I invite you to turn with me to Luke chapter 19 as we read together verses 38 through 44, the text being verses 37 and 38. All of the gospel accounts give some sort of an accounting of what we call the triumphal entry of our Lord Jesus Christ into Jerusalem. This is the accounting here from St. Luke. Before this, Jesus has been telling a number of parables and just before this, the parable of what is called the ten minas, having gone off to a far country, the king gone off to a far country and given minas to his servants and coming back to find out what they had done with that money. Then here in verse 28, we read now the word of God. After Jesus had 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 them, 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 in the highest. 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 only 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. Again, in particular, verses 37 and 38, 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 in the highest. Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, as we have already made clear this morning, today is what is known on our Christian calendar as Palm Sunday. The Sunday that represents that day so many years ago, which marked the first day of the final week of Jesus on earth. And on to that day, Jesus entered into Jerusalem to face and to suffer the greatest humiliation of all of the humiliation that He suffered for you and for me. We know that it's called the triumphal entry. But many look at this and they wonder, well, what is so triumphant about it? I mean, look where His entry led. It led to His crucifixion. In fact, nothing about this entry into Jerusalem really looks that triumphant at all. And compared to the leaders of the world today, how different this is, isn't it? When we consider the leaders of the countries and the nations of the earth today, it seems that they always arrive at their destination in some sort of a triumphal fashion with all kinds of pomp and circumstance. Boys and girls, think of the President of the United States, for example. He arrives in his massive chariot called Air Force One. He is surrounded by his protectors, the secret servicemen. And when he steps out of his plane, there's almost always a huge crowd of spectators there to greet him, unless, of course, they want him to come in private, and then nobody knows about it. Maybe there's a band playing music, for example, the National Anthem as he descends the stairs of Air Force One. All of the important city officials are there to welcome him to their esteemed city, the mayor, council members, maybe even certain business owners. The television cameras and the news reporters are there for the big event. They wouldn't miss it. And the people cheer for him and they applaud him with the hope of shaking the hand of the President of the United States. The red carpet is literally rolled out before him and he is treated like no ordinary man. And every entrance, it seems, is somewhat of a triumphal entrance for Him. And that's kind of how it is, I believe, for probably most every leader or many of the leaders in the world today. But never before and never since the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem on that particular Sunday has there been a triumphal entry like this one. You see, on that day, the people rightly shouted, the King is coming. But it became clear only a few days later when some of these same people shouted, crucify Him, it became clear that they didn't really understand what they were saying on this particular day. I preach to you the mistaken understanding of the King Jesus. As we notice, first of all, the earthly shouts of expectation and then the divine entrance of reality, contrasting what the people expected with what was really taking place. See, beloved, the time had come. The time had come for the prophecies of old to be fulfilled. For the seed of the woman to crush the head of the seed of the serpent. For the son of David, the legitimate heir to once again take his throne. For Israel to once again be restored to her rightful place. The time had come, you see, for God to fulfill his promise of restoration to his chosen people. And Jesus knew it. And that's why we read in Luke 9 verse 51 as the time approached for Him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. He resolutely. He set His gaze on Jerusalem. He headed for Jerusalem. No one or nothing could cause Him to turn to the left or turn to the right. He was resolute. Set on Jerusalem. And the task for which He had come. And now on this day, as Jesus allowed Himself to be treated in a way that He had never allowed before, the multitudes also begin to realize that the time had just about fully come. You see, before he had never really allowed himself to be placed in the limelight by the people. Throughout his ministry, for example, there were many times when Jesus would do some sort of a miracle and then he would say to the one who was healed, the recipient of the miracle, or he would say to those who had witnessed it, don't tell anyone what you have seen or what has happened. Why? Because, as he would say, the time had not yet come for him to be delivered out. But now Jesus ordains it. In fact, he says, if they keep quiet, the very stones will cry out. Creation itself will praise me. He calls attention to himself and himself calls for the colt, the young donkey, as some of the other Gospels make clear according to Zechariah. And He allows His disciples to make a saddle of their cloaks for Him to sit on. And He allows the rest of the multitude to roll out the red carpet, as it were, on the road with their cloaks. And He heads into Jerusalem to make that claim of kingship, of Messiahship. He makes that claim that would become the reason for His death sentence. The claim that He is the Son of God. Remember from last week, we said that the Jewish leaders plot against Him. They plot against Him and plot His death. But in truth, it was Christ who prepares the path, who prepared the path to the cross. But you see, the multitudes on this particular day had a different idea. They had a much different plan. They did not see this triumphal entry as a walk down death row. Instead, to them on that Sunday, this was a triumphal entry. They rightly recognized Jesus as the Messiah, as the one the prophets had foretold about, as the one who would