Wanting Jesus on Our Terms

Audio Transcript

Let’s open our Bibles this morning to Luke chapter 19, back where we were last Sunday. Luke 19. Today we’ll be in verses 28 to 44.

Last week in the first 10 verses, we saw Jesus had an encounter, a deliberate encounter, with a corrupt tax collector named Zacchaeus. And by the time that meeting was over, Jesus said, “Today salvation has come to this house.” Zacchaeus’ meeting with Jesus transformed his life. And because of that, he voluntarily promised to repay everybody that he had ripped off as a tax collector. In fact, to repay them four times over. If somebody could forward this message to the IRS, that would be great.

And I showed you all those maps last week just to give you the—try to express the urgent timetable that Jesus was on here. This is the last week of His life. And He made His way through Jericho because He was on His way to Jerusalem. And just imagine all that would be on your mind if you knew that this was the last week of your life. You know, sometimes I wish God would show me the future, and then I come to my senses and go, “You know, I’m really glad You don’t.” Jesus knew, though. He knew what was coming up.

And still we saw that He took the time to stop in Jericho, to go directly to this hated man, Zacchaeus, and to bring him to salvation. Right up to the very end, Jesus’ heart was for seeking and saving the lost. In fact, show that verse there. This is the verse we ended on last week. Despite all that was going on, despite the cross being just a week away, Jesus reminded us here, “For the Son of Man”—speaking of Himself—”came to seek and to save the lost.”

We should be so thankful that that is His mission and still His mission, because every one of us who are saved are saved because He came to seek and to save the lost.

And then in verses 11 to 27, I’ll have to let you explore that for yourselves. Jesus tells a parable there in Jericho about faithfulness, and today we pick up in Luke 19, verse 28.

Still in Jericho now, it says, “When He had said this”—when He had met with Zacchaeus, when He had told that parable—”He went on ahead going up to Jerusalem.”

Now, we saw in the verses last Sunday that Passover week was ahead. It was just a few days away, and Jerusalem was packed to overflowing. We’re told that hundreds of thousands of pilgrims made the journey into Jerusalem to celebrate Passover week.

And also, I mentioned last Sunday that this was no ordinary trip for Jesus to Jerusalem. As I said a moment ago, He knows that when He goes this time, He’ll be arrested, He’ll be falsely charged, He’ll be beaten, and He’ll be put to death. And although, you know, I think there’s an irony here, if you have headings in your Bible above these verses we’re going to look at today, my guess is it says “The Triumphal Entry.” And although that’s what it’s called, and although the streets are going to be lined with people shouting to make Him King and crying out His praises, it will turn out to be a heartbreaking day for Jesus.

I also want to mention, again, it’s important we try as much as possible to put the four Gospels together when we’re reading, because as with any four people who are recounting events, one might mention a detail that the other doesn’t mention. And so when you overlay the four Gospels together, you get a full picture of what took place. I would recommend to you, if you don’t have one, to buy a book called “Harmony of the Gospels.” It’s not a book—it’s a type of book., and there are many of them. Some are better than others, but it helps you be able to see all four Gospels on one page in columns and read them together.

But in Matthew’s account of this event, he says, when Jesus entered Jerusalem here on this day, he says, “The whole city was stirred.” That word he uses is the word for an earthquake. The whole city was rumbling. It was stirred. It was moved. You may recall that when Jesus was born, it said, “King Herod was troubled and all Jerusalem with him.” Isn’t this astounding? The very birth of this baby caused an entire city to be troubled. Now here we are 33 years later, His final arrival into Jerusalem, once again, stirs the whole city.

Jesus, by His mere presence, can bring men to their knees in worship, or He can cause them to seethe with rage. And the reason for that is—Jesus is exactly who He said He was. He’s the Son of God, the Savior of the world, the great dividing line in all of human history. He’s the one who was destined to cause the rise and fall of many, a sign that would be spoken against, just as Simeon prophesied over Him when He was a baby.

And Jerusalem is in an uproar on this day because of the specific way in which Jesus entered the city. He’s boldly proclaiming to be the promised Messiah, the Savior, and the King.

There have been times throughout His ministry when the crowds wanted to seize Jesus and make Him King by force. Now, if you were on a personal mission of self-promotion, wouldn’t you take that opportunity and say, “Boy, the moment has come. These people want to make me their king. Let’s do it, guys.” But what did Jesus do? He slipped through the crowd and went off to a mountain to hide. Why? Because He said, “My hour has not yet come.” Throughout His life, we’ve seen numerous times where He said He had an opportunity to proclaim who He was, and He said, “My hour has not yet come.”

