Jesus
Gets Treated Like a Rock Star
[Luke
chapter 19, verses 28-48]
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Last
week when we left off at verse 27 of Luke's gospel chapter 19, Jesus
had just finished telling the parable of the ten 'minas' as he spoke
about using that which God has instilled within us since before we
were born. We as followers of Christ are charged with the
responsibility of being diligent stewards and serving Christ with as
much distinction as we can as we journey through life with our Savior
towards our ultimate goal, which is to spend eternity with him. This
week as we move on to part 3 of Luke 19, Jesus was traveling to
Jerusalem with the Twelve as they were on their way to celebrate
Passover at the main Temple there. As we will see, Jesus' arrival on
the outskirts of Jerusalem as he made his way into town was met with
a tumultuous welcome. So let's go there with Jesus and his apostles
as they make their way through two small villages just north of
Jerusalem, starting at verse 28.
“After
Jesus said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. As he
approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of
Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, 'Go to the
village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied
there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If
anyone asks you, 'Why are you untying it?', tell him, 'The Lord needs
it.' Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told
them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked, 'Why are you
untying the colt?' They replied, 'The Lord needs it.' They brought it
to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt, and put Jesus on it. As he
went along, people spread their cloaks on the road. When he came near
the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole
crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for
all the miracles they had seen: 'Blessed is the King who comes in the
name of the Lord!' 'Peace in heaven and glory to the highest!'”
(Luke 19, verses 28-38)
Jesus
was coming south from Jericho towards Jerusalem. The
straight-line distance
from Jericho
to
Jerusalem
is 15 miles; however, the precipitous mountain road between the two
cities takes the traveler much further. Embedded within this text,
specifically verses 30-35, we find additional proof that Jesus was
the Son of God. He sent at least two or three of his followers ahead
to a village, presumably either Bethphage
or Bethany, to fetch the colt mentioned in Luke's gospel. Only a man
with supernatural powers could have known in advance that the colt
was tied up where it was, there is simply no other way this could
have occurred. Nor do I think Jesus had ESP, or was clairvoyant in
any way. Neither of those even scratches the surface as far as the
infinite powers possessed by the Son of God. After all, he is the
only Son of an omniscient God. Moreover, the unidentified owner of
the colt clearly knew who Jesus was, most likely by his impeccable
reputation.
So,
let's take in the full scope of what was occurring in real time back
then. Jesus and the Twelve, together with an entourage that must have
been in the hundreds at least, and could have been as high as several
thousand, are journeying en
masse
to Jerusalem. At this point Jesus' ministry has been active for the
last three and a half years, and his following has grown immeasurably
during all that time. All the miracles, the healing and the eviction
of evil or unclean spirits – which today we would likely call
mental illness – for all that time had made Jesus a celebrity,
something our Lord and Savior would never have called himself.
“As
he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road. When he came
near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the
whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices
for all the miracles they had seen: 'Blessed is the King who comes in
the name of the Lord!'”
Keep in mind that for the entire duration of Jesus' ministry, a few
of the Pharisees and experts in the Law of Moses – which was the
entire Bible at that time – had been shadowing him and the Twelve,
looking for a way to catch Jesus in a contradiction or some kind of
mental lapse with regard to what our Lord and Savior had been
teaching. They were looking for anything they could find because
Jesus had really gotten into their business for their hypocrisy, and
they hated that! But all the people were sure of exactly who Jesus
was, or so they thought. The Old Testament they were using at the
time spoke reverently of a messiah that would save the Jewish people
from their Roman captors, and those in the crowd were sure that Jesus
was that man. Instead, his fate was far worse, as everyone would soon
find out. But for now, let's go to the second half of our study,
beginning at verse 39.
