'GRASPING' PALM SUNDAY – Luke 18:31-34

Preached Palm Sunday; April 17, 2011
from
Luke 18:31-34

Theme: Jesus’ words to the disciples in this morning’s passage help us to know what it is that we’re to grasp about Palm Sunday.

(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)

This is the Sunday that we set aside to celebrate the entry of our Lord Jesus into the city of Jerusalem. And I don’t know if you’ve ever thought about it; but if we really want to celebrate this day correctly, we won’t just celebrate one entry . . . but two!

There is, of course, the first entry—the one that we usually think of on this day. The crowds greeted our Lord as a conquering king on that first entry long ago with palm branches and cheers! They fully expected Him to ride into town and immediately restore Jerusalem to the glory days of His ancestor according to the flesh, King David. Little did they know that He rode into town on a humble donkey’s colt in order to die on a cross like a despised criminal. Perhaps if they had known, they wouldn’t have cheered as they did.

Nevertheless—ignorantly or not—it was right that they cheered and waved palm branches back then. And it’s especially right that we who love Him and have trusted Him do so today! The death on the cross of the sinless Son of God was the atoning sacrifice for the sins of mankind. And because He died and rose again, He will one day enter into Jerusalem a second time—in power and great glory, as He takes up His rightful rule.

And at that second entry, we who have believed on Him will rule with Him! As John tells us in Revelation 19:11-16;

Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written:

KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS (Revelation 19:11-16).

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It is so very important that we rightly understand the significance of this day that we celebrate. Our salvation truly depends understanding and accepting what He came into Jerusalem to do for us. And to help us rightly understand its significance, I ask you to turn with me this morning to a story we find in the eighteenth chapter of the Gospel of Luke.

The Gospel writer Luke tells us the story of Jesus and His journey with His disciples to Jerusalem—just before the events we celebrate on Palm Sunday. Luke tells us, in verses 31-34, that Jesus stopped His disciples along the way and explained to them what was about to happen. But sadly, they didn’t seem to grasp it. It says;

Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished. For He will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon. They will scourge Him and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again.” But they understood none of these things; this saying was hidden from them, and they did not know the things which were spoken (Luke 18:31-34).

If we trace the story of the earthly ministry of our Lord, as it’s told to us in the Gospels, we’ll discover that this would be the third time that Jesus deliberately pulled His disciples aside and explained all of this to them privately. And the Bible makes it clear that, each time He did so, they couldn’t quite ‘grasp’ what it was that He was telling them.

We read about the first time He told them this in Matthew 16. It was a very significant occasion. Jesus was walking along with His disciples; and He suddenly turned to them and asked, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” (v. 13). The disciples answered that some say He was ‘this’, and others say He was ‘that’—very much like people do today. Everyone, it seems, has an opinion about Jesus. But when He then asked them the question that each one of us must answer personally—”But who do you say that I am?” (v. 15), the apostle Peter stepped forward and gave the answer that Jesus said was the correct one: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (v. 16). And it was after that that we read, “From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day” (v. 21).

What an amazing revelation that was to the disciples! The Lord Jesus—this one who is the Christ, the Son of the living God—was going to suffer and be killed, and then be raised the third day. But how poorly they understood. Peter thought it was a horrible thing for the Lord to say. He took the Lord aside and—if you can imagine such a thing!—began to rebuke Him and say, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!” (v. 22). But it’s obvious that Peter hadn’t grasped what Jesus said. Jesus said that this was something purposeful—something that He clearly stated “must” be done. It must have shaken Peter terribly when the Lord turned to him and said, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men” (v. 23).

In Mark 9, we find the second time that the Lord explained to His disciples what was about to happen. And it too came at a significant time. Jesus had just taken Peter, James and John with Him up on to ‘the mount of transfiguration’—where He gave them a pre-resurrection preview of His post-resurrection glory. The testimony of Peter was very much confirmed to them then: He truly was “the Christ, the Son of the living God”! And it was shortly thereafter, as they came down from the mountain and left the regions of Galilee, that Jesus once again told them, “The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him. And after He is killed, He will rise the third day” (Mark 9:31).

But, just as before, we find that the disciples “did not understand this saying, and were afraid to ask Him” (v. 32). And Mark goes on to tell us just how greatly they misunderstood! When they came to their journey’s end, Jesus asked them, “What was it you were disputing among yourselves on the road?” (v. 33). But we’re told that they “kept silent”—probably out of deep embarrassment—”for on the road they had disputed among themselves who would be the greatest” (v. 34). Jesus had just told them that He—the Son of Man—was on the way to be betrayed, killed and raised on the third day; and they were arguing between themselves over which of them was the greatest man! That’s when He taught them, “If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all” (v. 35).

