Senior Pastor, Robert Dennison, preached this message on April 13, 2025. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Audio Transcript
Thank you, worship team, for leading us today. If you want to turn in your Bibles, we’re going to be reading from Luke 19, verses 28 through 40. It says there. That’s on page 32. You’ll be way back at the beginning of the story in Genesis.
So really, you’re supposed to be on page 932 if you want to use the Pew Bible that’s in front of you, page 932. If you turn to 32, you’ll be quite a bit behind.
Today we’re going to be talking about the triumphal entry. We also know it as Palm Sunday because they waved the palm branches. We’re going to just look at several elements of the story and make application about each. Today I began reading in Luke, chapter 19, verse 28. When he had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem, and he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the place called the Mount of Olives.
He sent two of the disciples and said, 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. If anyone asks you, why are you untying it? Say this. The Lord needs it.
So those who were sent left 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? The Lord needs it, they said. Then they brought it to Jesus. And after throwing their clothes on the colt, they.
They helped Jesus get on it. As he was going along, they were spreading their clothes on the road. Now he came near the path down the Mount of Olives, and the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles they had seen. Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace, heaven and glory in the highest heavens.
So some of the Pharisees from the crowd told him, teacher, rebuke your disciples. He answered, I tell you, if they were to keep silent, the stones would cry out. May we pray? Heavenly Father, we come now before you once again with thanksgiving in our heart that you have given us your word. We ask as we go over it today, that you would give us not only an understanding of it, but a desire to be obedient.
And whatever in our life needs to change according to it. In your Son’s name we pray. Amen. Verse 28. We’re looking at the setting to start with, when he had said these things.
What are the things that Jesus has recently talked about. Well, he’s been at the home of Zacchaeus, who was a tax collector that Matthew would have sympathized with. And we all know that people don’t like tax collectors. This man was a sinner in everyone’s eyes because he had extorted people for money.
But Jesus says that he needs to go to his house. And he gives this very important message as a reminder before he is about to walk into Jerusalem to be crucified. He says, the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost. And that was Jesus primary importance when he came. It’s not to set up his earthly kingdom.
It’s to do what’s more important, to save and to seek the lost. And then after that, Jesus shares the parable of the 10 Minas. And this is talking about a man who goes away to receive authority and a kingdom, and he’s going to return. And Jesus is sharing a parable about himself. And as he leaves, he leaves his servants with an assignment.
But it tells us that most of the subjects in his land hated him. And as he was leaving, they said, we don’t want this man to rule over us.
But still he selects just a few, and he gives them work to do while he is gone. And when he returns, the faithful are rewarded and the unfaithful are judged. Jesus is telling them, this is about what’s to happen. I’m leaving you with something to do. Jesus also shared another parable, one that wasn’t about him, but one that was about the Father.
The parable of the vineyard, where the man sends his servants to receive from the people that are keeping his vineyard, but they persecute them and they don’t accept them. And finally the Father sends his one and only Son. And the people that are taking care of the vineyard, they don’t say, oh, it’s the Son, we need to pay him. Instead they say, it’s the Son, we need to kill him. Jesus.
Jesus is laying out what’s about to happen from his perspective that he’s going away, but also from the Father’s perspective that he is sending him in to be killed. These are the things that are in the text that are on our minds as we come now to his entry.
I want us to look at some warnings that Jesus gave in Luke. He gives three of them. Prior to this, in Luke chapter nine, we read, he strictly warned and instructed them to tell this to no one, saying it is necessary that the Son of Man suffer many things and be rejected by the Elders, the chief priests and the scribes to be killed and to be raised the third day. And despite this first warning in Luke, the disciples, they just don’t get it. Because in their mind, they can’t get past the fact that they’re hoping for a physical kingdom, that Jesus will restore Jerusalem to its glory and get rid of the Romans.
They’re looking for a conquering king, but they’re not looking for a suffering servant. They’re looking for a roaring lion of David, but not a silent lamb. And they are still prioritizing the promised physical kingdom over what’s more important, that Jesus came to seek and to save the lost, to save them eternally and internally. And they’re wanting Jesus to get rid of the religious leaders and the secular leaders instead of looking at themselves and realizing that they need to be cleansed. Also, he gives the first warning in Luke chapter 9.
