Trust the King and Receive His Grace, Or You Will Face His Wrath (Luke 19:28-44)
Jesus is Lord. He is King over all. And we proclaim that loudly here at Victory Baptist Church. He is not just Lord over my life. He is Lord over the whole Universe, even if no one else sees it. People love the idea of Jesus today, as long as He is not on His throne. As long as He serves their desires they are okay with Him. But that is not who Jesus is. He is King and Lord over all. He is the Master and Creator of all things. And it is we who bow the knee to Him.
In a picture that was well understood, Jesus proclaimed Himself the long-promised king of Zechariah 9:9.
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
Righteous and having salvation is he,
Humble and mounted on a donkey,
On a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
(Zechariah 9:9 ESV)
So, as you read about Jesus riding into town on a colt, don’t think of it as a sweet moment. This is no sweet Hallmark Card moment or message. You need to understand it is a political statement. It is a political statement that He still proclaims today. He is King.
This is no ordinary King, though. The King is God who came to bring salvation and will bring judgment. And that is the point of the message today.
Trust in the King and receive His grace, or you will face His wrath.
The King Is God (Luke 19:30-36)
Jesus is headed to Jerusalem. When He made it close to “Bethpage and Bethany”. This is more than half a mile. It was considered “a Sabbath Day’s journey”, or the max distance one was allowed to walk on the Sabbath from Jerusalem. And it was considered the outskirts, or outer limits of Jerusalem. In our terms it was 3/5 of a mile away. And Jesu sent His disciples to go and prepare for the moment.
They are walking to Jerusalem and without having been there, Jesus describes for them exactly what things are going to be like when they get there. He told them that they would find a colt tied up that no one had ever sat upon. And they were to untie it and bring it to Him. And Jesus even gave them the exact thing to say if anybody asked any questions.
Here’s the astounding thing. Everything was just as Jesus said it would be. They were journeying toward the city. And so, even if the man was friends with Jesus, it does not explain how Jesus knew exactly the way that everything would be.
This is one of those times that Jesus did something only God could do. Because He is God.
And so, we understand that we worship a King like no other. We worship the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is God. As Paul writes in his letter to Titus,
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.” (Titus 2:11-15 ESV)
He is both God and our Savior, He is king over all. He is not just he sovereign over a nation. He is the Sovereign Lord over all of Creation. He is the One who rules and reigns supreme.
If we are to show respect to the President, or when the National Anthem is played, how much more honor are we to show our King who is Himself God. We owe Him all worship and praise. We owe Him everything.
The King Has Come (Luke 19:28-38)
The King did not just sit on His throne. He came to us. And here He announced who He was and what He came to do.
Now, this may seem odd to say because Jesus doesn’t actually say much here. But His choice of a ride into Jerusalem was itself a statement of who He was. By sitting on a colt and riding into Jerusalem, Jesus was announcing that He was the long-awaited King. It will be helpful here for us to look at Zechariah 9:9 again.
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
Righteous and having salvation is he,
Humble and mounted on a donkey,
On a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
(Zechariah 9:9 ESV)
And the announcement was not lost upon the people They got 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, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”” (Luke 19:36-38 ESV)
They spread their cloaks along the way. And the many people that were there began to rejoice and praise Him. And they shouted “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” They got it. They had heard of many things Jesus had done. And they were rejoicing.
Don’t forget that the atmosphere here was electric. The normal population of Jerusalem was probably around 100,000 people. Though Josephus and a few others have the number much higher. Josephus has that number at 1,000,000, but most historians think he was greatly exaggerating to add some prestige to Jerusalem.
But on Passover that number swelled to between 300,000-500,000. And again, Josephus’s number is much higher at 1,000,000. This is not the picture that you usually get in movies about the life of Christ. The cities don’t feel nearly this crowded as Jesus is teaching or carrying His cross. But the fact of the matter is that this is an exciting time and place. The Passover celebrations are beginning and the people are flooding into town. And on top of all of that, the people are thrilled and celebrating the coming of the long-awaited Messiah.
Jesus came and did not keep quiet about who He was. He rode in on a colt in order to deliver a message. And that message was that he was King. He was the long awaited Messiah and this was a bold announcement of that message.
This is how He is to be honored. He is to be honored as King. He is to be honored as Lord.
Our lives should be ordered in such a way that His Lordship is written all over our lives. We are His people. We dare not do things that the Lord has commanded us not to do. We dare not waste our lives on trivial things. And our lives should be ordered by what He desires of us. So, it’s not just what He commands us not to do, but He commands us to do.
