"What Jesus Saw"

Jesus is now on His way to Jerusalem to present Himself as the Passover Lamb. He knows what lies ahead for Him. People are converging on Jerusalem from all directions to observe the Passover. Historians believe that 1-2 million Jews would have been in Jerusalem throughout this week.

Imagine the crowded streets everywhere you look. Up ‘til now Jesus has, for the most part, avoided the big crowds and kept a low profile. But now He comes front and center, and allows His disciples to announce Him as the Messiah. Why? He’s moving things toward His ultimate rejection by the religious leaders, putting the wheels in motion for His ultimate sacrifice.

From this point on in the week, it would appear as if chaos ensues, but the reality is… Jesus is in full control, guiding all things. This is still true today… Those in Washington think they are in control, the UN may think the same as those in the European Union, or in Russia, or in the Middle East. Those who follow Allah may think they are guiding where the world is going, but God is still on the throne, and He is the one that causes kings and Kingdoms to rise and fall.

As we get into our passage today I want to look at “What Jesus Saw”. Yes, there were 1-2 Million people, Yes, they were rejoicing and laying down palm branches for His colt to walk on, Yes, there were people there that didn’t like Him very much… But I want to look a little deeper than that… and really point out some of the, maybe not so obvious or easily overlooked, things that Jesus Saw.

We are going to read Luke's account of this Triumphal Entry… Please turn in your Bibles to Luke 19… (Read vv. 28-44)

Jesus Saw...

Meat:

As this journey into Jerusalem was under way, Jesus saw something in His disciples that He desires to see in all of us that claim to be following Him…

1. Obedience

Look back at v.29…

Luke 19:29-30 “29 And it came to pass, when He drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mountain called Olivet, that He sent two of His disciples, 30 saying, “Go into the village opposite you, where as you enter you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Loose it and bring it here.”

And then, already knowing the question that would arise from the disciples and knowing that they would encounter this very scenario, He goes on to say…

Luke 19:31 “31 And if anyone asks you, ‘Why are you loosing it?’ thus you shall say to him, ‘Because the Lord has need of it.’ ””

At that point, there was no questions asked… just immediate obedience…

Luke 19:32-35 “32 So those who were sent went their way and found it just as He had said to them. 33 But as they were loosing the colt, the owners of it said to them, “Why are you loosing the colt?” 34 And they said, “The Lord has need of him.” (Mark’s account adds “So they let them go”) 35 Then they brought him to Jesus. And they threw their own clothes on the colt, and they set Jesus on him.”

Jesus sent 2 of His disciples to get a donkey. Jesus also told them what to say if they were questioned about it and they got up and got it done… Immediate obedience…

Obedience is the very best way to what???… … “Show that you believe”

John 14:21 NASB95

21 “He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.”

How does Jesus know that we love Him?? “he who has My commandments and keeps them”

It does us absolutely no good to read and memorize Scripture if we are not going to apply it to your lives!

There are many people that love to use their knowledge of Scripture to point out the sins of others and yet they fail to apply it to their own lives… and this is a dangerous place to be. We are accountable for our treatment of God’s Word.

Turn briefly to Ezekiel 16…

I’ve been reading through the book Ezekiel and the Prophet Ezekiel is revealing to Israel exactly how God feels about her harlotry with the other nations… and God specifically compares Israels sin with the sins of Sodom and the sins of Samaria…

(Read vv. 46-52)

Why was Israel’s sin “more abominable” than the others?… Because Israel knew God’s law and blatantly disobeyed it over and over again, without any repentance...

Christ had to deal with the same issue. He said in…

Luke 6:46 NASB95

46 “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?

Beloved, It is not enough merely to hear His Word and call Him “Lord.” We must also obey what He commands us to do!

John 14:23–24 NASB95

23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. 24 “He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.

Obedience is the very best way to:

Show that you believe

Show your love for Jesus… and

Have that heavenly love reciprocated back to you.

Jesus saw obedience that day on His way to Jerusalem.

Secondly, He saw…

2. Worshippers

Luke 19:36-38 “36 And as He went, many spread their clothes on the road. 37 Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of 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 they had seen, 38 saying: “ ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!””

Mark records that they were also shouting “Hosanna”.

Remember, there are 1-2 million Jews in the city for the Passover Feast… This was a celebration that had existed amongst the Jews for over 1,400 years. It was one of 3 major festivals held every year. It was HUGE.

Everyone in the city took in visitors to their houses, while those who couldn't fit camped outside in tents… All of these people had come to celebrate. One of the ways they celebrated was with a greeting to one another as they headed towards Jerusalem. It's the one we read of here.

"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!". These are lines from Psalm 118 , sung as a welcome to pilgrims coming up to Jerusalem. As such, this is an entirely appropriate thing to do as Jesus is coming up to Jerusalem.

But there is more involved here. The cry of Hosanna! is a word that had become a greeting or shout of praise and actually meant "Save!" or "Help!". Forms of this word were used to address the king with a need. Furthermore, the palm branches the people carried were symbolic of a victorious ruler. The people were welcoming a King.

But Jesus took this even further. When He came into Jerusalem on a donkey, He was deliberately fulfilling a prophecy made earlier in the Bible.

Zechariah 9:9 NASB95

9 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.

2. Worshippers

There was a problem with these worshippers though…, most of them were worshipping for the wrong reasons. They were chanting “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the LORD!”

