, kind of force his way into the kingdom. It wasn't. Nobody wanted him, except for Jesus. Another unique conversion to the Gospel of Luke, and we'll come to this one.
• 12:40
  is the repentant thief on the cross. You know, the other gospels say that there were three crosses that day, that Jesus' cross was one of three. It is only Luke who says one of them repented and was saved. And if a criminal, a crucified criminal can be saved, the church, who is beyond the Lord's forgiveness? Nobody. There are three unique miracles in Luke, the raising of the widow's son, the healing of the 10 lepers.
• 13:09
  The healing of the servant's ear. You remember the soldiers show up. The Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus has just finished praying, sweating blood. His disciples have just woken up. To this band of soldiers. You remember this? And they're coming to arrest Jesus. And at the head of that group somehow is this servant of the high priest. We find out his name is Malchus. Malchus didn't, I don't think, intend to be at the head of the procession. But he ends up at the head of the procession. An impulsive...
• 13:39
  Peter grabs his sword, and what a fisherman is doing with a sword anyway, probably shouldn't have had one, pulls his sword and just takes this mighty swing and ends up chopping off the guy's ear. Do you remember that? It's only Luke's gospel that says Jesus bent down and picked up the ear. We assume maybe blew it off, stuck it back on the guy's head. It's the only place. And you know what's really interesting about that story is that Jesus, after all of that, the gospel of John says,
• 14:11
  That Jesus knocks them all down with his authority. The people say, where is Jesus? And he says, I'm right here. And the whole earth shook and all of those soldiers bent the knee. Involuntarily, I think he knocked them all down. Peter picks up his sword, whacks that guy's ear off. Jesus bends down and picks up the ear and sticks it back on. The guy, you can imagine what his response would be. Like, is it fixed? You know, no blood. It's as if it never happened. And then Jesus says, what you've come to do, let's do.
• 14:41
  what you've come to do it's time let's go do it for this very reason i came man what a great he could have put an end to that anytime he wanted we'll come back to that in just a moment there were three unique parables in luke the prodigal son the worst of the worst of the worst of sinners forgiven the pharisee and the tax collector the pharisee does not come out the hero of the story the tax collector does the parable of the good samaritan where the foreigner
• 15:08
  The foreigner who does not go to the temple to pray, who does not go to the temple to sacrifice, the foreigner comes out the hero of the story. You know, no matter what you've been excluded from or no matter what you participated in, this gospel message is for you. But let me also take you back. Let's catch you up in the gospel of Luke. Allow me to take just a few moments to review in case you're new with us. If you go back to Luke 1.
• 15:33
  The first three chapters of Luke kind of tell the identity of the Savior of the world. They give the description of who Jesus is. Three major accounts in chapters 1 through 3, his birth, his boyhood, and his baptism, all identify this is the guy that has been long awaited. This is the guy, his miraculous birth, his boyhood, and that story of him in the temple, and then his baptism, where the Lord shows up, the Trinity shows up, and affirms and confirms Jesus.
• 16:03
  as the savior of the world if you go to chapter 3 in verse 23 you'll notice there's a transitionary phrase 323 jesus it says when he began his ministry was about 30 years of age and so from that point forward you'll notice something has changed it's no longer now the identity it's no longer the boyhood of jesus now he is beginning his public ministry in chapters 3 through 9 tell about the ministry the bulk of his ministry
• 16:33
  as the savior of the world. They cover about a two and a half year span. Chapters three and four, one year, Judea, Jerusalem, calling disciples to himself. But then in chapter four and verse 16, an interesting thing happens where he goes back to Galilee, to Nazareth. Nazareth is his own hometown. This begins an 18 month, what is called the great Galilean ministry.
• 16:58
  And this event at Nazareth kind of becomes a paradigm for the remainder of that 18 months. It's a synopsis of Jesus' entire ministry in Galilee. He goes into his own home synagogue where he grew up. He declares himself to be the Messiah. He was rejected by his hearers. And so in response, he stated that the gospel would in turn go to the Gentiles. And that is what the next 18 months will have.
