God's sovereign timing. Here's our proposition this morning. God's sovereign timing. His means and His purposes, which are often counter to our wisdom, to our will, and even to our wishes, are perfectly determined, infinitely wise, and eternally good, calling us to trust His unfolding plan over our own. I'm going to read it again. God's sovereign timing, means, and purposes, often counter to our wishes, our wisdom, and our will, are perfectly determined, infinitely wise, eternally good, calling us to trust His unfolding plan over our own. And we're going to see that unfold during the events of Palm Sunday, the triumphal entry. I know it's not Palm Sunday, but our passage is Palm Sunday. We're going to see that unfold through these events. But that proposition, frankly, can be applied to each and every one of us in our day-to-day lives. God's sovereign timing, means, and purposes, often counter to our wishes, our wisdom, and our will, are perfectly determined, infinitely wise, eternally good, calling us to trust His unfolding plan over our own. And so remember the scene from last week. Last week, there's a contrast between this week and last week that's pretty stark. Last week we met Mary. Remember, sitting at the feet of Jesus and washing his feet with her hair. And we saw Mary as an example of extravagant worship. Personal, heartfelt, genuine, and accurate, because she understood that Jesus was the son of God and only source of eternal life, and she worshiped him as such. So it's a wonderful, intimate scene, an example of genuine worship. In our passage this morning, we're going to read in a minute, we almost see the opposite. We see worship on a popular level, praise on a popular level, massive crowds yelling out, Hosanna, salvation has come. And we move from this quaint, intimate, sincere, genuine worship of Mary to this popular movement of worship, which is a mixed bag. Many are worshiping Christ for all the wrong reasons. Many are understanding his messiahship in all the wrong ways. And so we go from that genuine worship to maybe a feigned worship or at least a confused worship, as we'll see. But remember last week that Jesus ends up in Bethany and he's there because Passover is coming. And the pilgrims are flooding into the region. There's whispers of this death-defying Messiah who just raised someone from the dead. Remember Lazarus. And remember we also saw the scheming of the religious leaders. Caiaphas there in chapter 11 is plotting Jesus' death in order to save the temple, to save their place, remember. And so these are individuals blind to God's sovereign plan. But remember, we also notice that God was using all of these events for His glory, even turning the plan of Caiaphas into, or using that to His ends. And using Mary's worship, even, as a prophetic statement, even though Mary didn't understand all that she was doing. Now, we turn the page. And the gospel of John, from this point forward, is just moving us inexorably towards the cross. The coming chapters are just rich in Christ's teaching. We're going to have some incredible lessons coming up as we explore Christ's teaching for the remainder of the book of John. But also there is, as we said, a storm brewing. There's a storm of betrayal and rejection and death. And so all of this is kind of coming to a head, as we will see. But as we continue through the Gospel of John and we see the rejection coming, we see the crucifixion looming, what we have to remember is that all of this is perfectly within the controlling hand of God. All of this is working according to His sovereign plan. All of this is happening for our good, and all of this is happening according to God's timing. All according to His means and His purposes. And as I mentioned, this is the same perspective that we should have as we think about events in our own life. What's going to happen with the disciples in short order is they're going to feel as if their whole universe is crumbling. They're going to feel as if everything's spiraling under control. And what John would have us know is that all of this is orchestrated according to God's sovereign plan. And so we're going to do something a little bit different in that we're going to try to straddle two passages this morning, a parallel passage, which is John 12 and Luke 19. So John 12, verse 9 through 19. When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came not only on account of him, but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priest made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, because on account of him, many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus. The next day, the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the king of Israel. And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, Fear not, daughter of Zion. Behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt. His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. So the Pharisees said to one another, you see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world is going after him. And then Luke 19 for a little bit more detail, starting verse 28. And when he had said these things, he went on ahead going up to Jerusalem. When he drew near to Bethpage and Bethany at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of his disciples saying, go into the village in front of you where on entering you'll find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, why are you untying it? You shall say this, the Lord has need of it. So those who were sent away and found it just as he had, so those who were sent away, So those who were sent away and found it, just as He had told them. And as they were untying the colt, its owner 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. 