And what Jesus will say immediately after these verses, we’ll see next week, He says, “Finally, my hour has come.” And so He spends His ministry doing miracles, performing great things, and telling people, “Shh, keep it quiet. Don’t make it known yet.” But here on this day, everything changes.

Now, as He comes into Jerusalem for this final time, He is proclaiming to the world that He is the Savior and the King and the promised Messiah. And those who accepted Him as that were thrilled on this day, but those who rejected Him were furious.

So understand this right from the start today. These verses that we’re going to look at, this event is all about one thing, and that is the identity of Jesus. Let’s not miss that today. This is more than Him just writing into Jerusalem. It’s more than about people shouting and singing and celebrating. This is all about, all about the identity of Jesus. Notice how it all begins, Luke 19, starting in verse 29:

“As He approached Bethpage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, He sent out two of His disciples, saying, ‘Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks, “Why are you untying it?” tell him, “The Lord needs it.”‘”

Now, in this opening moment of this event, Jesus is already putting His true identity on display by showing His absolute providence and sovereignty over all things. What do we pick up from what Jesus has just said here? He knows exactly where this colt will be. He knows that it will be tied. He knows that no one has ever sat on it. And He knows that the owner is going to inquire about why they’re unloosing it.

So what do you think the disciples found when they obeyed Jesus and went? Verse 32, “So those who were sent went away and found it just as Jesus had told them.” Well, surprise, surprise.

Someone once said, “There is not a maverick molecule in the universe that is not under His control.”

What does that mean for you in your daily life, in the things that are hanging above you right now, trying to creep in right now into your mind and demand your attention, those things you’re concerned about for tomorrow and next week and next month, about you or a loved one? We all have them. What does this mean? That there’s not a maverick molecule in the entire universe that is not under His control. It means we ought to take great comfort in that. We should take great comfort in knowing that our Lord has already been ahead of us. He knows every detail of every moment we will face, that nothing will ever come into our lives that takes Him by surprise.

Verse 33, “But as they were loosing the colt, the owners of it said to them, ‘Why are you loosing the colt?'” I mean, it’d be like you hot wiring somebody’s car in their driveway. “And they said, ‘The Lord has need of him.'” Verse 35, “Then they brought it to Jesus, and they threw their cloaks on the colt and set Jesus on it. And as He rode along, many people spread their cloaks on the road.”

The disciples brought this colt, they laid their cloaks, their jackets, their garments on this little colt as sort of a makeshift saddle, but it was more than that. It was more than that. They put their cloaks on this as a sign of reverence and honor of royalty, and Jesus sat on it, and He began riding up that hill on the back slope of the Mount of Olives. Show that map, if you would. I just want you to kind of get a visual of this. Jesus has just come from Bethany down there, came from Jericho up through Bethany, up through Bethpage. He gets the colt, sits on it, begins riding up that slope, up to the Mount of Olives, to the crest there where you can look over and look down and see Jerusalem. And as He does this, other people also begin spreading their cloaks on the road in front of Him. What in the world are they doing?

Well, when someone was anointed as king and was to be proclaimed king to the city, people would come out and they would lay their cloaks on the ground for him to walk on. It was not just a gesture of humility. You know, it was literally saying, “I’m putting myself beneath you to walk upon.” It was also a sign of honor. It would be like us rolling out the red carpet for someone of honor.

Back in the Old Testament when Jehu was made king, the army commanders all rushed and took off their cloaks, and they laid them down to make a path for King Jehu to walk upon. It’s a sign of total submission. This is not just some bizarre thing. Steve in the crowd didn’t just say, “Hey, why don’t we throw our cloaks in the road? That’d be kind of cool.” These people knew what they were doing. Everyone there knew what this meant. A King is coming.

It may seem strange to us, but what we already see taking place here in just these opening verses here is that prophecy is being fulfilled, and Jesus is publicly declaring His identity as the promised King.

Now, it’s interesting, at least to me, that as we’ve looked through the life of Jesus from the time He was a boy, we saw Him in Jerusalem at 12 years old. Jesus has made many, many trips to Jerusalem over the course of His life. But this is the only time the Bible records Him riding into Jerusalem. In fact, this is the only time in the entire New Testament that we’re told Jesus ever rode anything. He walked everywhere He went. So why now? Why did He choose to deliberately go send for this colt and ride into Jerusalem? Was He just especially tired that day? Not at all.

