Luke 19:28-48 "Drawing Near to Jerusalem" The road to Jerusalem has ended. The King has come. The coming of Jesus to Jerusalem is a moment of profound sorrow, and yet a moment of almost giddy joy. How do you hold these two together? the rejoicing of the disciples, and the sorrow of Jesus? My friend Larry Wilson likes to say that worship should blend reverence and joy. Much of traditional worship emphasizes reverence. And when it is done by the power of the Holy Spirit, traditional worship blends reverence and joy. But Larry points out that it is possible to counterfeit reverence the result is formalism: stiff, sterile and cold. And the 20th century saw a reaction to the formalism and sterility of much traditional worship. People wanted joy in worship, and so they tried to add joy by introducing guitars and bouncy songs. But you can also counterfeit joy and counterfeit joy is shallow, contrived, and even flippant. You cannot produce true joy through changing music style, any more than you can produce true reverence that way. You can counterfeit reverence according to the flesh, and you can counterfeit joy according to the flesh, but I don't think that you can counterfeit both at the same time! Reverence and joy in worship can only be produced by the Holy Spirit. We will not become more reverent by singing older tunes. We will not become more joyful by singing newer tunes. Rather, we will become both more reverent and more joyful as we worship in the Spirit and in truth. It is the gospel itself the good news of Jesus Christ that produces true reverence and joy by the power of the Holy Spirit. Think about the seeming opposites that scripture holds together: should you fear God or should you love him? Both. Is salvation entirely the work of God, or should you work out your salvation with fear and trembling. Again. Both. These seeming opposites are not really opposed to each other. The triumphal entry is both the most joyful moment in the ministry of Jesus, but it is also the most sorrowful. Because the time has come for judgment to fall upon Jerusalem. And that is a time of great rejoicing for those who believe in Jesus, and yet it is a time of great sorrow for Jesus, because he must bring judgment against those who refuse to believe. Our passage is structured by this word "drawing near" (eggizo). Last time we saw that Jesus "drew near" to Jericho, and then the blind man drew near to Jesus (18:40). This word "to draw near" was used regularly in the OT to refer to people or priests drawing near in worship, but also to refer to God drawing near in judgment (or in blessing). The nearness of God can either be a good thing to those who love him, or a bad thing to those who hate him. But the nearness of God inevitably results in judgment depending on the response of the people! How do you respond when God comes near? Do you say, "Whoa, God! Back off! Don't get too close!"? Or do you find delight? Do you rejoice at the nearness of God? Because when God comes near, judgment is the result the only question being whether God's verdict is blessing or cursing! In verse 29 Jesus draws near to Bethphage and Bethany, making preparation for his coming to Jerusalem. In verse 37 Jesus is drawing near to Jerusalem, coming down the Mount of Olives. And in verse 41, Jesus draws near to the city, and seeing it, he wept over it. By verse 45 Jesus is no longer drawing near. Now Jesus enters the temple. We often refer to verses 28-40 as the triumphal entry, but that is because we are reading Luke through Matthew's gospel. In Matthew's gospel there are two entries. In Matthew 21:10 he "entered Jerusalem," and in Matthew 21:12 he "entered the temple." But in Luke's gospel there is only one entry mentioned: verse 45, "he entered the temple." Obviously in order to reach the temple he had to enter the city, but the only entry that Luke mentions is the entry into the temple. In Luke's gospel Jesus is drawing near, drawing near, drawing near . . . And then boom! he is in the temple. 1. When He Drew Near: Preparations for the Coming of the King (19:28-36) Jesus has just told the people of Jericho that the king is about to return to Jerusalem. And his coming will be judgment day. Throughout his visit in Jericho, Jesus has highlighted his royal status: 1) the blind beggar calls him "son of David" the only time that happens in Luke 2) Jesus says to Zaccheus that he is the Son of Man who came to seek and to save the lost echoing Ezekiel 34's promise that God would seek and save his lost sheep, and give them David to rule as prince over them. And 3) Jesus tells the parable of the 10 minas, declaring under the cover of a parable that he is the returning king, and that he is bringing judgment to Jerusalem. And so when he had said these things, he sets out for Jerusalem, climbing the steep path from Jericho. The ascent from Jericho to Jerusalem rises over 3,000 feet in 12 miles. Just think of Niles, Michigan being 3,000 feet higher than us here. (Incidentally, this will be the same path that the Roman army will take in AD 69) And when he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany on the approach to Jerusalem, he sent two disciples to bring him a colt. Matthew 21 points out that this was a donkey's colt, and quotes Zechariah 9 to speak of how Jesus came to Jerusalem riding on a donkey. That is because Matthew wants you to see that Jesus is the Son of David, who is coming in glory to Jerusalem. When Solomon was crowned king, he rode on a donkey. The donkey