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 a 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. He answered, I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out." And so you recognize this passage. I kind of debated what to do this morning because Palm Sunday is actually coming about six or seven weeks from now, but we've come to it early in our text. And obviously I've decided to just go through and teach the text. But you recognize this as the triumphal entry. You've heard that phrase and obviously that moniker is steeped in irony because from an earthly perspective, this doesn't look triumphal at all. In fact, it kind of seems a little humiliating. What we actually see here is a lowly carpenter from Galilee riding a donkey, a young donkey, slowly, ploddingly entering into the city. He's accompanied by a ragtag team of disciples, a collection of disciples. This actually is a coronation, but from an earthly perspective, this is a pretty pitiful coronation. You look at the scene from a heavenly and eternal and spiritual perspective, however, and you understand that this is one of the most significant events in all of human history. In these moments, the very Son of God, the Jewish Messiah, is entering the holy city. And with his entrance into the holy city, he's setting in motion a course of events that will result in the exposure of the Jewish leader's sinfulness. It's going to result in the desolation of the Jewish temple. It's going to result in the obsolescence of the entire sacrificial system. It's going to result in the fulfillment of a multitude of longstanding prophecies. And ultimately, it's going to be the accomplishment of God's sovereign plan of salvation. So Jesus' slow, plodding ride into Jerusalem was the beginning of the grand climax of God's plan to save humanity. This is God's plan to save men and women from their sins and to birth a new people of God. So in these events set in motion by the triumphal entry, we see the climax or culmination of a series of things. You see the attitudes of the people, both positive and negative, coming to a fever pitch, and ultimately boil over into the coming days that ultimately leads to the crucifixion. The significance of this moment to human history and to God's redemptive plan then can't be overstated. It's an absolutely amazing account of a historic event. But as we're going to see, the vast majority of people who are watching this do not get the significance. They completely miss the point. Well, up to this point, Jesus' earthly ministry was carried out in a way anticipating these events. Everything Jesus did, what he taught, how he taught, how he interacted with the leadership, how he interacted with his prospective followers and so on, all of it was done in anticipation of these events. He taught the crowds and he healed the sick and he confronted the hypocrites. He did all of this in a way to heighten messianic hopes so that it would burst forth at this moment. He not only was seeking to amp up messianic hope, but he is solidifying also the religious rejection. He didn't pull any punches when he's talking to the Pharisees. He would call them out publicly. He would humiliate them in front of others, calling them out for their hypocrisy, exposing the illogic of their arguments, and so on. He did that, and really what he's doing is he's solidifying religious rejection. He's doing this throughout his earthly ministry. really, again, anticipating these moments. And for this reason, you get the sense during Jesus' earthly ministry that there behind the scenes is maybe unspoken sense of timing. An example of that is John 7, when remember we saw that when his brothers were going up to the feast and they said, are you going to go too? And he says, you go up to the feast. I'm not going up to this feast where my time has not yet fully come. What we can't see is that undergirding all of Jesus' earthly ministry is a divine timeline. And he's doing everything according to that divine timeline so that everything progresses exactly as God anticipates, and so that it will burst forth and come to a climax at God's intended time. Well, this begins kind of where we see a glimpse of these things coming to a climax. So, Jesus arrives in Jerusalem. The interests of the crowds are piqued. His healing ministry, his authoritative teaching, his raising of Lazarus, all the rumors of his messiahship are now growing as a result of all of this. His run-ins with the religious leaders, all of this brought speculation as to who he was, so that, again, everything is coming to a fever pitch. The pump is primed. So massive crowds are gathering, as we have seen. And so you can picture the scene. crowds of disciples following Jesus into Jerusalem, many pilgrims hearing about Jesus, and they're all flowing in. And they're not just coming for Jesus as we see in our passage in John. They're also coming because of Lazarus. I mean, he raised someone from the dead. And Lazarus at this point is almost like a circus freak. I mean, he is like... That's him over there. Look it up. That's the guy that was dead. And so the crowds are coming because of Lazarus. The crowds are coming because of Jesus. And so this is a perfect