sit on the throne of His father David, as the one who would bring peace and happiness and all those things. And they cry out, Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest. Jesus was the one sent by God. This is it, you see. The time has come. To the Jews, this was a triumphal entry because of what they expected. They had earthly expectations of what the Messiah was going to do and what He was going to be. He, of course, would first of all reign as an earthly king. Finally, finally, the Jews would be delivered. They would be released from the hands of their oppressors, the Romans. Once again, to the Jews, that is the Israelites, would be raised up as the chosen people of God as God's showcase for all of the other nations to see that they might look upon Israel and see the mercy and grace of God just as many years earlier in the Old Testament when the Israelites were indeed that nation set apart to be that showcase for the others to see. As they saw it, the Messiah had come to fight for them and to deliver them. After all, didn't Jesus say in Matthew 10, verse 34, that He came to bring a sword? And again, that could only mean that He came to wage war on their enemies. He was to be a political Messiah. An earthly Messiah. That's what they expected. And with such pious faces, like many who claim the name Christian today, the multitudes, including His twelve disciples, shall praise to God using those familiar words of Psalm 118, Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest. Now, maybe the boys and girls especially recognize those words from another portion of Scripture. Do you? How about the angels on the hillside to the shepherds at Christ's birth? This is what Luke records for his audience. And then Matthew adds, Hosanna to the son of David. And Mark adds simply the word Hosanna. Hosanna means literally to save. To save now. And that's what the people wanted. That's what they expected. They expected Jesus to save them in an earthly sense from all of their earthly enemies and from all of their earthly problems. Yes, they expected that with Jesus as their Savior, they would have no more earthly problems or struggles. Sadly enough, many people today believe the same thing. That when you accept Jesus as Lord and Savior of your life, then you will no longer be sick. You will no longer sin. You will no longer struggle in life. You will no longer struggle with finances, for example. And then when it doesn't happen as they expected, or as Psalm 49 clearly teaches us, as we heard in adult Sunday school, they reject Him because He didn't work. he did not work but now we need to ask if Jesus was entering Jerusalem as they expected to fight if he was entering to take over the command and to wage war then at least why didn't he look like it where was his horse where was his white stallion that symbol of speed and strength and earthly power that was used in war Where was His fine chariot that a king might ride in? Where was His military entourage, His secret service, His army that was supposed to be gathered by His side, ready at His beck and call with their spears and their swords to go out and conquer? Where were any of the things that we might expect a great fearless leader to have? Jesus rode on a young donkey on which no one had ever ridden before. Someone pointed out to me after the first service, and I'd never thought about this, that if you take a horse or even a donkey that no one has ever ridden on before and you try to sit on it, what's going to happen? It's not going to take very kindly to that. That's a thought for another day, but it's an interesting concept, isn't it? But not only that, the donkey was borrowed. It didn't even have a saddle. He sat on the outer garments, the cloaks of His disciples. There was no red carpet rolled out for Him. Only, again, the cloaks and as other Gospels say, the palm branches. He didn't look like one who was ready to save now. And His army, the multitudes, were not fighters. They were not strong military men. The people who were shouting Hosanna were the ones to whom Jesus had ministered. The poor, the destitute, the sick, the prostitutes, tax collectors, and the like. This Jesus who rode on a donkey certainly didn't look like one who could save now like they were calling out. This lowly king was interesting because he did not come with the force we would expect. But you see, beloved, Jesus' lowly appearance didn't seem to change their plans and expectations for Him. That too is interesting. They knew their Bible. They knew the Old Testament. They knew that Zechariah had prophesied, See, your king comes to you righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey on a colt, the foal of a donkey. This humble appearance didn't surprise them. In fact, it seemed to be the clue that they were looking for. They were seeing prophecy being fulfilled right before their very eyes. To them, the transition would be from humility to royalty right on up to the throne. And that fulfilled prophecy is why they shouted, Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord. Little did they know, and far less did they expect, that this was actually a transition to the suffering of hell. And besides, just because Jesus didn't look like He was ready to wage war on the Romans, to them, didn't mean that He wasn't able to. They knew what Jesus could do. The text says the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen. Beloved, this multitude was based in their expectations on what their physical eye had seen, what they had witnessed. Jesus had just raised Lazarus from the dead, and we know that news of this was spreading. As we said last week, there were some who didn't believe, the Jewish leaders, but many did believe. but this man had power and certainly anyone who could raise the dead back to life and give sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf and speech to the dumb and cast out evil spirits certainly he could take care of the Romans or anyone else that got in his way certainly he could deliver the Jews from all of their enemies and make them into a great and independent nation after all, wasn't that God's plan? isn't that what God had promised to Abraham so many, many years before? Abraham would become a great nation? And what about his promises to David that one of his sons would sit on David's throne forever? You see, beloved, as Jesus