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Preacher: Pastor David Ball
Scripture: Luke 19:29-40
Grand entrances matter in architecture and life, setting the tone and making lasting impressions. In Luke 19, Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem as the King of glory fulfills prophecy, revealing Him as the righteous, authoritative, humble, and sacrificial King who brings peace and salvation. The crowd’s praise and the Pharisees’ rejection expose human hearts, yet Jesus rides on, knowing all, to offer unrelenting grace and truth. Through faith in Him, we receive God’s transformative grace, clothed in Christ’s righteousness, invited to embrace the King who came for our redemption.
Transcript
So making a a grand entrance is important right well maybe not that important but in architecture it is uh in architecture grand entrances can make all all the difference i don’t know if you’ve spent time or if any of you are architects i don’t I don’t think so but uh uh but if you’ve spent any time with an architect you know they spend a lot of times thinking about the entryway to your home or the entryway to a building because they know that once you come into that space that first impression uh can mean everything because it can give you a feel for the rest of what the rest of the space is going to be like it sets it sets the tone and so if it’s a kind of a small low ceiling building a lot of times if they have the ability they’ll build like a big uh highse ceiling entryway so that you walk in and you feel or they’ll do the opposite if they want you to feel the grand uh the grand entrance of walking into a big high ceiling space they may start lower so that you come in and are just kind of awed and wowed by it uh so it’s important in architecture but it’s also I think uh grand entrances can be important uh personally too because they make a an impactful first impression uh that people will have of you right when you walk into a room and the way that they perceive you uh how they see you how you enter a room can tell the people uh in that room a lot about yourself whether you’re confident or or whether you’re a bit timid and a bit shy right I mean it’s also incredibly Uh it can it can be uh you know anxietyridden right because you walk into a big big room of people and most of us want to have someone else with us when we do that uh because it can be kind of odd uh but this idea of uh of grand entrances uh they even played a joke on it i don’t know if any of you saw the the Seinfeld episode where uh George has dreamed of making a grand entrance at least once in his lifetime uh and so he he finds a girlfriend that he thinks will make a great a great uh uh impression on all the people in the room as they walk in in their tuxedos and their uh and their gowns uh only this girl wants to break up with them before the event actually comes but he’s so committed to this grand entrance that he refuses to receive her phone calls uh so that she’ll have to show up he believes uh if he doesn’t actually hear her break up with him uh it’s it’s a pretty funny episode but grand interestes are are important they set the stage for the event they communicate so much and this morning Jesus makes his grand entrance and boy was it impactful it was impactful for him it was impactful for the people that were there that day and it’s impactful for you and me these 2,000 years later in John chapter 1:14 in the very beginning of John’s gospel uh John announces this about Jesus and the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we have seen his glory glory as the only son from the father full of grace and truth in Luke 19 and Jesus’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem sets the tone and makes an eternal impression upon us the King of glory has arrived the King of glory has arrived and he has arrived as John said so at the beginning of John’s gospel in grace and truth the triumphal entry is proclaiming that Jesus is the king of grace and he’s the revealer of all truth in the world that all comes through him and the truth he reveals and exposes concerns you and me and we see that at work in Luke 19 and so let’s take a deeper dig into Luke 19 together if you have it in the on the beginning of your bulletin or if you brought your Bibles with you you can open up as we uh as we take a deeper dive into how this triumphal entry proclaims the King of glory and grace and truth for our lives we first see in verses uh 29 uh to 35 uh what this proclamation of the King of Glory and and who he is
29-35 to remind you says when he drew near to Beth Page in Bethany at the mount that is called Evette he sent two of his disciples saying go into the village in front of you where on entering you will find a colt tied on which no one has ever yet sat untie it and bring it here and if anyone asks you why are you untieing it you shall say this the Lord has need of it so those who were sent away and found So those who were sent went away and found it just as he had told them and as they were untying the colt its owners 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 the first thing we learn about the king of glory uh in this these verses is this that Jesus is the promised king of righteousness now how do we get that from a cult how do we get that well go we have to go back to the the prophetic words of Zechariah in Zechariah 9:9 this is what was proclaimed about the coming Messiah the coming king rejoice greatly O daughter of Zion shout aloud O daughter of Jerusalem behold your king is coming to you righteous and having salvation as he humble and mounted on a donkey jesus the first thing that we learn about Jesus in the triumphal entry is that he is the king of righteousness he’s the one who is full of the righteousness of God it’s in him colossians 2:9 Paul proclaimed “For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.” So this is the fulfilled promise of God it’s also what we read about in Malachi