He gives another warning in Luke chapter 9, and they still don’t get it. In verse 43 we read. While everyone was amazed at all the things he was doing, he told his disciples, let these words sink in. The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men. But they did not understand the statement.
It was concealed from them so that they could not grasp it and they were afraid to ask him about. Wasn’t intentionally that Jesus was hiding the meaning. He’s very much telling them what’s about to happen, but they just couldn’t understand. They just couldn’t grasp it. And again, maybe it’s just because they weren’t looking for a servant, a savior that was going to die.
They were looking for a savior that was going to restore the kingdom, like it is with everybody. Sometimes we need to be told more than once. Again, In Luke chapter 18, he gives them this third warning. He took the 12 aside and he told them, see, we are going up to Jerusalem. He’s getting more specific here.
Everything that is written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished, for he will be handed over to the Gentiles. He will be mocked, insulted, spit on, and after they flog him, they will kill him and he will rise on the third day. We know the story now. It’s like, why didn’t they get it? But it says they understood none of these things.
Again, the meaning of the saying was hidden from them and. And they did not grasp what was said. So it is, they’re coming with Jesus into Jerusalem, expecting something completely different than what he’s telling them is going to happen. And we have to go think about the prophecies here that. That Jesus is fulfilling and they know their Old Testament.
But I want us to see that we don’t always understand how the prophecies are fulfilled. Let’s go back to our text to read the part about the prophecy that’s being fulfilled here. It says, as he approached Bethphage in Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples and said, 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. And if anyone asks you, why are you untying it?
Say this, the Lord needs it. So those who were sent left 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? The Lord needs it. They said, Jesus is at Bethphage in Bethany.
He’s about two miles from Jerusalem. Bethany, as we remember, was the home of Martha and Mary and Lazarus, Jesus. Friends, it was where Jesus has recently raised Lazarus from the dead. It’s the place where a woman anointed Jesus feet with perfume at the house of Simon the Leper. And all along we’ve seen Jesus walking.
But this is the first mention of Jesus riding an animal. Why doesn’t he just walk into Jerusalem? Why is this time different? It’s because he has to fulfill all the prophecies regarding the Messiah. This is going to be his last entrance to Jerusalem before his death and resurrection.
And he has this prophecy to fulfill that we’re about to look at in the prophecies. The disciples are possibly aware of them, and the religious leaders are definitely aware of them. Of course, now the Romans aren’t going to understand a man riding in on a donkey. What’s. What’s the big deal?
Because to the Romans, an entry by a king would have been one of triumph on a great steed, on a horse. They would have even built arches like this picture here. They would have had a triumphal celebration with music and flag wavers and torchbearers. It would have been a festive atmosphere. And we do see that in essence, with Jesus coming in.
But he’s not on a horse at this point. He’s on the foal of a donkey. Let’s go back to Zechariah, chapter nine. This is where we find the prophecy that he is fulfilling. In verse nine, we read, rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion.
Shout in triumph. Daughter Jerusalem, look, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. They knew that part of the prophecy. That’s what Jesus is about to fulfill.
But in their minds, if they know it, they’re also thinking, but what follows immediately after that? Zechariah says, I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem. The bow of war will be removed, and he will proclaim peace to the nations. And his dominion will extend from sea to sea, from the Euphrates river to the ends of the earth. War is going to be removed.
Peace is going to be everywhere. His dominion is going to extend from sea to sea. This is what the disciples are focusing on. They’re almost just looking at that first part about riding on a donkey as just something that is not so important. An interesting thing about prophecy is that it isn’t always fulfilled incrementally.
So step after step after step. Sometimes there are gaps in the very middle of the prophecy, and that’s what’s happening here. When Jesus first came, he came to fulfill verse nine. But there’s a large gap in time. At this point, it’s up to 2,000 years.
Eventually, he will come back and fulfill verse number 10. Just as another example of this, let’s read a prophecy that Jesus read from in Luke chapter four and see how it’s broken into two spots. It says he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up. And as usual, he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath day and he stood up to read the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. And unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it was written.