time for these things to come to a climax. The more Jesus taught, the more he performed miracles, the greater this movement became. John 7 31, remember, said, yet many of the people believed in him. They said, when the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done? And then in our passage in John 12, verse 9 through 11, it says, when a large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came not only on account of him, but also to see Lazarus, whom he'd raised from the dead. So the chief priest made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, because on account of him, many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus, which is like hilarious. Lazarus was raised from the dead. Everyone knows he's been raised from the dead, and the solution is to kill him. It's not going to undo the fact that he is, you know, but don't accuse Satan and his minions of dealing logically. Add to this fact that add to all that Christ is doing and all that Christ is teaching, the rumor mill that is turning about Lazarus, and you can understand kind of the electric atmosphere that's developing. Everywhere anyone turned at this moment preparing for Passover, they're talking about Jesus. So the massive crowd's gathering, messianic hope is building, but that's not the only thing coming to a climax here. It's also religious rejection that's solidifying. Again, John chapter 12, verse 17 through 19, it says, the reason the crowd went out to meet him, not because of the sign, because of Lazarus, says, so the Pharisees said to one another, you see that you're gaining nothing. Look, the world is going after them. I mean, everything's out of control. As we said a couple of weeks ago, the Pharisees are just at a loss. Everything they seem to do is not working. Jesus is just becoming more popular. The movement's getting bigger. John 9, 22, it says, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus as the Christ, he was to put him out of the synagogue. I mean, the religious rejection is solidifying. They're determined at this point, he's definitely not the Messiah, and we just need to kill him. So the Jews are losing their following. Jesus had repeatedly humiliated them publicly. Further, the popular messianic movement that was developing made them all fearful of Roman intervention. They're losing their influence, they're losing control, and they're fearful that they're going to even lose their state. So tensions are heightened, multiple fronts of tension. Crowds are gathering, messianic hope is building, religious rejection is solidifying. But what we want to emphasize is as much as all of this seems to indicate things are spiraling out of control, we're reminded that all of this is happening according to God's divine plan. Jesus carried out his earthly ministry in such a way, teaching his disciples, building up their faith, even developing a speculation among the crowds, even bolstering the opposition of his enemies so that it would all burst forth at the appropriate time according to God's predetermined plan. And so we're reminded of our proposition. God's sovereign timing, means, and purposes, often counter to our wishes, wisdom, and will, are perfectly determined, infinitely wise, eternally good, and calling us to trust his unfolding plan over our own. So why would Jesus do this? Why would Christ, knowing that the crowds are gathering and messianic hope is developing and the religious rejection is solidifying, why would he now make a spectacle of himself and ride a donkey into Jerusalem? Is that not going to cause things to explode and ultimately lead to his death? Well, yes, exactly, and that's why he's doing what he's doing. John 12, 27 says, Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour, but for this purpose I came to this hour. And so seeing his death and his crucifixion before him, he didn't shy away, he didn't turn back. Instead, he sat on a donkey and he rode right into the midst of it. Crowds are increasing, messianic hope is building, religious rejection is solidifying. But again, we're reminded God's sovereign plan is unfolding. So Jesus tells his disciples, go find a donkey. And he gives a little signal, I think this is a little, encouragement to his disciples, letting them know, hey, this is what's going to happen. You're going to go into town, you're going to find a donkey, someone's going to ask you why you're untying it, this is what you're going to say. And that's a little signal to them, hey, it's all firmly in control. This is according to God's plan. And so they're going to be reassured when they go in and they see it just as Jesus said. And so he tells them to look for this sign and they do it. John tells us in verse 14 through 16, Jesus and Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it just as it is written. Fear not, daughter of Zion. Behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt." So is this incidental? Donkey's the closest animal, right? So horses weren't all that common. Just get a donkey, because that's maybe what you can afford. That's what you can find. Is this incidental? Not at all. Far from incidental. Jesus sitting on this donkey and riding into Jerusalem is the fulfillment of a 500-year-old prophecy. And this is where Zechariah comes in. Zechariah 9 says, Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. Shout aloud, O 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 is prophesying under Darius, post-exile. The Jews are back in their