What is happening here is prophecy is being fulfilled right in front of these people. Matthew, in his account of this event, tells us exactly why Jesus did this, and Matthew is quoting from the Old Testament prophet Zechariah. Matthew says this in chapter 21, verses 4 and 5. Why is this taking place? Why is Jesus riding on this colt? He says, “All this was done that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the prophet, saying, ‘Say to the daughter of Zion, Behold, your King is coming to you, humble or lowly, and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.'”

Now, this was written hundreds of years before. So why did Jesus pause on this, His final trip to Jerusalem, and specify, “Go and get this”—not a horse, not a full-grown donkey, a baby donkey, a colt, a foal of a donkey—because He is fulfilling the prophecy of the coming King?

Zechariah said, “Your King is going to come to you riding—but not on a war horse, like kings normally would. When you see this one coming riding on a colt, on the foal of a donkey, when you see that, you will know that your Savior has come.”

Now, you know, I read this and I—my first instinct is to think, “How unfitting. How unfitting for the King of heaven to make such a lowly entrance.” When other kings of that time, they’d return from war riding on a huge, powerful stallion. It was a sign of strength. Surely Jesus deserves at least that.

Well, when a king rode in on his mighty stallion, it was a sign of war. Jesus comes riding in on a tiny colt as a sign of peace. He didn’t come this time as a conquering king. He came as a humble servant. And that quality is reflected through His entire life and ministry. He was conceived in a borrowed womb. He was born in a borrowed manger. He crossed the Sea of Galilee in a borrowed boat. He makes His entrance here into Jerusalem on a borrowed donkey. Soon He will initiate the Lord’s Supper, communion, in a borrowed room. And when He dies, He’ll be buried in a borrowed tomb.

But make no mistake, folks, when He comes the second time, He’ll come on clouds of glory, riding a white stallion with the armies of heaven with Him, and every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is Lord. But for now, He comes humbly riding on a little donkey.

Now, the Jews knew their Old Testament prophecies. They knew their scriptures far better than we do, and as soon as these crowds saw Jesus riding into Jerusalem on the colt of a donkey, Zechariah’s prophecy sprang to mind, and they did something they would only do for a king. First, Matthew, Mark, and John in their accounts all say that not only did the people lay their cloaks in the road, but they went and cut down branches from leafy trees and laid them in the road. John is the one who specifically tells us they were palm branches.

What does that mean? Well, again, we must—we must do the hard work on this end of history, looking back to understand what in the world this means. Like if I didn’t dig, I would be like, “Okay, palm branches, whatever. Who cares if it was a banana tree?” No, palm branches, this is very specific.

Palm trees carried unique meaning throughout the Bible. They were symbols of royalty and celebration and victory. Palm trees. We saw this years ago when we were going through the Old Testament. As the temple was being designed and constructed, God told the craftsmen to carve palm trees into every wall of the temple and then overlay them with gold. I think something like 17 times in those instructions, palm trees are mentioned. The future temple will also have palm trees. Ezekiel told us in his vision of the future temple, its archways faced the outer court, and palm trees were on its gate posts.

Palm branches were waved in celebration back then when a conquering king returned to the city. Like in 141 BC, it’s recorded by historians that the Maccabees came, who basically rescued Jerusalem, came riding into town, and the people cut palm branches and were waving palm branches for Simon Maccabeus and laid them in the street before him.

Palm branches are even important after the end of all things. I just want to show you this. Jump forward to the end of your Bible, Revelation 7:9. It says, “After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands.”

And boy, I’m itching to get to Revelation. There’s something about it—did you sense that? Just reading that verse, there’s electricity in the air. Something powerful about that. So when the people on the streets of Jerusalem that day waved palm branches and laid them on the road in front of Jesus, everyone knew what that meant. We’re the ones who don’t. We must struggle in our scripture reading to understand these things. But that’s not all they did.

Verses 37 and 38, back in Luke 19 now. “Then, as Jesus was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives”—okay, so He’s come up past Bethpage to the crest of the Mount of Olives, and He’s sort of looking over the other side now at the crest—”the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, saying, ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest.'”

Now again, Matthew and Mark give us the specific detail that the people were also shouting the word “Hosanna.” It’s another very important word. “Hosanna” means “Save us now.”

When these people saw Jesus entering Jerusalem like this, they weren’t just saying random things. You could feel the pieces snapping into place. They specifically began quoting not only Zechariah but also Psalm 118, verses 25 and 26. It says this, “O Lord, save us, we pray. We beseech You, O Lord, cause us to prosper. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.”