And this is what he read. The Spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the lord’s favor. Verse 20 says, he then rolled up the scroll, he gave it back to the attendant, and he sat down. That’s what Jesus came to do in his first entry into this world, to preach the good news, to proclaim release, to help the blind, to recover their sight and to free the oppressed.
But if we go back to that prophecy in Isaiah, you’re going to see there’s a change, because when Jesus reads, it says, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. And then what comes right after that?
Go back on screen so they can see what comes after the Lord’s favor, a period. Okay, it’s just something really small. It’s as if that’s the end of the sentence. But now let’s go back to Isaiah and look for the difference to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. Now what do you see?
Not a period, but a what, a comma. Here’s a prophecy that right in the very middle of the sentence, only part of it has been fulfilled because that’s what Jesus was fulfilling then. But Isaiah gives us the overall picture of what Jesus is going to do because he says, and the day of our God’s vengeance to comfort all who mourn, to provide for those who mourn in Zion, to give them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, festive oil instead of mourning, and splendid clothes instead of despair. And they will be called righteous trees planted by the Lord to glorify him. They will rebuild the ancient ruins.
They will restore the former devastations. They will renew the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations. He’s talking about the people of God here, that Jerusalem is going to be restored. They’re not going to be under captivity anymore. But Jesus is saving that for a future time at his second return.
But still what I’m trying to say is in the disciples minds all these prophecies were, were there together. And they’re wanting it all to happen at once. The prophecies. Let’s look at the garments now because there’s more here than just meets the eye. It says they brought it to Jesus and after throwing their clothes on the colt, they helped Jesus get on it.
And as he was going along, they were spreading their clothes on the road. These outer garments were very important. They were protection and warmth. During the day they kept the sun off, they kept out the wind. But at night they used them as a blanket to keep themselves warm.
Your outer garments were also a symbol of status. Wealthier individuals wore elaborate outer robes, making them visibly, socially above the rest. Status. They’re also a symbol of honor and submission because spreading outer robes on the ground was a gesture of reverence for someone else. People often did it when they were greeting royalty or individuals of high importance.
Outer garment was considered a necessity if somebody owed somebody money. If they took their outer garment as payment, the law said they had to return it before nightfall because someone had to have their outer garment in order to survive successfully. And also they were a symbol of authority, as we find. Back when Elijah went to be with heaven, he left his outer garment and Elisha picked it up, showing that he had taken on the authority of being the prophet of God. Protection, status, submission, necessity, authority.
This outer garment represents a lot of things in the disciples lives. And what are they doing with all of those things? They are laying them down at the feet of Jesus.
Jesus followers go to the next slide. Spread their clothes on the road during his triumphal entry into Jerusalem as a sign of deference, honor and submission to him as a king. This act mirrored the practice of laying garments before a king in ancient times. They were signifying the recognition of his authority and kingship. And by spreading their clothes, they also symbolized offering their all to him and acknowledging his right Father place as the Messiah.
There was great purpose and symbolism in their lying down their cloaks. Next thing I want you to see is that there’s praise going on here. Back to our text. Verse 37 says he came near the path down the Mount of Olives. And the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God silently in their hearts.
Is that what it says?
They did it joyfully with whisper, right? A loud voice. Let me just comment. When we have singing on Sunday morning, we should be doing the same thing. Praising God is supposed to be joyful and loud.
It doesn’t say beautiful, it doesn’t say harmonious. It says joyful and loud. It doesn’t matter how well you sing or you don’t sing. It’s the joy in your singing. I mean, you can have the one extreme of having an exceptionally beautiful voice and there being no joy.
You can have an exceptionally loud voice and there not be any joy. But when we come to praise God and I want to see our church to be this way. We do it joyfully and we do it with full hearted voices. They praised God joyfully, with a loud voice for all the miracles that they had seen. Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord.
Peace in heaven and glory in the highest heavens. But some of the Pharisees, they weren’t happy. They said, teacher, rebuke your disciples. And he answered, I tell you, if they were to keep silent, the stones would cry out. What did the Pharisees recognize about the procession?