And now, we come to the third time that the Lord Jesus told them what was about to happen. And here again, we see that the disciples didn’t understand. Just to show you how little they grasped it all, would you like to know what Matthew says happened as soon as Jesus told them this? We’re told that the mother of James and John came to Jesus and asked, “Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom” (Matthew 20:21). You can almost see the two of them standing behind their mother—nodding in agreement, and hoping to get a privileged position in the Lord’s kingdom ahead of the others!

But Jesus answered and said, “You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” They said to Him, “We are able” (v. 22).

Imagine! They thought that they could join with Him in whatever it was that He was about to endure; and thus earn for themselves the privilege of sitting at His side! How poorly they understood what it was that He was going into Jerusalem to do!

So He said to them, “You will indeed drink My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by My Father.” And when the ten heard it, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers. But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (vv. 23-27).

They badly misunderstood what Jesus was about to do. He was going to Jerusalem because it was something that “must” be done in obedience to the Father’s will. He was going as the Son of God to suffer humiliation and shame at the hands of men. He was going, not to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many. And yet, neither the crowds that cheered Him nor the disciples that followed Him understood what it was that He was doing for them. They just didn’t get it.

But what about you and me today? Do we ‘get it’ any better than they did? Do we understand what Jesus did for us? Do we grasp the significance of why it was that He went to Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday long ago?

That’s why I love this morning’s passage so much. In it, Jesus explains exactly what it was that He was going into Jerusalem to do. It’s as if we’re granted an opportunity to listen in as He drew His disciples to Himself and explained what the significance of Palm Sunday is. Let’s, as it were, eavesdrop on His conversation with them. As we do, I believe we’ll find that Jesus’ words to the disciples in this morning’s passage help us know what it is that we’re to grasp about Palm Sunday.

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The first thing we discover is . . .

1. OUR LORD’S FAITHFULNESS TO SCRIPTURE (v. 31).

Look at what He told them. He said, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished”—or, as it is in the New International Version, “fulfilled”.

The name that Jesus gave to Himself is “the Son of Man”. That’s the name that the Lord used most often for Himself in the Gospels. It’s a name that is used in the Old Testament book of Daniel for the promised Messiah (see Daniel 7:11). And I think it’s wonderful that our Lord called Himself that. He existed eternally the Son of God—the second Person of the Trinity. But this glorious Son of God condescended, in time, to be conceived in the womb of Mary and be born into the human family. And He called Himself “the Son of Man” so that He would be forever identified with us in our fallenness; and would serve as our Representative in our need before the Father.

And notice that He says, “all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished.” That was why He was going up to Jerusalem—because every single thing promised about Him in the Old Testament Scriptures will be accomplished and perfectly fulfilled.

He said that they were going to Jerusalem so that He could be “mocked and insulted and spat up;” and that they would “scourge” Him and “kill” Him; and that’s exactly what the Bible promised must happen to the Messiah. In Psalm 22, it speaks of Him and says,

But I am a worm, and no man;

A reproach of men, and despised by the people.

All those who see Me ridicule Me;

They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,

“He trusted in the LORD, let Him rescue Him;

Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!” (Psalm 22:6-8).

Isaiah 50:6 says, “I gave My back to those who struck Me, and My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard; I did not hide My face from shame and spitting.” And Isaiah 53:3-7 says;

He is despised and rejected by men,

A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;

He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

Surely He has borne our griefs

And carried our sorrows;

Yet we esteemed Him stricken,

Smitten by God, and afflicted.

But He was wounded for our transgressions,

He was bruised for our iniquities;

The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,

And by His stripes we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray;

We have turned, every one, to his own way;

And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed and He was afflicted,

Yet He opened not His mouth;

He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,

And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,

So He opened not His mouth (Isaiah 53:3-7).

Daniel 9:26 says—in remarkably few words—that “Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself . . .”

Our Lord was the mighty Son of God in human flesh. He had it in His power to cast out demons, and heal the sick. He was able to command the sea to be calm and the storm to be quiet. No man could do anything to Him against His will. And yet, He rode humbly into Jerusalem so that He could be mocked and insulted and spat upon, and to be scourged and killed. And He did this because He was obedient to the Father, and was submitted to what the Scriptures said He must do in order to bring about our salvation.

You and I simply cannot rightly grasp what our Lord did on that first Palm Sunday until we understand that He did so because “all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished.”

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Another thing we see is . . .