• 17:27
  He will travel from village to village, synagogue to synagogue, declaring himself to be the Messiah, being rejected by his own people, and then saying, okay, then I'll go to the Gentiles. If you go to chapter 9 and verse 51, you'll notice another transitionary phrase.
• 17:44
  9.51, when the days drew near for him to be taken up, that is, to ascend, to be crucified, to be buried, to be resurrected, and then to ascend. When those days were drawing near, he set his face to go to Jerusalem, and thus begins the travel section of the Gospel of Luke, the journey chapters.
• 18:06
  From 9 to 19, 11 chapters, the bulk of the Gospel of Luke, what we have been studying for the past 18 months. We started this right about the time COVID hit. So that's those 11 chapters. He is traveling from the north in Galilee down to Jerusalem. What would take in the life of Christ six months to accomplish. He, in those times, he's rejected by a village. The sons of thunder, James and John, speak up.
• 18:36
  He, in this time, sends out the 70. He's introduced to Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, who will become his best friends for the first time. He's accused of using Satan's power to cast out Satan. And his response is, well, how would that work exactly? Teaches a whole bunch of parables. About six to eight weeks or so before the Passover, Jesus goes to Bethany. He raises Lazarus, his best friend from the dead. On his way up to Jerusalem, he heals 10 lepers, only one of whom says thank you, the Gentile.
• 19:05
  He declares the imminence of the kingdom of God. He gives two parables on prayer. He describes the nature of saving faith as childlike, but not childish. He rebukes the rich young ruler, and he foretells his death for the third time. In the last couple of weeks, Zacchaeus has gotten saved, and Jesus last Sunday told a parable to remind his hearers that he, their king, would depart before he comes again to judge.
• 19:36
  And if you go to the end of that section, chapter 19 and verse 28, what is our text this morning? There's another transitionary phrase when it says 1928. And when he had said these things, he went on ahead going up to Jerusalem. These last few chapters of Luke's gospel describe the rejection and the crucifixion of the Savior of the world during the Passion Week. And this is where we pick up.
• 20:07
  The triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem. Do you ever wonder what an orchestra conductor does? You ever been to an orchestra, like seen one of the symphony or whatever? You go and you listen to all this. Do you ever wonder what that guy with the little stick, you know, other than like the, at the beginning, and then him doing this and the whole thing starting. Do you ever, it seems like he's not playing any instrument. Everybody else is doing all the work.
• 20:35
  As I've watched, it seems like none of the musicians are even looking at him. They're all looking at their music, and I've often wondered, what would happen if he's not there? I mean, honestly, are the flutes, no, the flautists, actually waiting for him to point at them? Like, if he didn't point at them, they wouldn't know to come in?
• 20:55
  They know that dude with the big drum thing. He's going to know I'm supposed to hit it twice. The music says to hit it twice. If I don't point, he didn't point at me, so I'm not going to do it. No, you're reading the music. I've always wondered, what does this guy do? It's always been confusing to me about why that's the guy who gets the most applause. There's a hundred of them up there. They're the ones making the music, but we don't clap until this guy comes out.
• 21:22
  He's not even doing anything. I've often wondered, no kidding, I've often wondered if in the middle of the song, what would happen if he just went and sat down? Like, would the musicians even notice? What is he actually doing? For the answers to these questions, I contacted our local music expert, Carla Anderson. I asked her, no kidding, this week, I was like, Carla, I've got some questions. I'm studying for the sermon this week. I have some questions about orchestra conductors. Okay, I don't know what that has to do with triumphal entry.
• 21:54
  She said this, the conductor has every musician's part memorized. She said musicians really only know their own parts, but conductors know everyone's parts, especially when only one portion of the orchestra is playing or the music is very quiet. The conductor pays attention to where the story is at and where it needs to be to stay on track.
• 22:17
  The conductor, she said, traces the melody through the song even when the melody isn't necessarily being played. Okay. So I said, what would happen if the conductor just in the middle of the song went and sat down? She said, the music would lack life and personality.