those who are with us in this during the season of Lent we did a series through the prophet Malachi and if you’ll remember the words from Malachi chapter 4 but for you who fear my name God declared “The son of righteousness shall rise with healing in his wings.” Jesus marching into Jerusalem is the king of righteousness coming with healing in his wings the second thing we learn we learn about the king of glory is that he has power and authority he has power and authority you know that whole uh Jedi mo moment there where uh they say you know go to the man and say no you know Jesus has need of it uh you know it’s always a little bit mystery right like why in the world did they do it that way uh it’s a bit it’s a bit kind of strange right uh like that they would just know but the point is that that Jesus has sovereign power and authority as king over all that has come uh all that is to come is under his control and is in full obedience to his father’s sovereign will this is important as we move further and further further into Holy Week that Jesus was not just some tragic powerless victim king Jesus was willing to use his control his power and his authority for our salvation he said so much in John 10:17 to18 i lay down my life that I may take it up again no one takes it from me but I lay it down of my own accord friends Jesus is the king of glory who has sovereign authority and power and uses it for our good his glory for our good the third thing we learn about uh Jesus the king of glory is in verse 36 and as he rode along they spread their cloaks on the road the king of glory comes in humility he comes in humility riding on a donkey not a waror he didn’t come on a a horse of war uh that a king would traditionally ride in on as a sign of conquest as a sign of power as a sign of authority and rule and dominion he came in humility on a donkey yes in fulfillment of the prophetic word but what it signifies is that he came in peace he came in peace to bring peace he came in peace to bring peace fulfilling the the proclamation of the heavenly hosts to the shepherds at Jesus’s birth that we proclaim uh at Christmas glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased the king of glory comes humbly in peace to bring his peace of reconciliation with God to you and to me the fourth thing we learn about the the king of glory in this uh in these verses is that he comes sacrificially he comes sacrificially jesus willingly came and entered into Jerusalem he willingly came and entered in Jerusalem not for his own selfish gain not so that he would receive a throne of gold uh as he uh of all those who awaited him to give him all praise and glory what awaited Jesus was a cross for his own crucifixion yet Jesus rode on he wrote on not for his own glory but for our salvation for our well-being because ultimately his glory is for our good he wrote on not for his own health not for his own prosperity but to sacrifice himself for our ultimate healing with God that’s why he wrote on so the triumphal entry uh it reveals that the king of glory is full of the righteousness of God is in full control and authority of all things he comes in humility and peace and he rode into Jerusalem sacrificially for our salvation but what does Luke 19 reveal about us so uh it reveals that about Jesus and who he is which is important as we look at the next part about what it reveals about us and verses 36 to 40 I think are where we see that picture of who we are that truth of revealing our own hearts and exposing us verses 36 to 40 said this and as he rode along they spread their cloaks on the road and 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 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.” And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him “Teacher rebuke your disciples.” And he answered “I tell you if these were silent the very stones would cry out.” We see two very different reactions don’t we uh to Jesus the king of glory riding into Jerusalem the first one is the reaction we get is from the whole multitude we’re told of of disciples uh this is in the other accounts it talks about the crowds and so there seems to be a bit of a mix here of those who have been obviously the 12 who’ve been close and even those others that have been close to him but also there was more that happened to be there to see what was going on um so there’s possibly speculation because we’re not given a number but there’s possibly hundreds of people that have gathered around for this significant event we know there’s enough people there to concern the second party uh so there’s a significant enough people here in this moment and their reaction this crowd of disciples was to rejoice and to praise God that was how they received the king of glory who was riding in to Jerusalem we’re told specifically in verse 37 that they were rejoicing and praising God for all the mighty works that they had seen all the mighty works that they had seen and then in verse 38 blessed is the king they declared “Who comes in the name of the Lord peace in heaven and glory in the highest.” At first glance this is great this is what it’s supposed to be right this is what it’s supposed to look like when the King of glory comes in it’s a positive reaction they recognize Jesus as the king that he is and they give praise to God this is certainly a moment of God’s grace at work in their lives but then there’s the second reaction to Jesus and that’s the Pharisees right and their reaction is they were far from excited about this uh outrageous display that they were seeing uh and they said to Jesus “Teacher rebuke your disciples.” Meaning uh this was blasphemy silence them censor them close their mouths don’t let them do this they wanted Jesus to correct them for proclaiming him as king to which Jesus tells them “I couldn’t begin to do that even the rocks would cry out if they were silent all of creation is waiting for this moment it’s longing to cry out for my coming so we have two reactions one the seemingly positive reaction of the disciples to King Jesus riding in and then two we have the total rejection and the negative response uh to King Jesus by the the Pharisees but it’s not quite that easy it’s not as simple as that