entered on that first Palm Sunday, as He entered into Jerusalem, the crowds that surrounded Him were right when they hailed Him as the Messiah, the promised Deliverer. They were right when they shouted, the King is coming. They were right that He had the power to deliver them from their oppressors. After all, we sing, He could have called 10,000 angels to destroy the world and set them free. But His disciples, you see, and the multitudes were wrong about their earthly expectations of Jesus. They had a mistaken understanding of the King Jesus. They failed to see the divine reality, entrance of reality. What was really going on with this King Jesus? Even his select twelve didn't understand what was going on. In John's Gospel account of the triumphal entry, he says in chapter 12, verse 16, at first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him. Jesus did not enter Jerusalem to wage war against the Romans to take them by force. He did not do it to claim an earthly throne or to be a political leader. And there is nothing that should have made the Jews think that He would do these things. Again, they were correct when they shouted, the King is coming. But at the very least, the manner in which He came should have given them a clue as to what His purpose was. Again, He did not ride into town on a white stallion, a powerful war horse with a sword in His hands. He did not come with an army of soldiers ready to overthrow the controlling forces. He did not come displaying the fading riches of an earthly king. For example, where was His crown? Jesus entered into Jerusalem in humility. On the back of a borrowed donkey, a beast of burden, an animal that represented peace. His entrance was meek and lowly, just as his earthly ministry had been. All during his earthly ministry, Jesus showed that his purpose was to restore and to bring peace. He demonstrated that as he healed the sick and cured the blind, the deaf, the dumb, the lame, he cast out demons. Indeed, Jesus came to save now, but not in the way that the multitudes expected. The multitudes were right. Jesus said in Matthew 10, verse 34, I do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. But He wasn't talking about bringing a sword to fight against the Romans or any of the other earthly enemies of the Jews. He was talking about bringing a sword against the root cause of the oppression. namely sin. He did not come to make peace with sin, but to wage war against sin. And the sword with which He would wage war against sin was His cross. And by waging war against sin and Satan, Jesus Christ would bring peace. The King who is coming is a King of peace. The multitudes, including His disciples, should have known this. I said a moment ago that they knew their Bible. They knew the Old Testament with all of the prophecies in it. They knew that Isaiah said that the child that was born, the son that was given, was going to be called the Prince of Peace. They knew that when Zechariah prophesied about the king coming gentle and riding on a donkey, that Zechariah also said, I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the war horses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow would be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth. They knew that Isaiah said in that famous chapter 53, He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Like one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised and we did not esteem him. Surely our griefs he himself bore and our sorrows he carried, yet we ourselves esteemed him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. But he was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities. The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way. But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him. And they knew that Isaiah goes on to talk there as well about His suffering. And therefore these things should have come to the minds of the multitudes when they heard Jesus say, If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. He says that in Matthew 16, and he also says in Matthew 16, He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. It's clear, you see, that the multitudes, the Jews, his disciples as well, were taking from Scripture and from the teaching of Jesus only that which fit their expectations. They used Scripture and twisted Scripture to support their agendas and their earthly expectations. And instead of allowing Jesus Christ and His Word to illumine them, they tried to illumine Jesus. They tried to tell Him that this is what you are to be. For our benefit, you are to be our earthly King. And even with all of His miracles, they got excited about the miracles themselves and they missed the revelation behind the miracles. They saw the miracles indeed with the physical eye, but not necessarily with the eye of faith. Miracles are visible signs that point to the living Word and the miracles were meant to lead the people in faith, to faith in Jesus Christ and His work of redemption. The multitudes cried, Hosanna, save now! but they didn't understand just how great that salvation would be. They didn't understand that the King, Jesus, would take His throne, but it would be by way of the cross. And in doing so, He would bring them peace with the one with whom they really needed peace, God. They did not understand how great and eternal His victory and rule would actually be. And when Jesus didn't save now in the way they expected, it was no surprise that a few short days later, many of them shouted, Crucify Him. Because He no longer fit their expectations. And beloved, as we look back today, again, we're tempted to shake our hands at their ignorance and at their mistaken understanding of the King Jesus, but we too must examine to see whether we are any different. who is the Jesus that we believe? The one of Scripture or the one of our own making? Many today, you see, claim Christianity as the religion of choice because they have been sold a bill of goods. All they have heard preached is a health and wealth gospel, a kind of name-it-and-claim-it gospel. They're told that if they accept Jesus as their Savior, they will never again experience problems. They will never again be sick or hungry or in need. But instead, they will be healthy and wealthy and life will be grand. And of course, then again, as we said, when that doesn't happen, they reject Him. They