• 22:36
  The conductor breathes life into the music. He makes it sound as if it's a living, breathing piece rather than a robotic playing of notes. The conductor adds expression. Then she said this. She said, Danny, all of those musical notations don't actually represent every musical nuance. There isn't a musical notation for every musical nuance. She said, for instance, the music may say crescendo. That's like a building of volume and energy. But she said,
• 23:05
  musicians don't know necessarily how big to make that crescendo. The conductor dictates how big or how small to make those notations. Everyone can read their parts, but the conductor is the one crafting it and putting it all together. Now, you're going to hear me say again and again in the next four months as we conclude Luke's gospel, you will hear me say that Jesus
• 23:33
  is orchestrating the events surrounding his own crucifixion you'll hear me say that jesus is the conductor he's the conductor and there are a lot of parts being played but he is the one listening for the melody line he is the one breathing life he is the one giving it expression he is the one controlling it he is the one who is actually orchestrating the events surrounding his own
• 24:01
  and everyone else may be playing their parts, but he's the one tracing the melody. He's the one paying attention to where the story is. He's the one making sure it's where it needs to be to stay on track. And as we come to the triumphal entry, no doubt there were some in that audience, in that crowd, who misunderstood what Christ's intentions actually were as he entered into Jerusalem, his rejection by and sorrow over the city, and his claiming authority over the temple precinct, which we'll study next week.
• 24:32
  were all meant to convey his claim that he came to seek and to save the lost, not that he came to sit on Caesar's throne. Let me say that again. Everything Christ did in his final week of life was intentional to convey one message, and that message is found in Luke chapter 19 and verse 10.
• 24:58
  When Jesus said in the home of Zacchaeus this now newly converted tax collector when he said for the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost everything from that point forward comes under that theme I Came to seek and to save the lost I did not come to topple Caesar's throne
• 25:23
  Now I know that they will hail him as king. That wasn't wrong. He received their worship, but he also knew as he is on the back of that donkey riding up and there are thousands upon thousands hailing him as the coming one, the Messiah, the anointed one. He also knew exactly how that week was going to end. He wasn't fooled. It was intentional. Everything was calculated, including where he stayed, what he rode.
• 25:53
  how he was hailed how he was rejected even how he wept over the city and so let's just go through those notice first how aware where he stayed you pick up in verse 28 when he had said these things it says he went on going up to jerusalem and when he drew near to beth phage and bethany at the mount that is called olivet he sent two of the disciples beth bethany and beth phage two small villages within walking distance of jerusalem in the temple
• 26:21
  Jesus stayed often in the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, who had a small home in Bethany. They were his best friends. It was his home away from home, if you want to call it that. It was his retreat. He was loved and cared for in their home. He found the needed friendship and support that would be vital for his completion of this, his most difficult week. And notice also what he rode.
• 26:51
  In verse 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 sat. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, why are you untying it? You shall say this, the Lord has need of it. So those who were sent away found it just as he had told them. 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 and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it.
• 27:22
  Now, rather than patterning his arrival after the Roman emperors and Gentile kings who would come before him, Jesus instead patterned his arrival after King Solomon. Now, we don't have time to go back to 1 Kings 1, but if you'd like to do that on your own, you certainly can. 1 Kings 1, as the newly appointed King Solomon. Upon the death of his father, King David, and upon the transference of...
• 27:50
  royal authority to Solomon for his coronation, jumped on the back, rather than of a war horse, jumped on the back of a mule or a donkey, rode up to Jerusalem to receive the kingdom. Solomon approached the city of Jerusalem with humility by riding on a mule rather than on a horse. And church, that was intentional.
• 28:17
  Solomon, for a king to ride into his city for his coronation day on a donkey meant that he came to declare peace. If he were going to declare war, he would have come in on a horse. That was an animal. That was a beast of war. Let me ask you, church. And so Jesus here, very intentionally, chooses a colt, a young donkey, rather than a war horse. He was declaring peace. Can I ask?
• 28:44
  Will there be a day when Jesus comes back to Jerusalem on a horse? Oh, you better believe it. Can I get an amen from the congregation? Jesus is coming back and it ain't to declare peace. Listen to Revelation 19. Then I saw heaven opened and behold a white horse, a war horse. The one sitting on it is called faithful and true. It's Jesus. And in righteousness, he judges and makes war.