Notice the actual word “King” is used. Unfortunately, the people were still thinking a “King like David”. They mistakenly believed Jesus would rise up an army and overthrow the Romans… But this was not the kind of King Jesus was… this was not the mission He came to fulfill… and when the crowd realized that 5 days later, their cries changed from “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the LORD!” to “Crucify Him, Crucify Him”!

Not everyone was there to worship Jesus though… among the worshippers, He also saw…

3. Spectators

The Gospel of John records this for us

John 12:9 “9 Now a great many of the Jews knew that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead.”

You see, many of the people who were present on Palm Sunday weren’t necessarily there to worship Jesus. They were there to spectate and see Lazarus.

For those of you who may not be familiar with the story, Lazarus was a man who the Bible records Jesus raised from the dead just a few days before entering into the city of Jerusalem.

There were other onlookers here too – people who’d come for the feast, many of whom may have come because it was ‘what they always did’. Some who had come for the Passover but then saw a crowd & followed them to see what all the fuss was about…

Jesus saw all of them…

He also the…

4. Religious Frauds

That were in the crowd… also known as “The Pharisees”. They were highly zealous for ritual and religious purity according to the Mosaic Law as well as their own traditions that they added to the OT legislation.

As the early Church was getting started they also spread false information and said that circumcision was a requirement for salvation…

Needless to say, Pharisees did not get along with Jesus… and this particular day, they were pretty fed up with the celebration that was happening.

Luke 19:39 “39 And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.””

They did not want Jesus to be given the incredible honour He was being given… and because they were offended by what was going on, they wanted Jesus to tell everyone to stop…

And you thought that the “cancel culture” was a new thing… this was a tipping point for the Pharisees and they were now determined more than ever to silence Jesus once and for all.

But Jesus wasn’t fazed by these religious frauds…

Luke 19:40 “40 But He answered and said to them, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.””

There is a bit of debate surrounding the meaning of this phrase, whether it would be the literal rocks crying out and praising Jesus or if it would be the people that were buried in the graves that surrounded the mount of olives… nonetheless, Jesus point came across loud and clear… God was going to make sure that He recieved the honor and praise that He deserved as He entered into the city.

There is one final sight that I want to mention… Jesus Saw…

5. Destruction

Luke 19:41-44 “41 Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, 42 saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, 44 and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.””

Luke is the only one that records the fact that Jesus wept over the city. But He was not weeping because of the overabundance of joyous emotion. He is not weeping because He is overcome with excitement about being paraded as a guest of honor…

The word used for “wept” here means that He WAILED: He “cried out as a mourner in a funeral procession”… But He isn’t grieving the loss of His own life or the pain and agony of rejection, that He will face in a few days… He isn’t weeping because He knows that these very same people will be crying out “crucify Him” when He doesn’t meet their expectations of overthrowing the rule of the Roman empire… He see’s the bigger picture! He looks further ahead in the future…

He is grieving the loss of the lives and hearts of the people because THEY will reject Him as the Messiah sent from God! Jesus wailed because HE was God’s Gift to humankind, the Son of God, coming first of all to Israel, God’s chosen people. God created them to be HIS OWN PEOPLE, He chose them.

He spoke to them through His Word, and it was recorded in their Hebrew Language… He had chosen to reveal Himself to THEM and He covenanted with THEM, and all throughout the Old Testament journey, God continued to be faithful, and now Jesus knew that Israel would choose to crucify Him and reject Him as their Messiah.

Jesus cried at His own celebration, not because he was emotional, not because He would fail, not because He felt sorry for himself, but because the people who had heard the message to repent, did not repent! And He saw the destruction that would come as a result of their sins.

Jesus said “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.”

If you would just pay attention… They had the Old Testament writings, they knew the prophecies of the coming Messiah… and even though Jesus fulfilled every single one of those prophecies, they still did not see Him for who He truly was… their Messiah!, the Savior of the World.

Why couldn’t they see that? … because of their sin… Their persistent wickedness, their own hardness of heart and rejection of God’s ways, and NOW their rejection of God’s promised Messiah.

The punishment of their rejection would be utter destruction, Jesus saw that future destruction and it made Him weep!

God keeps ALL the promises that He has made: Jesus promised: Not one stone will remain upon another;… Jerusalem and its beautiful temple as well as its people were destroyed in 70 AD… just as Jesus had promised and saw…

Closing:

Jesus saw many things that day. Yes, it was a time of celebration, but it was also a time of mourning…

The question that I want to leave with you is this…

What does Jesus see when He looks at you?…

Are you an… Obedient follower of Him? Do you read Scripture on a regular basis and apply it’s principles to your life?

Are you a Worshipper? If so, are you worshipping Him for the right reasons? Do you Worship Him as the provider of your Salvation?… or do you worship Him as a genie who is supposed to grant all your wishes?

Are you a spectator? Just checkin’ to see what all the fuss is about? I know there’s people out there exploring Jesus, just as there was at Palm Sunday. I hope when they see Pierson Bible Church, they see an example of Christ that they can follow.

Are you a religious fraud? You know the principles of Scripture and point out the improvements that others need to make in their lives, but you fail to apply those same principles to your life… or you show up to church just to get your check mark for doing so and then the rest of the week live in a way that is pleasing to you, but contrary to what is pleasing to God...

When Jesus looks at you does He see Himself or does He weep when He sees the destruction of your soul… because you have not repented of your sin?

I can only answer these questions for myself and you can only answer these questions for yourself…

Have you allowed Jesus to make a triumphant entrance into your life today?… Are you living out what you say you believe?