2. OUR LORD’S SACRIFICE OF SUFFERING (vv. 32-33a).

It’s amazing that Jesus said, “”Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem . . .”—especially when we consider that, not long before then, He said that “it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem” (Luke 13:33); and that Jerusalem is “the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her” (v. 34). In saying that they were going up to Jerusalem, He was openly admitting that He was going up to be killed.

And it’s also amazing to read how He said that this would happen. He said that He would be “delivered to the Gentiles”. This would have been surprising to His disciples; because it had been the leaders of the Jewish people—not the Gentiles—who had been trying to kill Him. Do you remember that, when He planned to go to Bethany to raise Lazarus from the dead, His disciples said, “Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are you going there again?” (John 11:8)? But now, He says that He would be handed over, not to the Jews, but to the Gentiles. It was the Romans who took Him away and crucified Him.

And yet, it wasn’t the Romans that apprehended Him when He came to Jerusalem. Rather, it was one of His own kinsmen—Judas—who betrayed Him; and it was the Jewish high priest and the leaders of His people who tried Him and handed Him over to the Romans. Do you notice that Jesus said that He would be “delivered” to the Gentiles? To be “delivered” to the Gentiles, it had to be that the ones doing the ‘delivering’ would not be Gentiles. Could there have been a more precise way for Him to explain to the disciples what was about to happen than He did? It was all humanity—both Jews and Gentiles; the two main divisions of the human family—that was involved in our Savior’s death.

And please notice that He said all of this before He went there. He went bravely, purposefully and willingly—knowing that it was to the death of the cross that He was going. He once said,

“Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father” (John 10:17-18).

And we simply cannot understand or grasp Palm Sunday as we should, until we understand it as our Lord’s gracious sacrifice of suffering for us.

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We also cannot understand Palm Sunday rightly unless we also see in it . . .

3. OUR LORD’S EXPECTATION OF VICTORY (v. 33b).

That expectation is found in those words that follow after “They will scourge Him and kill Him”—those words where He says, “And the third day He will rise again.”

The disciples didn’t understand that. Do you remember how they came to the tomb on the third day—bewildered because it was empty? Do you remember how the Bible tells us;

And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’” And they remembered His words (Luke 24:4-8).

The disciples eventually did understand it and joyfully declare it. And that, of course, is what we’re accustomed to celebrating one week after Palm Sunday. But they didn’t just celebrate the event of our Lord’s resurrection. They also celebrated what it means to our salvation. Jesus’ resurrection from the dead means that God was completely satisfied with the sacrifice He made for us on the cross. As Paul says in Romans 4:25, Jesus was “delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.”

It also means hope for us; because as Paul later goes on to say, “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you” (Romans 8:11). Because the Son of God, who died for our sins, was raised from the dead, we are guaranteed that our sins are forgiven and that we have the hope of eternal life in Him!

That’s the victory that Jesus fully expected when He said that He would “rise again”. And we simply don’t grasp Palm Sunday as we should until we understand that He was going to Jerusalem with the full anticipation of the glorious hope and victory of the resurrection!

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Now; the disciples didn’t understand any of this. We’re told in verse 34—in words that, it seems, goes a long way to stress the point—that “they understood none of these things; this saying was hidden from them, and they did not know the things which were spoken.” After it all happened, they did understand. The Bible tells us that, after He was raised from the dead and presented Himself to them, the Lord “opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures” (Luke 24:45). This was so that they could then go out and serve as His witnesses. But as He made His way to Jerusalem with them, He was taking with Him these men who understood nothing of what He was telling them—or of what He would do for them.

And that leads us to one final thing I’d like to point out to you; and that is . . .

4. OUR LORD’S LOVE FOR HIS FOLLOWERS (v. 34).

He died for disciples who didn’t understand what He was telling them; and who would later be scattered from Him and would deny Him. He died for crowds of people who were shouting His praises one minute—because they thought He was coming to reign over them as their earthly king; and who then shouted, “Crucify Him!” the next—because He was dying on a cross like a criminal. And He died for you and me—weak and frail and foolish as we are in our understanding of our need, and of what He did to deliver us from our sins.

The Bible says,

For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:6-8).

Our Lord’s bold faithfulness to obey the Scriptures; His willingness to suffer and lay down His life as a sacrifice for our sins; His confident expectation the of hope and victory of the resurrection from the grave; and—in all of it—His deep, deep love for people like you and me who scarcely understood it all. These are the things we need to grasp if we would understand the significance of His entry into Jerusalem as our Lord would want us to understand it.

May God open our eyes to truly—from the heart—”grasp” Palm Sunday.