And that’s what the people were shouting for Jesus that day.

Now, let me tell you, we throw words and sentences around very casually here. I’ve noticed in our culture that even the name of God is tossed around very casually. We must understand that Jews, in fact, Orthodox Jews today, won’t even write the name of God. I have a friend overseas, a Jewish friend from South Africa, when we were there, who still communicates with me. When he emails me and he writes the name of God, it’s capital G dash D. Now, I don’t know if that’s right or wrong, but I think in the spirit of things, I totally get what they’re doing. It’s reverence. Don’t toss this around. And so for us, for people to say, “Hey, Hosanna, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord,” we must understand, no Jew would ever say that to a normal person.

This praise, this psalm was reserved for the Promised One who would come to save them. And step by step as this triumphal entry unfolds, the identity of Jesus is being proclaimed louder and louder for all to see and hear.

But guess who else was there to see and hear it? Verses 39 and 40: “And some of the Pharisees called to Jesus from the crowd, ‘Teacher, rebuke your disciples.’ But He said to them, ‘I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.'” What a statement.

The Pharisees, as usual, are outraged at Jesus. Have you ever known people who weren’t happy unless everyone else was unhappy? This is the Pharisees, miserable, always miserable, complaining about everything. Nothing was ever good enough for them.

And they’re furious that Jesus is allowing people to ascribe messianic passages from the Old Testament to Himself, because that’s what’s happening here. Jesus is there proclaiming, “I’m your Messiah. These prophecies are all about me, so it’s right for me to receive this praise.” The Pharisees are there saying, “We don’t believe you’re our Messiah, so it’s blasphemy for you to accept this praise. You need to tell them to stop.”

Jesus says if they keep silent, the very stones will cry out. Again, this isn’t like Jesus didn’t say, “Oh, what can I say back? Better think of something really cool.” No, He’s again fulfilling scripture in the very words that He speaks. This is a statement that points directly to His identity. He’s declaring Himself to be the Lord of creation, saying that if people stop praising Him, the rocks will cry out with praise because all creation inherently recognizes and responds to its Creator. Jesus is saying, “If humans refuse to praise me, the very stones will rise as a living witness to declare who I am.”

I frankly wish Jesus would have told people to be quiet, because I would love to see how the stones responded. What would the stones have sang? “I can’t get no satisfaction.” I’m so sorry. Is that wrong?

You know, I meet with these—we got so many wonderful young families in our church, and I’m trying to meet with the guys and get to know them. I was meeting a month or so ago with one of the young guys, and I really like talking to this guy. And I said—I made some comment about Eric Clapton, and he looked at me and said, “I have no idea who that is.” Where is he? Yeah, you know, you… My heart sank. There’s no way I can be this old.

So again, this isn’t a—Jesus isn’t just saying, you know, like a snappy comeback. He’s getting down to the—the—the root level of things here. He’s saying, “Fine, if they—if they are quiet, nature itself will rise up, and it will bear testimony of who I am.” The dirt, the stones, the atoms themselves, they all answer to the Creator who made them. I was out this morning with the dog in the yard and just standing there listening to this beautiful song of a bird. I don’t know what kind of bird it was, but he was happy, I guess. Just singing, singing praise.

Again, this goes back to the Old Testament, just this statement of Jesus. The Old Testament often depicts nature praising God. Rivers clapping their hands. Hills singing. Fields and trees rejoicing. And by applying this to Himself, Jesus is saying in no uncertain terms that the worship that is due God also belongs to me. Do you understand how crazy that statement is unless it’s true?

Remember back when we were in John 5 and Jesus made those three breathtaking claims. He said, “I am equal with God in power. I’m equal with God in authority. And I’m equal with God in honor.” And you just go, “Whoa.” He was claiming equality with God. In fact, He went so far as to say in John 5:23—man, this verse just silences me—”All should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.”

That’s crazy talk. But not for Jesus. And here in this triumphal entry, when He says, “If the people don’t praise me, the very rocks will cry out,” He’s referring to those Old Testament passages where nature itself gives praise to God, and Jesus is saying, “The same praise belongs to me,” and any other person would be utterly insane for making such a claim. But again, let me remind you, this event is all about His identity as the promised Savior and King.

And then we come to these very heartbreaking verses at the end of this section, verses 41 to 44. We see all these people cheering and praising Jesus, and it seems like they’re finally accepting Him. Like Jesus has been slandered and criticized and hated and plotted against His entire ministry. And we think, “Now, look, they’re praising Him. They’re going to accept Him. Like, this is going to be the greatest day of His life.”