was a royal steed. Matthew also tells us that people were throwing palm branches on the ground, along with their cloaks. Everything in Matthew's gospel points to the celebration and rejoicing of the coming of the king. Luke doesn't mention the palm branches or the donkey. He doesn't quote Zechariah 9. Jesus is the coming king, but Luke is pointing out that his coming is more ambivalent. Luke doesn't mention the crowds throwing their cloaks on the ground only Jesus' disciples. Why? The only other instance of people throwing their cloaks on the ground before a coming king is in the coming of Jehu in 2 Kings 9, when Jehu comes to bring judgment against the house of Ahab, and his soldiers cast their cloaks before him. Jesus has come to bring judgment against Jerusalem, and so his disciples cast their cloaks before him as he rides the colt toward the city. 2. As He Was Drawing Near: Even the Rocks Will Shout (19:37-40) If you are used to thinking in terms of Matthew's glorious entry, then Luke's version may seem almost pathetic: here comes the king, surrounded by his supporters a multitude, yes, but not the huge numbers that you may have thought. What really happened? Okay, fine, I'll harmonize for a minute! It started with Jesus' disciples. There were probably a few hundred in all. But as they approach Jerusalem, they would have attracted attention! It would have been a strange procession a rabbi, a teacher, riding on a donkey's colt, with his disciples casting their cloaks before him (and palm branches) definitely a royal picture. But a pretty pathetic royal picture. A "real" king would have had an army, a royal entourage, and captives in his train. And so as he was drawing near already on the way down the Mount of Olives the very place where the Roman general Titus will stand as he came upon Jerusalem in AD 69 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, 'Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!' Jesus had said in 13:35 as he was warning Jerusalem of the coming judgment, You will not see me until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.' Now the time has come. And as his disciples proclaim him King, a crowd gathers. Matthew doesn't distinguish between the crowd and Jesus' disciples. But Luke makes it clear that in this crowd there are at least three groups: there are the disciples who are praising God; there is the crowd (attracted by all the commotion); and there are the Pharisees in the crowd who object and call on Jesus to rebuke his disciples. This is a part of the story that Matthew doesn't mention. Matthew is focused on how Jesus has come in triumph to Jerusalem. Luke is focused on how Jesus has come to Jerusalem to bring judgment. And so Luke tells us that the Pharisees called on Jesus to rebuke his disciples. But Jesus answered: I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out. This is an allusion to Habakkuk 2:11, where Habakkuk speaks of the judgment that was coming upon Jerusalem in 586 BC. But what stones will cry out? Habakkuk had spoken of the stones of a house crying out because of the wickedness of its owner. What stones will cry out in Jesus' day? 3. And When He Drew Near: Beware of Falling Rocks (19:41-44) Well, if verses 37-40 are about rocks crying out, verses 41-44 tells us which rocks will cry out: the falling rocks of the temple. Jesus is coming down the Mount of Olives, with his disciples shouting praises to God for the coming of the king. It is indeed a moment of great joy: the coming of the king to Jerusalem! But by now you should be ready for what comes next! The coming of the king is the coming of judgment. Jesus is the king who will come to render judgment upon Jerusalem as the prophets had promised. The return of the king is good news for Jesus' disciples, but it is bad news for Jerusalem, because Jerusalem sits there foreboding and silent. Jerusalem does not join in the chorus. And Jesus sees Jerusalem and breaks into tears. Ah Ariel, Ariel, the city where David encamped! Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be moaning and lamentation, and she shall be to me like an Ariel. And I will encamp against you all around, and will besiege you with towers and I will raise siegeworks against you. And you will be brought low; from the earth you shall speak and from the dust your speech will be bowed down; your voice shall come from the ground like the voice of a ghost, and from the dust your speech shall whisper. (Isaiah 29:1-4) Those were the words of Isaiah as he looked over the city of Jerusalem 700 years before. Jesus now looks over the city, and the words of the prophets echo in his ears. Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! Yes, the disciples are here the poor, the lame, the outcasts the faithful remnant of Israel has gathered to welcome their king! But where are the priests? The leaders? The Pharisees? They are grumbling and complaining as their fathers had done! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 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. (verses 41-44) The siege of Jerusalem will end with the destruction of the city. And when God's judgment comes, it will comes not only against the adults, but against you and your children. Even as the covenant promise is proclaimed to you and your children so also is the covenant warning to you and your children. We don't like to hear this. We much prefer to think of our children as "innocent." But when God's judgment comes in war, famine, or plague who suffers most? As you hear the stories of Iraq (and the point here is not whether the war is just or not), who are the ones who suffer most? War breeds orphans and widows, and whether it's a siege by an enemy army, or a suicide bomb in a busy marketplace, children are often the first to die. Famine and disease likewise are plagues that target children. Psalm 137 reflects on this indeed, Psalm 137 even declares him blessed who dashes the children of Babylon against the rocks. I think we tend to shrink from this language as a relic of a barbaric world. How can we sing Psalm 137 today? First, Psalm 137 was written as a plea for God to save his people. Babylon had destroyed Jerusalem as Isaiah had foretold. Israel was in exile, tormented by their enemies. The Psalmist is asking God to bring justice. But what does it mean for God to bring justice? Isaiah had made it clear that the reason why Jerusalem would be destroyed in 586 BC was because Jerusalem had become no better than Babylon. Judgment begins with the household of God. We sing Psalm 137 as those who are elect exiles, living in the midst of Babylon enduring trial and tribulation for the sake of the gospel that is coming to the nations. And yes, we pray for God's judgment. We pray that God would destroy both his and our enemies but that prayer must call forth our tears. Because second, Psalm 137 was written about Jesus. He is the blessed one who brings down judgment upon Babylon. The people around him are shouting "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!" But he is looking at Babylon at Jerusalem the city that torments the people of God, and he knows what is coming next: he knows that when he goes to the cross, judgment will fall upon Jerusalem. The city that he loves his own bride has rejected him. Jesus is going to the cross, and yet the knowledge of his own death is not what brings him to tears it is the knowledge of what his death will accomplish. Because the death of Jesus is not only a great and glorious thing for his people; it is also a terrible and sorrowful thing for his people because his death will drive a wedge between those Jews who believe and those Jews who won't. And so Jesus becomes the blessed one who dashes the heads of Jerusalem's little ones against the rock the rock that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone (they were singing Psalm 118 as he came down the Mount of Olives) the stones that will cry out as they come crashing down during the siege of Jerusalem. When Israel will not confess Jesus as Lord, the rocks cry out. And as the little children of Jerusalem fall as casualties of the Roman invasion of 70 AD, as the Romans "tear you down to the ground, you and your children with you" they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation. (v44) And so Jesus weeps. Yes, he is the one who will bring all this to pass, but it is his strange work his alien work of bringing judgment against his own people. And this is the very heart of God for his sinful, rebellious people. God does not delight in the death of the wicked. The eternal Son of God weeps as he proclaims the doom of faithless Israel. Yes, it is the coming of Jesus to the throne of heaven that will accomplish the overthrow of Jerusalem. Jesus is the king who brings judgment against his own. But that doesn't mean that he likes it. You cannot be simply happy about Psalm 137. You may rejoice that God will bring justice that the kingdom of God will be firmly established. But you must also weep, because the judgment of God will bring great suffering to the wicked. And if the eternal Son of God wept over the coming destruction of Jerusalem, then we know that this is the attitude of God toward his rebellious people because Jesus reveals to us the Father. 4. The Triumphal Entry: Jesus Comes to the Temple (19:45-48) As we saw earlier, Luke doesn't mention the moment when Jesus enters Jerusalem; rather, he jumps ahead to the moment when Jesus entered the temple. The triumphal entry in Luke's gospel is found in verses 45-46 where Jesus enters the temple and drives out (literally, "casts out") those who sold, saying to them, 'It is written, My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers. Throughout his ministry, Jesus had cast out demons. Now he casts out the money-changers and those who sold animals for sacrifice in the temple, because they have become like demons, inhabiting the temple infecting the temple with their abominations. We'll look more at the cleansing of the temple next week. The main point you need to see now is that Jesus' triumphal entry is his entry into the temple, where he comes in judgment to cast out the demons that have infected Israel. Jesus has come to root out idolatry and cleanse the hearts of his people. Can you see how this message is both a message of great joy, and yet a message of great sorrow? God has come as king to his city! Therefore judgment shall fall on his people, and those who have rejected him will be destroyed. The road to Jerusalem is ended. The King has come. Revelation 18:19-20 summarizes this neatly: Alas, alas, for the great city where all who had ships at sea grew rich by her wealth! For in a single hour she has been laid waste. Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, for God has given judgment for you against her. Babylon is fallen. Jerusalem is fallen. Rome is fallen. Where now is the city that will stand against our Lord Jesus Christ? The road to Jerusalem has ended. The King has come.