don't see that if that's all Jesus came for, if He only came to satisfy our physical needs, how desperate we still are. It simply isn't enough. But may that kind of a gospel never be preached from this pulpit. And may that kind of an understanding never be perceived in these pews. Jesus entered Jerusalem that day to secure eternal health and wealth for His people. Glorified bodies one day. And the riches of heaven. And of course we know, don't we, that that's ours today already, isn't it? Oh, maybe not the glorified body part. We struggle yet with pains and difficulties. But yet that's ours, isn't it? By faith. One day it will be a reality. But there are others who take the Bible and they take what they like, they take what they agree with, and therefore they twist the Scripture and they develop a King Jesus that fits their conception of what He should be like. There are thousands of different Jesuses floating around in the minds of people out there. He's a good example for example to follow. Or He is a Jesus only of love, and therefore He could never, even if someone doesn't have faith in Him, He could never cast someone away. And many others. Congregation, because He is the Christ, He has paid for our sins by being condemned of God, by God in our place. And that means we are free. And as our King Messiah, He has freed us from our bondage and slavery to sin, and He cares for us so that, so that as He prepares us for heaven to live with Him, He helps us. He gets us through the problems and the difficulties of life. He doesn't take them away, but He says, I will be with you. And you know, that's greater. That is so much more of a blessing. than if He simply took them away. His presence. He says, I will be with you. And He protects us from all of our enemies so that no one and nothing can eternally harm God's people. As well, He gives us what we need when we need it. He gives us strength. He gives us encouragement. He gives us peace and patience. He gives us chastisement. He gives us what we need when we need it. And He also calls us, beloved, to live for Him. Now that's something that each one of us, young and old, must take time to contemplate. What does it mean to live for Him? What does it mean when you're designing that landscape to live for Him? What does it mean when you're conducting that business transaction to live for Him? What does it mean when the preacher is studying to prepare a sermon? When we think it would be easy, what does it mean to live for Him? What does it mean to sit in class and take a test and still to live for Him? What does it mean to clean the house day after day and do the laundry and have meals ready for your family? What does that mean? What does it mean to live for Him while you're doing all that? What does it mean to live for Him? And He calls us, beloved, especially to love one another. To love one another. It begins here in the house of God. That we, as brothers and sisters in Christ, love one another. That we consider others' interests as more important than our own. That we love one another by encouraging one another, praying for one another, up-building one another, helping one another, admonishing one another, that we love one another. He calls us to be people of integrity, godly integrity, to know the truth, to live according to that truth. He calls us to find our joy only in our Lord Jesus Christ, which is the only place we can truly find it. And we are called, beloved, to truly demonstrate that character becoming of kingdom citizens as those who live for King Jesus, the Lord of our life. If you do not believe in the King Jesus revealed in the Bible, in the whole Bible, then for you He did not enter triumphantly into Jerusalem. Instead, He entered for your eternal defeat. And you are called to look to Him and Him alone. For those who by the grace of God repent of their sins and look only to this Lord Jesus Christ if you do believe in the King Jesus of the Scriptures, the true, the one and only Jesus Christ who entered into Jerusalem to die for your sins and my sins, who reconciles those who have true faith in Him with God the Father, then this is a triumphal entry. Even with the cross, especially with the cross in the picture. It's a triumphal entry because His work, all of His work, the completeness of His work belongs to you and to me by the grace of God. You see, the reality of the situation is that Jesus entered Jerusalem to settle the score between us and God. We couldn't begin to pay our eternal debt to God. Jesus paid that debt in full for His people. Maybe you saw the note on the sign out there that Mr. Brewers has out there that He came to pay a debt that we could not pay, that He did not owe because we could not pay the debt that we owed. Something to that effect. The believer's balance due is zero. All because of God's grace through Jesus. Jesus entered Jerusalem that day to find out just how bad God's rejection would be so that we don't have to. He took the punishment, beloved, that only He could bear And because of him, we as believers are no longer on death row. Have you ever thought about that? That you and I were on death row? Eternal death row? We're no longer on death row. We too are guilty, beloved, of shouting, Crucify him. But praise God. Because of our faithful Savior, Jesus Christ, our shouts are changed to Alleluia. What a Savior. And may our song of praise be all glory, a laud and honor to Thee, Redeemer, King. Amen. Shall we pray? Father, indeed, may our song of praise be for the redemption that is ours through Jesus Christ, our Lord. May we indeed contemplate the humiliation and suffering even unto death on the cross of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Again, not to have pity on Him, but to rejoice in the pity that He had on us. To rejoice that indeed all of our sins are forgiven for the sake of the shed blood of Jesus Christ. That we stand before You as righteous only because Jesus Christ has clothed us with his garments of righteousness. And Father, may it be that we would stand tall and confident, yet with humble hearts before the face of this world, standing tall in our Lord Jesus Christ and in the salvation which is ours. And may you be pleased, O Lord, to use us as lights shining in that dark world to continue to gather together your people from now to the end of the age. In Jesus' name we pray these things. Amen.