land, but they're still under Persian control. Zechariah is prophesying to a people who are disheartened and who are discouraged. They've come back from exile after the prophets had told them, hey, your enemies are going to be defeated, you're going to be restored to your land, so they leave exile. Cyrus gives the decree, they go, they're going to rebuild the temple, and in their minds, in their hope, is the Davidic king is going to arise, and he's going to rule and reign over an eternal kingdom, or over at least a universal earthly kingdom. But that's not what happened. The Jewish people come from exile, they go into their land, they try to rebuild, and it seems like everything they try to do doesn't work. Every step they take to try to rebuild the walls, every step they take to try to rebuild the temple, and there's opposition. There's enemies. There's delays. And so at the point where Zechariah prophesied, the people are discouraged, and they're disheartened. There is no Davidic king. There's Zerubbabel, who's operating as a governor, but there's no king. And so Zechariah gives them a message of hope. The people are longing for the restoration of a Davidic kingship. They're longing for national glory. That's the context of Zechariah 9. And frankly, that's what so many prophets had promised them, but that's not what they had. So they had a hope. They had hope that a deliverer would come. But those promises, as great as they were, seemed almost absurd compared to the sad reality of everything around them as they're trying to rebuild the city. And so it's in that context Zechariah gives this prophecy, an encouragement to God's discouraged people. He promises that the Davidic king would come. He says, Rejoice, O greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! You can imagine that prophecy be given to a people who are absolutely at their wits' end. Totally discouraged, totally disheartened. Seems like all their efforts are for naught. And he says, Rejoice, children of Jerusalem! Rejoice, O daughter of Jerusalem! Why? Behold, your king is coming. Righteous and having salvation is he. I mean, imagine a prophet declaring that and you say, the king's coming. I mean, immediate excitement. The time has come. Quite the encouragement. And he says he's coming with righteousness. He's coming, he's going to rule and reign with justice. He's coming, he says, with salvation. Gone will be the days of subjugation. Gone will be the days of oppression. Gone will be the days of exile. Gone will be the days of national humiliation. He's going to say, you're going to receive a king. He's going to rule and reign. So there's an awesome message of hope from Zechariah to a disheartened people. But look at how he continues. He says, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. Now all of a sudden the joy of these people who are disheartened and discouraged may give way to some confusion. These poor, oppressed people needed a king to fight for them. We need a king to defend us. We need a king to defeat our enemies. That's what they needed. But Zechariah says that this king is not going to arrive as a mighty, militaristic messiah riding a powerful war horse into the city. That's not what's going to happen. Instead, he's going to arrive humble and mounted on a donkey. He continues in verse 10, I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the war horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to the nations. His rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth. Saint God will defeat enemies. He's going to defeat them with their battle bows, with their chariots, with their war horses. He's going to defeat them all, and he's going to do it through the coming king. But how would he do it through the coming king? It says that this humble donkey-riding king would speak peace to the nation. Somehow he's going to defeat all of his enemies through a message of peace. He's going to rule and reign, but his kingdom is going to be a kingdom of peace. So when this humble donkey-riding king arrives, that's the signal that salvation has come. That's the signal that salvation has come. You'll know him, you'll know that salvation has come, when the king arrives and he rides a donkey into Jerusalem. And he's going to come, he's going to come, he's going to be somebody who speaks messages of peace. God will exalt him, ultimately, so that he will rule and reign in righteousness over a universal kingdom, and through him God's people will be saved. Zechariah 9.16 says, On that day Yahweh their God will save them as the flock of his people, for like the jewels of a crown they shall shine on his land. And oftentimes with prophecy there's a near fulfillment and there's a far fulfillment. talk and confusion about where's the near fulfillment of this in Zechariah 9. But what we clearly know is that there is a far fulfillment, a perfect fulfillment in Jesus at the moments of the triumphal entry. And so this is not necessarily the Messiah that the inhabitants of Jerusalem wanted. But what Zechariah knows and what God knows is that this is exactly the Messiah that they needed. They may not have anticipated a Messiah that was going to come with peace, but that's what they needed, a Messiah who would come with a message of peace. But not just a message of peace under the Persians or first century under the Romans. Ultimately, the message of peace that this Messiah is going to bring is a message of peace between them and their God. And