But then we get to Luke 19:41 to 44, and it says this: “Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it”—that word is not the word for a tear trickling down your cheek; it’s sobbing and wailing—”He wept over it, saying, ‘If only you had known on this day the things that would bring you peace. But now they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment—or a barricade—around you, surround you and hem you in on every side, and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within your walls. They will not leave one stone upon another.'”

Here’s the key: “Because the time of your visitation…”

And that’s exactly what happened less than 40 years later. In 70 AD, Roman commander Titus Flavius led four brigades, or legions, of Roman soldiers. Estimated 60,000 to 70,000 Roman soldiers came in. They breached Jerusalem’s walls, they burned the temple, and they leveled most of the city. Historians say the fire was so intense that it melted the gold throughout the temple, and it dripped down into the joints of the stones, so that when it was all over, the Roman soldiers came and they pried every stone apart to retrieve the gold that was between the stones. Once again, Jesus shows His divinity by predicting this very event down to the smallest detail.

And thinking of all this, looking at His beloved city, He weeps, He sobs. He knows that despite this brief moment of celebration, the people are going to choose to reject Him and remain in their sin and bring destruction upon themselves. He knows that these shouts of “Hosanna” in just a few days will turn into shouts of “Crucify Him.” What a heart-breaking conclusion to this triumphal entry.

Oh, make no mistake that people wanted a Savior, but they wanted to be saved from the Romans. Listen, they didn’t want to be saved from their sin. You see, because that requires humility and confession and repentance. Oh, no. No, that’s not what we want. “Get Rome off our backs, become our king.” But save us from our sin? No. They wanted a king who would rule over their enemies, not a king who would rule over their hearts.

This destruction didn’t have to come. But Jesus said it was going to happen because the people did not recognize their time of visitation. What does that mean? Well, I’ll go back to last Sunday. We saw how Jesus said to Zacchaeus, “I must come to your house today,” because Jesus had a divine appointment with him. That was Zacchaeus’ time of visitation.

The beautiful thing is Zacchaeus did recognize his time of visitation. And as a result, he was saved. He was made new because he recognized Jesus’ identity and believed in Him.

Now, contrast that to what we’ve read today. Jesus weeps over the people of Jerusalem because they did not recognize their time of visitation. Jesus comes riding into the city, fulfilling prophecy, declaring Himself to be King. They’re all excited at first, but before the week is out, they will put Him to death. He came to them, but they missed their time of visitation. They refused to accept His identity because they wanted a different Savior.

And it strikes me today that people aren’t so different. They’re still looking for a Savior who will make their lives turn out exactly how they want them to. A Savior who will grant all their wishes, fix all their problems, and when that doesn’t happen, they feel like He’s failed them. Trouble is, they’re coming to God with a list of demands, instead of surrendering to God as He is.

There’s a lot of idol-making going on in 2026. People are trying to fashion a God, trying to fashion a Savior through the exact specifications that they demand. The God of the Bible? “Oh, no. No, it’s a bit too rigid for me. I can’t get into all that stuff. I prefer a Savior of my own making.”

People lining the streets of Jerusalem that day wanted a Savior, but they wanted a Savior on their own terms. And because they refused to accept who Jesus really is, they missed Him completely.

Jesus has already proven that He is exactly who He claimed to be. And so I ask you this morning, how will you respond to that? How have you responded to that? Because your decision will determine not only your life here and now, but your eternal destiny.

Oh, I pray, as I’ve been thinking through this message this week, as I’ve been thinking about y’all, I pray that no one here will miss their time of visitation. How tragic that would be.

You have another opportunity this morning. Tomorrow, next week, I have no idea. But now, unless the building falls in in the next few seconds, you have another time of visitation at hand. What will you do with it? Jesus said, “Behold”—it’s a strong term: wake up, listen, pay attention—”I stand at the door and knock. If any man hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and fellowship with him and he with me.” And He’s still knocking today.

Can I ask you, have you accepted Jesus for who He is—the Son of God and the Savior of the world?

The crowds in Jerusalem that day, they missed their day of visitation. But you don’t have to. Receive Him today. Trust Him. And welcome the peace that only He can give.

If you’ve never come to Christ, what better day? We’ll sing a couple closing songs now. If you would like help, I invite you to stand and come to the back and speak with me, or speak with anyone here. Or simply, from the quietness of your own heart as we’re singing these songs of worship, call out to Him. He said, “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”