Blessed Is The King
Jeremy Bell
Luke 19:28-40
April 5, 2020
Sermon Audio & Video
Introduction
- Palm Sunday is the day we commemorate Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, riding on a donkey, the final week before His death, the week of His Passion.
- By riding on a donkey, He was making a pronouncement that the King truly had arrived.
- Jesus was openly declaring to the people that the Messiah King they had long been awaiting had in fact arrived. Only His kingdom was far bigger than the one with which many were immediately concerned. His kingdom was worldwide; and He was offering citizenship to all.·
I. Jesus Went Up To Jerusalem (verse 28)
- When Luke tells us that Jesus went up to Jerusalem, that’s a loaded statement. A few chapters earlier in Luke, the writer of the gospel records the fact that Jesus “set His face towards Jerusalem” (9:51).
- In fulfillment of Isaiah 50:7, it was said of the coming suffering servant that the Redeemer would set his face “like a flint.” In other words, He was resolute in fulfilling His Father’s plan.
- In the Savior’s resolve to obey His Father and fulfill His redemptive plan, we see the true nature of God, reflected in Jesus Christ. We see the self-giving nature of our God. He gave up His life so that others might live.
- He set His face towards Jerusalem for you, for me.
II. Jesus Fulfilled God’s Promised Plans (verses 29-38)
- In this narrative, we read details which remind us that God is in control, and that events are unfolding according to God’s foreordained plans. God always fulfills His every plan. Nothing can thwart them.
Several ways this passage points to the fulfillment of God’s plan.
- “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud of 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.”
- When the crowds shout “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord” they are quoting the promise from Psalm 118:26.
- This holy week, the week of our Lord’s passion, He would suffer, and be known as a man of sorrows, in fulfillment of Isaiah 53.
- Jesus fulfills God’s promise in Genesis after Adam and Eve sinned -“he [the offspring of the woman] shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.” (ESV) - This reminds us — God is in control! So God was fulfilling His plans. God was accomplishing His purposes!
- God is a promise keeping God! Every word of His proves true! You and I can put our trust in Him.
III. Jesus’ Works Display His Sovereign Mercy (verses 37-38)
“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.”
- What mighty work had His disciples just seen? John 11 records for us His last display of sovereign mercy prior to the Passover week, the week of His passion. It’s the account of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.
- This story demonstrates both Jesus’ sovereign power and His tender mercy.
IV. Jesus’ Worth Commands His Great Praise (verses 39-40)
- The spiritual leaders were jealous of the attention and fame accorded to Jesus. They wanted that glory for themselves, and they seethed with anger that He was receiving that kind of praise.
- What they didn’t understand or see at the time: The magnitude of the worth of Jesus Christ means that the world cannot contain the praise due His name. If people don’t proclaim His glory, creation itself will fulfill that joyful privilege. The very rocks will cry out!
- We see a picture of this in the psalms when the psalmist says:
“For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands (Isaiah 55:12).”
- The worth of Jesus commands an almighty praise!
Application
- Let us see and receive God’s powerful love for us. Palm Sunday displays God’s love for people like you and me.
- Let us fully entrust ourselves to Him. God always keeps His Word! We can fully trust Him.
- Every promise we read in scripture is God’s promise to us. And unlike us, God always fulfills His every promise
- Let us join the mighty chorus of His praise. When we see and receive God’s love for us, it makes us want to praise Him. When we see clearly what we deserve (God’s punishment for our sin), and understand what He’s given (freedom from the curse of sin, and all eternity with God in heaven), we will want to rejoice
“The man who does not glory in the gospel can surely know little of the plague of sin that is within him.” — JC Ryle
Questions For Discussion/Application:
- Re-read the text, Luke 19:28-40. What initial observations and insights do you have from reading this text?
- In this passage, Jesus was making His way to Jerusalem. Consider taking a few minutes to review and contemplate together the events of Holy week. Answer the question — “what took place when Jesus went to Jerusalem?”
- What are some of the ways Jesus fulfills Old Testament prophecy? How does the awareness that Jesus fulfills Old Testament prophecy encourage and strengthen our faith?
- What about Jesus — who He is and what He accomplished on Easter week causes you to want to worship Him?
- Consider taking time to pray — expressing prayers of praise to God for what He has done in giving us a Savior. Also pray that God, by His Holy Spirit, especially in this times, would help us this week to keep our gaze fixed on Jesus.