that's exactly what they needed. And so as difficult as their situation was, both Zechariah's day and the day of the Romans, their greatest need was not earthly deliverance. Their greatest need was spiritual deliverance. They needed a king who would come and bring peace. And how is he going to do it? He's going to bring peace via salvation. So in our passage, what do we see? Jesus rides a donkey into Jerusalem, and that's the signal. The promised king has arrived. Salvation has come. The promised Davidic king has arrived. He's the one who brings peace. He's come to bring a salvation to the lost. He's come to lift not the political burden of Roman rule, but to lift the burden of sin and bring spiritual rest and peace to those who believe in him. This is why Jesus came. Matthew 11, 28, he says, come to me all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest, take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I'm gentle and lowly in heart. That's exactly what's being communicated as he rides the donkey, gentle and lowly in heart. And you will find a rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. And so that's the appeal this morning. If you're here and you're not yet a Christian, that's the invitation. The king has come. He's one who comes with peace and he extends to you an invitation to come and to find rest. Colossians 119 says, for in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. And so the king has come to bring peace, but not through a militaristic messianic battle of some sort, but he came to bring peace by heading directly to the cross so that he can reconcile mankind to God. Romans 5.1 says, therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. So for anyone with any spiritual discernment at this time, though it's a mixed bag, if there are some there who knew the Old Testament, that faithful remnant, they understood the prophecies, they're watching Jesus ride on a donkey into Jerusalem, and they get it. Now, a passage in John says the disciples didn't even get it at the time. It says they didn't understand until after He was glorified that these things were written and were done unto Him. So they don't get it either. So even those that you think would get it, don't get it. But the fact is, Jesus came in direct fulfillment of Zechariah 9.9. He could have been recognized as the Messiah. If he had veiled his identity previously, however, what he's doing now is he's laying it out there bare for anyone to see, if they have ears to hear and if they had eyes to see. So, far from Jesus avoiding the coming confrontation in Jerusalem, he's actually instigating it, knowing that this was God's plan from the beginning. He had to teach and to heal and to perform miracles for three years so that news of his power and authority would spread far and wide, thus beginning a wave of speculation as to whether or not he was the Messiah, a wave that would crest on this day at the perfect time. He had to continually expose the hypocrisy of Jewish leadership and challenge their authority to ensure that their opposition to him would simmer and boil over at the perfect time. And this now is that time. And so you wonder why Jesus kept the reality of his messiahship a secret at times, even telling some people who believe, don't tell anyone. He did it because he was ensuring that the popular movement to crown him king would not come to fruition until the perfect moment according to God's divine sovereign plan. So every aspect that we see here, the triumphal entry to Palm Sunday, every event of the Passion Week was firmly within the controlling hand of God and his son, Jesus Christ. It's no wonder that Peter could say in Acts 2, men of Israel, hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst as you yourselves know this Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and for knowledge of God. And by the way, That's a wonderful passage to remind us that throughout the Bible there is a tension between the sovereignty of God and the free will of man. Every major doctrine of Scripture has that tension. And you have to embrace that tension and recognize that tension. We have the most problem with it when it comes to salvation, because we feel like it's trampling on our will. But we have to embrace that tension, because if we don't embrace it, you are going to find error in every major doctrine of Scripture. And here, Peter is saying in Acts 2, hey, the divine plan? Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. God's plan. But, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men, but you're culpable and you're guilty. How do you reconcile that? Why don't we have a multitude of websites and debates and YouTube videos trying to figure that out? We don't, but the same tension we debate about over and over and over again when it comes to salvation. But the point is, whenever the sovereignty of God meets the free will of man, there is an unresolved tension in Scripture. And we recognize, however, that because God is sovereign, any free will that's exercised is always within the sphere of His ultimate sovereignty. And so here, what we recognize is, yes, the opposition to Jesus is coming to a head. They will crucify Him. They will kill Him. They are lawless. They will suffer consequence. But it's all according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. And so Jesus sits atop a humble donkey, makeshift saddle, they put their cloaks there, and some may look and say, well, what kind of king is this? What kind of king is this? Others might have recognized that he was the Messiah, revealing his identity as the one who's fulfilling the prophecies of the coming king. And so here he is. This is the king. This is the fulfillment. This is the time that had finally come. And so look what it says in John 12, verse 13. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the king of Israel. And you look at it and say, well, what wonderful praise. Hosanna just means something like save us. Salvation has come. And so that's what, you know, some of these may have recognized Zechariah 9.9. The king has come and he's bringing salvation. So they just yell, save us. But what do some mean? We started out by saying we just saw a passage with Mary where she's just sincere, genuine, extravagant worship. Heartfelt, loving God with all of her heart, with all of her soul, with all of her mind, and expressing it by honoring Jesus, just as the Father demands. Honor my son just as you would honor me. We just saw that. No question of the sincerity. And now you come into the scene of public worship and it's just a mixed bag. Hosanna! Save us! Save us from Roman oppression. Save us from tyranny. Our king, our mighty political ruler, our conqueror is here. He will make Jerusalem all that it ought to be. He's going to save us from our enemy. That's what some people mean. But of course there's others who actually mean it for what it says. Jesus is the humble servant of the Lord who's come to give himself as a ransom to save his people from their sins. So there are some who are ready to receive Christ as Messiah, because in that moment Christ represented whatever they wanted to project upon Christ. It's like the vessel of Messiah could be filled with whatever anticipation they wanted, with whatever deliverance they wanted. We can't be too critical, because a lot of people do that with Jesus anyway, even today. I believe in Jesus, but Jesus just becomes a vessel, and you just fill within that vessel whatever you want Jesus to be to you. And so people do that all the time, and they actually come to Christ, and they might even be baptized in his name, and they say that they're followers of Jesus, but the Jesus that they're following is not the Jesus of Scripture. It's the Jesus of their own mind. And those individuals who do that are going to ultimately be disappointed. because Jesus is not going to measure up to the distorted picture of who Jesus is. And when that happens, they're going to become bitter against Jesus and ultimately defect from the faith. So it's essential that we get Christ right for who he is. That's one of the mandates we have and why we're preaching through the gospel of John, frankly. And so many of those who are crying out Hosanna are crying Hosanna to a Christ that is not the Christ before them. It's a Christ of their imaginations. However, he would He ultimately would be all that this crowd thought he would be as far as being a mighty messiah and conquering king and so on. But this was not God's timing. And so there's some guilt in the crowd here. Some of those are saying things that are factually correct, but frankly, it's not an expression of what's happening in their hearts. They're completely missing the moment. They're completely missing the true identity of Jesus. So for some who are crying Hosanna, their praise is more correct than they know. Kind of like Caiaphas that we saw a few weeks ago. And so this is called the triumphal entry. And it does not have a red carpet. It does not have a proper entourage. It doesn't have proper heralds announcing the arrival of the king, but rather palm branches, a makeshift red carpet, makeshift saddle on a donkey, and many a fickle worshiper in the crowd. But look in verse 38 of Luke 19. As we approach the end here, we notice that as the crowd offers this exalted praise, saying more than they knew, Jesus receives the worship. 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 crowds said to him, teacher, rebuke your disciples. He answered, I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out. As we said earlier, many times Jesus would heal people and then tell them not to tell anyone. Why? Because the timing wasn't right. Yet something's different here. This huge crowd has put together a makeshift procession. They're waving, laying down palm branches, declaring him to be the Messiah, declaring him to be the king, and he's receiving the praise now. Why? Because this is the moment. This is according to God's timing. It is this year and this month at this Passover. It's at this time of celebration that the Messiah of God would be revealed. It was this very moment when God's promise of the coming Christ would be fulfilled and nothing could stop it, not even the hateful Pharisees. And so they say to him, rebuke your disciples. To them, this is blasphemous. This is wholly inappropriate. And Jesus responds, I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out. What's the implication here? He's saying to them, you're trying to stop praise that cannot be stopped. You're trying to stop worship that cannot be stopped. This is God's sovereign plan unfolding, and nothing can stop His sovereign plan. He's saying, you do not understand the significance of this moment. He's saying, you're completely blind to God's sovereign work. You're completely blind to how God is unfolding His will upon earth. He's saying, you're completely oblivious to the fact that God and His