what exactly were the multitude of disciples and crowds receiving and praising God for in Jesus that’s what we have to look deeper into here all the mighty works that they had seen that key word mighty works that’s what they were rejoicing in that’s what they were praising God for and that wasn’t wrong uh but that word it mean it’s the word that’s translated as miracles uh they were praising God for the feats of strength that they had seen Jesus do the mighty acts of power and authority that they had experienced and they wanted more of that that’s what they’re looking for they’re looking for a a king who comes in power a king who takes would take political control a king who would overthrow the Roman authorities and especially those detestable Jewish puppet regime that that they had put in place a king who would come conquering and would make things all new and would make them great again that’s what they were longing for that’s what they were wanting and when they saw Jesus riding Jerusalem on a donkey they did see the fulfillment of Zechariah 9 and of Malachi 4 but they did not see the king of righteousness the king of willing sacrifice who will lay down his life for them they didn’t see the king of humility that would bring them
peace and because of that very soon very soon these same people will run away and they’ll abandon Jesus when things don’t turn out the way that they had expected them to and for that reason we cannot read Luke 19 and the triumphal entry with the conception of the righteous verse the unrighteous reception of Jesus that’d be too easy this isn’t that black and white for the Pharisees Jesus was no king but for the crowd Jesus was not the king they expected or even the king that they really wanted this is why my friends the triumphal entry is not about the good guys versus the bad guys the triumphal entry is about the grace and truth of the king of glory alone see Jesus knew both reactions this was no surprise to him he knew the hearts of the crowds he knew the hearts of his disciples and the hearts of the Pharisees who would opposed him he knew it all and yet he came anyway he rode on anyway ever always closer and closer to the cross the King of righteousness came for an unrighteous people the King of Power and authority came for the double-minded the King of Humility and peace came for the prideful and aggressive people the King of Sacrifice came not to be served but to lay down his life and love as a ransom for many the King of grace knowing the truth of our sinful and of our rebellious hearts came willingly because he loves us he entered in Jerusalem and he rode to his own betrayal his own torture and his own crucifixion
you know maybe the Apostle
Paul captures it best of why Jesus came in and Romans 3 first in and verses 10 to 12 none is righteous not no not one no one understands no one seeks for God all have turned aside together they have become worthless no one does good not even one that’s the message we see at work between the disciples and the crowds and the and the Pharisees themselves no one was righteous except for the king of righteousness the son of
righteousness but then Paul goes on in chapter 3 and verse 21 “But now the righteousness of God has been manifest apart from the law although the law and the prophets bear witness to it the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe for there is no distinction all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by his grace as a gift through the through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus whom God put forward as a propitiation for his blood to be received by faith this was to show God’s righteousness because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins it was to show his righteousness at the present time so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus friends the triumphal entry isn’t about who was righteous and who was right it’s about Jesus is the righteous son of God and that by faith in him we are made righteous through the grace of God alone we are clothed in the righteousness of Christ what the triumphal entry reveals about the grace of God is number one it’s the free it’s his free gift for you and for many through the redemption that is in king Jesus alone there are times when we reject God’s grace there are times when we first receive it but later we get discouraged because life just doesn’t turn out the way that we wanted to the way we expected it to the way we thought it should but through it all God’s grace continues to come and to ride into our lives in King Jesus because God’s grace is unrelenting it comes despite ourselves not because of
ourselves jesus continues to ride towards us with his grace as long as there is breath in our
lungs john Newton the uh the former slave ship captain and who was met the Lord and was redeemed and wrote Amazing Grace uh he he said this which which I loved i think speaks to God’s grace at work he says “I’m not what I ought to be i’m not what I wish to be i’m not even what I hope to be but blessed be God I am not what I used to be and by the grace of God I am what I am.” God’s grace is transformative it’s transformative it gave hearts of praise to uh to a fickle crowd it even converted some of those Pharisees eventually it brought back those fearful disciples who ran away and abandoned Jesus
and it’s God’s free gift of unrelenting transformative grace alone in King Jesus that brings us back to
him today as we begin this walk into a holy week let us receive the King of Glory who came full of grace and truth receiving his grace for us accepting his truth about ourselves that we might receive him by faith and know the joy of everlasting life in him amen