“Some
of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, 'Teacher, rebuke your
disciples!'. 'I tell you', he replied, 'if they keep quiet, the
stones will cry out.' As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he
wept over it and said, 'If you, even you, had known on this day what
would bring you peace – but now it is hidden from your eyes. The
days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment
against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will
dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They
will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize
the time of God's coming to you.' Then he entered the temple area and
began driving out those who were selling. 'It is written', he said to
them, 'My house will be a house of prayer', but you have made it, 'a
den of robbers'. Every day he was teaching at the temple. But the
chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the
people were trying to kill him. Yet they could not find any way to do
it, because all the people hung on his words.” (Luke 19, verses
39-48)
Here
in verse 39 we have yet another example of the Pharisees trying to
rebuke Jesus and the Twelve for their manner of teaching, only to be
rebuked themselves by the Savior of the world! I find Jesus' range of
emotions interesting right here, with him showing anger mixed with a
little sarcasm in one sentence, and being reduced to tears in the
next one. Jesus also prophesied against Jerusalem and its inhabitants
when he said, “The
days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment
against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will
dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They
will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize
the time of God's coming to you.”
Jesus was referring to a time nearly 40 years into the future, when
the Roman Empire overran Jerusalem and destroyed the temple in 70
A.D. Thousands of people perished in this attack, and the Jewish
people were scattered from their homeland across the entire known
world at that time, and very likely beyond that. So great was their
sin against God Almighty – handing his Son over to be crucified –
that the Jewish people stayed scattered abroad until Israel was made
a sovereign nation by the United Nations on May 14, 1948. And that,
good people, is what happens to those who make Jesus cry!
“Then
he entered the temple area and began driving out those who were
selling. 'It is written', he said to them, 'My house will be a house
of prayer', but you have made it, 'a den of robbers'. Every day he
was teaching at the temple.”
I want you all to picture this in your mind. In Matthew's gospel,
Jesus made a whip and physically drove the money changers out of the
temple courts, but Luke doesn't mention that, I'm not sure why to be
perfectly honest with you. Still, Jesus is overturning the tables as
he physically forced these 'Shylocks' out of what was supposed to be
a sacred area, throwing some of the chairs in the process! These
tables and chairs didn't come from a store because there were no
furniture stores back then. Everything was made by hand. Since these
tables and chairs were made of solid wood, they were likely fairly
heavy, with each table topping 100 pounds or more, maybe much more if
they were of solid hardwood construction. These were not card tables
and folding chairs, you can be sure of that! And Jesus' rage and
indignation at his Father's house being turned into a virtual flea
market was equally solid, you can be sure of that as well!
“But
the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the
people were trying to kill him. Yet they could not find any way to do
it, because all the people hung on his words.”
Right here is where the rubber meets the road when it comes to our
Lord and Savior! Even though Jesus came into the Temple area and
began driving out the Shylock money changers, physically assaulting
all of them who were unable to get out of his way – although the
religious establishment wanted to kill Jesus, the overwhelming power
of the people dissuaded them. We could and should take a lesson from
just that, for in today's crazy times where so many are unhappy with
the status quo it would be in the best interests of the American
people to rise up against this monstrosity known as the Federal
Government before we all find ourselves being liquidated and
slaughtered by it (think nuclear war, climate change, FEMA camps,
etc.). There is an additional lesson that we can all take from the
last of Luke 19, which is that “all the people hung on his words”.
How about you, is that what you've been doing? Are we all 'hanging on
his words' as we learn from Christ? Not on my words, I'm just the
teacher, so let's put me aside for the moment even though I
personally write all these Progressive Christian Bible studies and my
weekly commentaries. I'm just the messenger, but Jesus is the
message. The only effective way we can “hang on his words” is by
reading our Bibles daily. If you don't have a print edition, consider
one of the many Bible apps there are out there and just pick one. You
don't get the message of Jesus just by reading this blog, although I
take heart in the fact that I perform this ministry for my Lord and
Savior. You get it by reading his Word, and “hanging onto every
word”. He's the Author and the architect of our minds, hearts, and
faiths! Cling to Jesus and you can't go wrong! And next week we'll
start on Luke chapter 20.
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