Christ have come to your holy city in this moment. He's saying, no, I'm not going to tell them to be quiet. This moment is much larger and much more significant than they could ever imagine, so much so that if they stopped offering praise, he says, the very stones would cry out in praise. All of creation has been waiting in anticipation for this moment. God's Christ is revealed. The King has come with salvation. He rides the donkey signaling that Zechariah 9-9 is being fulfilled, and God would praise his coming King, even if it's through the rocks. All of creation understands the significance of the moment. And frankly, what he's saying is the rocks have more spiritual discernment regarding what is happening in the moment than the spiritually dead men who are watching it unfold. The obstinate, hard-hearted ignorance of the crowd was so disheartening that at times it led Jesus to tears. Luke 19 verse 41 says, When he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, Would that even you had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes, if you only would have known. You know, as I kind of look across the crowd this morning, you're all tired this morning. Right? Half-empty church, half-awake people. And you can look and say, listen, the gospel's being preached. Christ is being exalted. Christ is being set before you. And there are some here this morning who say, you do not know the significance of this moment. You have no concept of how significant it is that God sent His Son, and here He is being preached to you. An opportunity to receive Christ as Savior and Lord. An opportunity to renew your faith and loyalty and allegiance to Christ. The powerful moment that just passes by spiritually ignorant or spiritually dull individuals. And that's what's happening in this moment. Isaiah chapter 9 verse 6 says, For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end. On the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth forevermore the zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. And so that's Jesus. The Prince of Peace coming to establish a kingdom of peace, signaling it to be so by riding a donkey in fulfillment of Zechariah 9-9 into Jerusalem. So He, the one slowly plodding on a humble donkey, is the wonderful Counselor. The one sitting upon that makeshift saddle is the mighty God, the Everlasting Father. The one who the crowds are looking at, hoping that he's a mighty, militaristic messiah, is the Prince of Peace. And he's the son of David, the rightful heir to the throne. His ascension meant the ushering in of the promised eternal Davidic kingdom. And so here, however, You have the representatives of the Holy City, the Pharisees, saying, shut up your disciples. Don't let them say this. Don't let them praise. They're literally trying to take their hand and to muffle those whom God is divinely empowering to praise even beyond what they understand. These are individuals trying to, you know, stick their fingers in the leaks in a dam that is about to bust forth. It's all for naught. Those who reported to be closest to God and his earthly representatives completely miss what's happening. Not only completely missed it, but they're hostile towards it. Although the significance of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem at the time was lost in the crowd, the significance of the rejection was not lost on Jesus. And what he says to this crowd is that the day is coming when your city is going to be left to you desolate. going to be abandoned by God, is going to be rendered absolutely obsolete, the temple is going to come down, the old covenant is done away with, and a new covenant will come. Jesus knows what their rejection means. And so, He who came to seek and to save the lost sheep of Israel weeps over them. If they could only see their ethnic entitlement and their religious pride and their self-righteousness, they might recognize Jesus as the Savior they need. But they have no need in their minds, and so they don't embrace Christ as the Messiah. So, in conclusion, As Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Messiah, the only Savior and only Lord, the One who came to save mankind from their sins, as a fulfillment of divine prophecy, rode in procession right before the eyes of the crowd, they were entirely oblivious to His genuine identity. They spoke words of praise, but for many of them it was misguided praise. Many of them it was offering a conditioned loyalty. This was praise which would soon dry up, a loyalty which would soon be exposed. What looks like faith now would in a few days be revealed to be completely fickle. What strikes us here is that these Jewish men and women had such spiritual privilege, the scriptures, the prophets, the covenants, the Messiah, the Messiah in their very midst speaking the word of God, performing miracles before them, all this privilege, and yet they completely missed it. And again, we could say in a moment like this, there are individuals here who have heard the gospel over and over and over and over again. And this morning is boring to you. This morning, you're hearing this and it has no impact whatsoever. Absolutely nothing. The most significant message that anyone could ever share, the gospel of Jesus Christ, and it doesn't penetrate one little bit. What that reveals to us is not that there's anything wrong with the gospel. Not that there's anything lesser of the message of salvation through Christ's name. What it reveals is a hardness