• 29:12
  His intentions will be clear on that day. His eyes are like a flame of fire and on his head are many diadems, crowns. And he's a name written that no one knows but himself. He's clothed in a robe dipped in blood. That is the blood of his enemies. And the name by which he is called is the word of God. Remember when the word became flesh, right? The word will come back as a conquering king. The armies of heaven arrayed in fine linen. Now I believe that is the raptured saints. I believe that's the church.
• 29:43
  white and pure were following him on white horses from his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations and he will rule them with a rod of iron he will tread the wine press of the fury of the wrath of god almighty now don't get me wrong church he even on this day on his triumphal entry day he is the legitimate jewish king
• 30:09
  He entered the city as king. He just didn't do it by coming in and kicking in the door as a conquering king. That will come. That day will come. But that day is not this day. And intentionally so. Look also at how he was hailed. Verse 36. As he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road.
• 30:34
  So they were taking off their jackets, their robes, their tunics, whatever, right? They're taking these things off. They're laying them on the road so that he can walk across them. That was symbolic. They were saying, we submit to your authority as king. You can walk on us. That's what they're saying. It was very symbolic. As he was drawing near, already on the way down the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven.
• 31:04
  and glory in the highest. They were quoting Psalm 118. Psalm 118 is a messianic psalm. It was used during the Passover. Passover was about to happen just a few days from now. They had this song already resonating in their hearts and minds. And so now they begin to quote Psalm 118, acknowledging Jesus was the fulfillment of the messianic promise. This was their long-awaited King.
• 31:33
  Parallel accounts in the other Gospels include the crowd was shouting words like Hosanna. Hosanna, which means save now. Save us now. They used the title Son of David, referencing Christ's qualifications as a legitimate descendant of the Davidic dynasty. In other words, you have the right to sit on the throne. Remember we talked about Herod the Great, Herod Archelaus last week? These were illegitimate kings.
• 32:00
  They weren't even Jewish. We said all of that last week. This guy was legitimate. He came from the right line. Taken together. This crowd is worshiping the right man. He is a descendant of David. They're declaring the right message. Save us. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace and glory. They're even worshiping in the right manner. Waving palm branches. Throwing their cloaks on the ground. But look at how he was rejected.
• 32:28
  Verse 39, some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, teacher, rebuke your disciples. To the Pharisees, this praise and adoration was blasphemous. And so they called on Jesus to rebuke the crowds. Their demand was that Jesus silence and disperse these worshiping disciples. Can you imagine Jesus stopping and just saying, hey, everybody, let's quiet down, just head back home. There's nothing to see here.
• 33:01
  This past Tuesday, the Atlanta Braves defeated the Houston Astros to win the World Series. It was a great series, actually. I really enjoyed watching it. You know, estimates were that 85,000 people were gathered outside of SunTrust Park in Atlanta to celebrate their team's victory. What was funny about that is that the game, the last game, game six, wasn't even played in Atlanta. It was played in Houston.
• 33:29
  But 85,000 Braves fans still showed up in Atlanta at SunTrust Park to celebrate, to watch the game on this big screen together. 85,000 of them. And when that final out was recorded in Houston, the crowds in Atlanta went berserk. I mean, you can imagine. These people went nuts. Tens of thousands of them.
• 33:52
  jumping up and down, screaming, celebrating together. I mean, doing whatever it is 85,000 people do. Can you imagine in that moment if a Houston Astros fan had stood up with his bullhorn and said, all right, people, let's all just be quiet and go home. That's enough. There's nothing to celebrate. Can you imagine he wearing his Astros gear and whatever in front of these 85,000 Atlanta Braves fans? Like, that's enough.
• 34:23
  You've celebrated long enough. Everybody go home. He would have been booed out of town. Perhaps something much worse would have happened to him. You can only speculate. Can you imagine if Jesus stood up in front of this crowd, this euphoric crowd, this frenzy of a crowd who has been waiting for this in their minds centuries. They've been waiting for this and now finally the one has come and he's coming in the right way. He's declaring peace over us.