My life is to be shaped by the Word of the King. My mission in life is to be the mission of the King, which is to make disciples of all nations. It is to expand His Lordship both here and abroad. It is making disciples in our homes. And it is making disciples with people within our extended families. And it is making disciples of those outside of our homes.
Let us be people who lay down not just our cloaks, but our entire lives as an offering for Christ.
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” (Romans 12:1 ESV)
The King Brought Salvation (Luke 19:28-38)
Again, in order to fully understand what is happening here we have to reference Zechariah 9:9.
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
Righteous and having salvation is he,
Humble and mounted on a donkey,
On a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
(Zechariah 9:9 ESV)
The people understood this imagery as well, even if they misapplied it. They understood that Jesus was bringing salvation. That was one of the things that the King would bring who rode on a colt.
Yes, they misunderstood how this would come about. And they misunderstood what was about to take place. But, they did understand that He would bring salvation. Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah who would bring salvation.
We have all earned for ourselves God’s wrath and justice. We don’t have peace with God, but warfare. And it’s a pretty dumb warfare on our part. We’re like ants screaming at an army boot that’s headed our way. But God did not leave us without a path to peace.
God the Son took on human flesh and dwelt among us. He lived a perfect life on behalf of sinners and took upon Himself the just and righteous judgment of God in place of all who would believe. And He rose from the dead, completely accomplishing our right standing with God. And now, all those who turn from ruling their own life and entrust their selves to Him are adopted into God’s family.
And even though they didn’t quite understand the salvation that Jesus was bringing, it seems incredibly appropriate that they would cry out, “Peace in Heaven and glory in the Highest”.
What an amazing thought! That the King, who is God, came and brought salvation. And He did so by the giving of His own life. He gave His own life for the salvation of sinners. Though the people didn’t have this in view at the time, Jesus did. As Isaiah said many years before God the Son took on human flesh and dwelt among us,
“Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned–every one–to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:4-6 ESV)
Every person that has ever existed has strayed from the Lord. We have all broken God’s command. And God the Son took on human flesh and was pierced for the transgressions of all who would believe in Him. He was crushed for their sin. And it is through Him that anyone finds peace.
Have you found peace with God? Have you trusted the Savior?
We have all strayed. We have all earned for ourselves God’s wrath and justice. And God has offered to us His grace and mercy that is found in Jesus and in Jesus alone. Turn from ruling your own life and entrust yourself to Him.
But those who choose not to submit to the rightful king will find their self facing His wrath.
The King Brings Judgment (Luke 19:39-44)
We don’t often think beyond the many shouts and praises concerning Jesus the King. But there were other voices in the crowd.
“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.”” (Luke 19:39-40 ESV)
The truth of the matter was that the King had come and this momentous time had to be celebrated. If they wouldn’t, then the rocks would cry out. Obviously, this was a rebuke to the Pharisees and He virtually ignored their command.
Of course, He did. He’s the King. He doesn’t have to listen to such nonsense.
But this brings us to the next scene. And it’s when Jesus has a view of the entire city. This is not just the people that were celebrating around Him. This was the entire city. And in that moment, He was struck with sorrow.
“And 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. 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.”” (Luke 19:41-44 ESV)
These people who had God’s covenant promises would now have peace hidden from their eyes (Luke 19:41). They had broken God’s covenants time and time again and this time would reject the One that all these covenants pointed toward. They “did not know the time of” their “visitation” (Luke 19:44). The King had come bringing salvation and they would reject Him.
And judgment was coming. Jesus then describes what that judgment would look like. The enemies would set up a barricade around them and hem them in on every side. The enemy would tear them to the ground, and their children as well. The entire city would be torn apart.
There are not many moments in history that are as significant form a Jewish or Christian perspective than the Roman Siege of Jerusalem that took place in 70 AD. And my synopsis is going to be much too brief to do justice to the account. Josephus, the Jewish Roman historian who was there that day, spilled a lot of ink describing this event and so you can look into this for free online if you like. Josephus’s history is available there.
The Jews had revolted against Rome and, of course, Rome came to deal with the situation. Titus, a Roman General, called in troops from a few different areas to take on Jerusalem. This force was very large, Titus gathered soldiers from different garrisons to take on Jerusalem. They and their siege weapons would wage a brutal campaign against Jerusalem from Passover until August.