They recognized the prophecy of the king riding on a donkey. They recognized that he was being praised as the King of Jews. And rightly so. His disciples were doing that because Jesus said if they don’t, even the stones would cry out. What I’ll point out here is that all of creation is for the glory of God.
From the smallest grain of sand to a rock, to the earth, to the sun, to the solar system, all of it is created for God’s glory. And all of it does recognize Jesus. All of things that are living, all of things that are inanimate, have some level of understanding that Jesus is their Lord and creator. Colossians chapter 116 we read this for everything was created by him in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things things have been created through him and for him.
And therefore all things need to offer up their praise to the Lord. Let’s read some verses from Psalms in Psalms 1:14, a psalm about praising the Lord. We read about all of these things that we don’t normally associate with praise, but they’re responding to the Lord God Almighty. The sea looked and fled the Jordan turned back the mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs. Why was it sea that you fled Jordan?
Why was it that you turned back in mountains? Why is it that you skipped like rams? And why hills like the lambs? This is the reason. Because the earth trembles at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob, who turned the rock into a pool and the flint into a spring.
When God is present, all of creation recognizes him and trembles in his presence. Psalm 148:1 14 As I read through it, try to think of something that isn’t mentioned here that might be excluded from praising God. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise him in the heights, Praise him all his angels praise Him. All his heavenly armies, praise him.
Sun and moon, praise him all you shining stars, praise him. Highest heavens and you waters above the heavens. Let them praise the name of the Lord, for he commanded and they were created. He set them in position forever and ever. And he gave an order that will never pass away.
Verse 7 says, Praise the Lord from the earth, sea monsters and ocean depths, Lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy wind that executes his command. Mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, wild animals and all cattle, creatures that crawl in, flying birds, Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all judges of the earth. Young men as well as young women, old and young together, let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted. His majesty covers heaven and earth. He has raised up a horn for his people, resulting in praise to all his faithful ones.
To the Israelites, the people close to him. Hallelujah. What does it say over and over again? Three words, Praise the Lord. And is there anything not listed there that isn’t supposed to praise Him?
This is how we are to live our lives Praising Jesus, the disciples praised at his first coming. There was praise in the Old Testament. We’re commanded to do it throughout Scripture. But his second coming one day is also going to result in another time of praise. And we’re going to go to now to Revelation, chapter 19, verses 11 through 16.
Jesus came the first time and he was crucified. But he’s going to return when he comes a second time. And now he is going to be a completely different savior. And Lord John was there to see him enter the first time. And then John has a vision of what it will look like when he returns in the future.
John said, I saw heaven open and there was no longer a colt, but now there is a white horse, and its rider is faithful and true. This is Jesus. And with justice he judges and makes war. His eyes were like a fiery flame and many crowns were on his head. He had a name written that no one knows except himself.
He wore a robe dipped in blood and his name is called the Word of God. And the armies that were in heaven followed him on white horses wearing pure white linen. A sharp sword came from his mouth so that he might strike the nations with it. And he will rule them with an iron rod. He will also trample the winepress of the fierce anger of God the Almighty.
And he has a name written on his robe and on his thigh. King of kings and Lord of Lords. The rest of the prophecy that we read of in the Old Testament is yet to come, and it will be different. Jesus will now return as the conquering king, not the suffering servant. And he will return as a roaring lion, not a silent lamb.
He’s going to establish a physical kingdom and his rule of the earth. And his kingdom will be a kingdom of people who are cleansed on the inside. And now they are living outwardly according to God’s righteous plan. He’s not going to appear just as a man, but he’s going to appear as God. And instead of being the, quote, guilty one that they sacrificed on the cross, he now is going to be the judge.
So my question to you today is, are you ready for his return? Are you anticipating it with joy and a life that shows joy? There has to be an initial beginning in all of our hearts where we begin to have a right relationship with the Lord so that we can begin be prepared for his second coming. And it happens when we accept once for all the sacrifice that Jesus offered on the cross for our sins because there was a penalty that we need to pay for our sins that deserves that we deserve to die. But Jesus, instead of letting us die for our sin, he died on the cross so that all of our debts can be forgiven and cleansed.