of heart. It reveals the seed of the gospel just can't penetrate that hard, trodden-down soil. And so we can be guilty of the very same things, and we can be guilty of the very same things even right here in this place and at this time. So much of the crowd, most of the crowd, fickle praise, disingenuous, confused, and they're completely oblivious to the significance of the moment. John 1.9 says, the true light which enlightens everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him. Yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. And that's what we're seeing play out before our eyes. But there was a small remnant. There were some, like Anna, like Simeon, in the early chapters of Luke. There was a faithful remnant who knew. There are those who would have embraced Him and said, this is Zechariah 9.9 being fulfilled right before our eyes. And so the question this morning is that, are you part of that small remnant? Are you part of the crowd that says, I see Jesus for who He is? I see God's sovereign plan unfolding. I see the significance of it. I see the wonder of it. And I receive Christ for who He actually is. So which part of the crowd are you a part of? As we read this text in the Gospel of John in general, Jesus is being paraded in front of our eyes. as the only Savior and Lord, as the only means of entering the Kingdom of God. He's the one who must be honored if we are to honor the Father. He's the one whom we must bow the knee before, and He is the one that we must confess as Lord. He is the Son of God sent by the Father, first to come as the meek Messiah, giving His life for salvation for all who believe in Him, but He's also the Son of Man who will one day return in judgment, not as the meek Messiah, but the conquering King. And so as we close this morning, Which part of the crowd are you a member of? Have you seen Jesus for who He is? As we proceeded through the Gospel of John and our hope here is to exalt Christ so that we have a biblical Christology so that we can just kind of sit at the feet and wonder at Jesus. Has that been your experience through the Gospel of John? Or are you here this morning and you've really revealed a dullness when it comes to your spiritual life? It just doesn't penetrate. And you say, I go to church every single week and I hear this wall of words comes from the pulpit and I don't know what he's talking about. It doesn't seem applicable to me. It doesn't seem practical at all. Well, there's an interesting parallel. Because the most significant events of human history were unfolding before the crowd. They had no clue either. And it said something about their hearts and nothing about the character or the worth of Jesus. Let's pray. Father, we pray that you will. We think about the account of the Mount of Transfiguration where Jesus' disciples were there with him on the mountain. Christ kind of peeled back his earthly form and gave a glimpse of his divine glory. What a wonderful privilege that was. We pray that you would help us as we think about Jesus to look past or not just see Christ in his flesh, in his incarnation, but that we would be enthralled with and raptured by his glory. We understand that as we, even for those who are genuine believers, We can come together week after week after week, go about our daily lives, even reading the word regularly, even praying regularly, but we can lose the wonder of who Christ is. We can lose the significance of the spiritual work that you're doing. And so we pray that you would help us to be captured by the worthiness of Jesus. Help us to see in Christ all that he is, Help us to learn from Scripture who Christ is, what you have done through him, and then to ascribe to him all of his worth. Pray that you would help us as we experience difficulties in this life, as plans are unfolding that we don't understand, as events are happening all around us that may seem difficult, that may seem out of control. Help us be reminded that you work all things together for your glory, by your will, according to your purposes. And that even at times that's contrary to our will and to our wishes, but help us to recognize that it's all firmly within your sovereign hand, and that you work all things together, accomplishing your eternal purposes. And then this morning we pray for those who are here this morning who may have heard the gospel over and over again, who may attend church regularly, but they become bored with the gospel. just like these that we see in our account where they had Jesus before them for three years, the triumphal entry happens, and many of them are unmoved by it. So we pray for these who are unmoved by spiritual things. We pray that you do a work in their hearts. We pray that you'd break up the hardness of their hearts. We pray that you will make them sensitive to spiritual things. We pray that you bring them to spiritual life, shake them out of their complacency, help them to see the need for reconciliation with God. help them to recognize that they have a soul and that soul is in need of salvation and relationship. I pray you'd bring some to Christ. And so this morning, Lord, we simply confess Christ as the saving king who came to give himself as a ransom for us. And though he rode lowly on a donkey, he is worthy of all praise and all worship and all allegiance. And so we confess Christ this morning as our King. We pray that you'd help us to live as if it's so. We thank you for all of this in the name of Christ. Amen.