Around Passover in 70 AD the siege began. At this time the city would flood with people, as has already been mentioned. And Titus, the Roman General, allowed people to travel into the city but would not allow anyone to leave. This seems to have been by design so that the stores of food within the city would run out. This means that the 300,000-500,000 mentioned earlier were likely in Jerusalem instead of the normal 100,000. But Josephus states that there were 1,000,000. Again, most believe he was exaggerating. But, Josephus is considered a reliable historian. And I must say this, he was there. He spoke to the Jews on behalf of the Romans throughout this conflict.
A fight among the Jewish people was taking place that allowed Rome to get in their encampment rather easily. The zealots, those who wanted the Jews to go to war with the Romans, and the other faction which wanted to make peace with the Romans continued to stand against each other. This continued off and on throughout the siege. At times there would be enemies outside and enemies killing each other within. At other times they would get along long enough to put up a fight against the Romans.
There were times when the Jews bravely fought off and almost defeated Rome early on. In fact, Titus was almost caught in a trap along with some of his elite soldiers, but for the most part they escaped. And on another occasion, the Jewish people managed to light a tunnel under a lot of the Roman army’s war machines on fire with bitumen. It set the Roman military back quite a lot. But these victories were just not enough.
Rome encircled the city and slowly worked their way into the city. Fighting waged, as I’ve already stated, until August. And because Titus was now encamped around the city, where much of the food came from, he was in no real hurry. He could wait them out. The city was over crowded and no one was being allowed out. They would slowly work their way into the city. Besides, the Jewish people had proven themselves to be crafty and quite powerful against the Roman army. Titus and the others did seem afraid of moving too quickly upon them.
Since people were not allowed to leave, the stores of food were depleted to the point that people were starving inside. And, according to Josephus, the people inside the city were not caring for one another. The more well-to-do folks were letting the poor die in the streets. Dead people were beginning to pile up in the city, scattered by starvation or illness. And, what is worse, people were going door-to-door looking for food. There were fights and murders over loaves of bread. Things were getting horrific inside. Some began to sneak out of the walls to steal herbs and plants from the gardens outside the city walls. If caught, the Romans crucified them within sight of those inside the city, so just outside the city walls. It was not uncommon for 500 people to be crucified in a single day during the siege. And if they made it inside with their herbs and vegetables, they were often murdered for their food.
In August there were bodies lying everywhere. The exterior and interior walls of the city had been torn down. And the temple was on fire and fire was spreading around the city. Josephus often exaggerated; it seems. But he claims that 1.1 million people died in total during the siege. These were mostly Jewish lives. He stated that dead bodies were piled upon and around the altar in the Holy of Holies within the temple. And that idolatrous image of Caesar was flying over that place. The city was destroyed, the temple was destroyed, and the people were destroyed.
It happened just as Jesus said it would happen. The Judgment that Jesus said would take place, took place.
The King came, and though he was celebrated in the moment, they rejected Him. They sent Him to the cross and He died. But what did Jesus say in the parable just before going to Jerusalem.
“But as for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them before me.” (Luke 19:27 ESV)
Jerusalem did not want Jesus to reign over them. And they were slaughtered. God’s wrath was poured out upon them in an astounding manner.
And there is a lesson in this for us to learn from today. The King has come. He rules and reigns. He is gracious and brings salvation. But all those who refuse to submit their lives to Him will find their selves facing His wrath.
How many of us look at Conway as Jesus did Jerusalem? How many of us look out over the mass of lostness in our area and find ourselves in tremendous sorrow? Even though it is good and right for the King to reign, there is a sense in which we feel true sorrow for all those that will face His judgment. We feel true sorrow for Jerusalem as we read this. And we feel true sorrow for all those who do not bow the knee to King Jesus. So we go. It moves us to go. This moves us to share with others. It moves us to deliver this message of salvation to the lost.
And this also comes as a warning to us. It warns those who are within the hearing of my voice, or reading the written words. If you have heard about the King, this morning and have not submitted your life to Him then I have news for you. You are on the road that’s leading to destruction. You must lay down your weapons and submit to Christ. He has provided a way for you to be part of His Kingdom, won’t you entrust yourself to Him before it is too late?
Conclusion
Jesus riding this colt was not a Hallmark card moment. It was a statement of His Lordship. He was and is the long awaited and promised King. He is God. He brought salvation, and He will bring judgment. Trust in the King and receive His grace, or you will face His wrath.
R. Dwain Minor