And he did this that we might have a right relationship with God when we accept what he did for us by faith. The fact that he died on the cross, he was buried and he rose from the dead. We don’t receive it by doing anything. We don’t receive it by giving anything. It’s just by believing and telling God, I’m going to turn from living the way the world says to live.
Because you’re now my God, my Lord and Savior, and I turn to live the way that you want me to live. That has to happen in your life first before you can begin to look forward to his second coming. But there are those of us today that we’ve already accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. How are we supposed to respond to this? Let’s go to Philippians, chapter 2, verses 5 through 12.
It tells us that Jesus emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant. That’s what he did the first time he took on the likeness of humanity so that he could live among us and so that he could physically die for us. And when he had come as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death. Not just any death, but the worst type of death, death on the cross. And for this reason now God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow in the future and in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the future.
Eventually every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, and all of this to the glory of God the Father. And in light of him coming as a man, in light of him giving Himself up when he first came to die on the cross. Paul says in verse 12, therefore, this is what you need to do. If you’ve accepted this, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, so now, not only in my presence, but even more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Those words there obeyed.
And the phrase, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, it doesn’t mean that you can do any works for your salvation. He’s talking to his dear friends, those that have already believed they’re already saved internally. But he’s saying, now, let that work out in what you do. Let people see what’s happening, happened on the inside. Let them see a change.
Let them See a difference in your life, where you go, how you speak and what you do. You’re saved on the inside. Now let that salvation work to the outside in your speech and actions. The Pharisees, the religious leaders, the scribes, they were all opposed to Jesus in his day. And he kept pointing, pointing out to them with sayings like this.
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees. Hypocrites, you are like whitewashed tombs. You appear beautiful on the outside, but inside you are full of the bones of the dead and every kind of impurity. And in the same way, on the outside you seem righteous, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. The religious leaders were trying to think, if we straighten up, the way we look and the way we wash our hands and the way we bathe and what we do, it’s going to save us.
But Jesus told them, no. It’s what needs to happen in your heart. And that’s what Paul is saying here. What has already happened in your heart, now let that change what is happening on the outside. And the key word there is just as you have always, what’s the word?
Obeyed. Jesus said, if we really love him, we will keep his commandments. It’s by learning God’s word and being obedient to it that we work out our salvation so that others can see that. The first response was for no one. For people that haven’t accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior, they need to turn to him in faith.
But this response is to all of us that have faith in Jesus Christ that we need to be obedient to the Lord. In application today, go back and look at a couple of the words. The first word that we looked at were the rocks. Read what it says there. Be smarter than dirt.
Wouldn’t you love to be smarter than dirt? Wouldn’t that be wonderful? You can be smarter than dirt if you do. What? What does it say?
Just praise the Lord. Joyfully and loud. Say it again. Joyfully and loud. Good.
We talked about garments application is don’t hold back anything from God. Give him your all.
The third word is return. Thinking about when Jesus is going to come back. Don’t be nearsighted. Don’t just keep focusing on what’s fun today and what’s hard today and what’s difficult today, and focusing just on your illness and your problems and the wonderful things in life. Be anticipative of Jesus.
Return and be looking forward to that time. And the last one is, we talked about the response.
Minimize your your present life and instead maximize your internal eternal life. And what I’m trying to say there is spend less time on things that are this world. Maximize what needs to be going on in your heart. Maximize your internal life. Maximize your relationship with the Lord by reading His Word, spending time with Him.
We still have to eat. We still have to take a shower. We still have to do all those things. But make those things less important in your life than your internal and your eternal life. Let’s read it again.
Rocks. We want us all to be what? Smarter than dirt? By praising the Lord concerning our garments, we don’t want to hold back. We want to give everything to the Lord.
And concerning his return, we don’t want to be nearsighted. We want to live in anticipation of his return. And we’re going to spend time maximizing what Our internal eternal life that’s going to last forever. May we pray? Heavenly Father, we thank you that Jesus is coming back to complete what he started.
And just as certainly the prophecies were fulfilled about his first coming, we live with certainty that he will return and finish the work. And God, we ask if there are any among us today that have not accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior, that you would touch their hearts, that your spirit would call to them, that they might come to faith. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.