• 34:53
  And for him to stand up and say, hey, everybody, just quiet down. You should all just go home. That's not what he does. He answers instead the Pharisees in verse 40, and he says, I tell you, I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out. John MacArthur's commentary on this statement is helpful. He says this, the phrase, if these become silent, should be understood not as something that may possibly happen, but as something that will inevitably happen.
• 35:25
  In other words, Jesus says, I tell you, when these become silent, the very stones would cry out. And let me ask, if you were to drive to SunTrust Park right now in Atlanta, and you were to go to their battery, which is that big gathering place right outside of the baseball stadium, and you were to look right now, how many of those Braves fans are still there? None. That same place, which only five days ago had 85,000 screaming fans, is now all but deserted. You can imagine.
• 35:56
  World Series brochure still being flowed, right? Kind of whipping around in the breeze. I mean, it's deserted. There's nothing left. And Jesus says, you know, I don't have to tell this crowd to disperse. They'll disperse on their own. I don't have to tell this crowd to stop praising. They will stop praising. The next time that this same crowd would gather in mass, their message would be very different.
• 36:25
  It wouldn't be blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Instead, those same voices will be screaming what? Crucify, crucify. He says, I don't have to. They will be silent. And then the very stones will cry out. Notice finally how he wept over the soon to be destroyed city. Verse 41 says, and when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it. That word for wept, kleio, it comes from the Greek word kleio.
• 36:57
  It's a strong word. It doesn't just mean that Jesus shed a tear. The word means agonizing, sobbing, suffering lament. It's the same word used of the sorrow-filled streets of Bethlehem when Herod the Great murdered all of those baby boys. That was the sound of their mothers.
• 37:20
  Matthew 2.18 says this, a voice was heard in Ramah weeping and loud lamentation. That's that word, weeping and loud lamentation when these babies were slaughtered. Rachel, the mother of Israel, right? Her husband Jacob, the father of Israel. Rachel weeping for her children. She refused to be comforted because those babies are no more. Jesus didn't just shed a tear over the holy city's rejection of their king. He sobbed. He didn't just weep because of the nation's current rejection.
• 37:49
  He wept because he foresaw the city's imminent destruction. Look what he says in verse 42. Would that you even you had known on this day the things that make for peace. He was coming to offer peace, and yet he knows in five days they will put me on a cross. But now they are hidden from your eyes, for the days will come upon you. That is an Old Testament phrase used by the prophets. If ever a prophet stood up and said, for the days will come upon you, you'll know that bad news is coming. It was never good.
• 38:18
  Those days were always days of judgment. Jesus, I think prophetically here, says 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. It would be a mere four decades, only 40 years later, after this prediction that the Roman military
• 38:48
  would crush jerusalem would destroy and dismantle the temple in fact the temple stones that would be left i think are the very stones that christ was making reference to only a few verses earlier that would say they would cry out and i don't think in verse 40 he's talking about crying out in praise of jesus rather these stones which will be completely leveled will cry out in judgment because of israel's unbelief and so danny what's the point
• 39:18
  The point is this. Christ is the conductor. He's tracking the melody even when it's hard to hear. He is breathing life into the music. He's making sure the song is staying on track. He is fulfilling the purpose of his coming. The purpose was not to sit on Caesar's throne. Rather, the purpose in his first coming was to seek and to save the lost. And you may be wondering, well, how do we get from Jesus being hailed king on Sunday to Jesus being crucified?
• 39:49
  on friday and this will be the topic of our sermons for the next several months as we conclude our study of the gospel of luke and lord i pray a blessing over the preaching of your word lord may we not only be hearers of it but doers also may we understand lord that the song that was begun those 2 000 years ago is still being played christ is still the conductor we are still his musicians
• 40:18
  Lord, the gospel is moving according to your plan. The church is advancing according to your plan. Lord, may we just trust that you can hear the melody even when it's faint. You are our good shepherd, God. We thank you and praise you for your care. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.