Luke 9:51 – When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.
It is Luke’s account of the Triumphal Entry that I go back to more and more each year. It’s amazing how different (yet similar) the other accounts are. Matthew’s Jewishness is evident in his gospel and you can sense that in this account of Jesus entering Jerusalem. I love Mark because he’s just so minimal! Just the facts! Luke is such a grand storyteller and in his account of the Triumphal Entry this comes through so well! He writes of stones, and determination and weeping. I always think of John as the mystical poet who sees the big picture and who is highly relational.
What do we see in Luke’s account that doesn’t show up in the others?
He set his face toward Jerusalem
In the gospel of Luke there are five mentions of Christ’s intention to go to Jerusalem, beginning in chapter 9. He actually doesn’t enter Jerusalem until chapter 19:45. But here in chapter 9 we are told that “when the days draw near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.” The language here for “set his face” describes Christ’s determination, “his steely resolve” to do His Father’s bidding. I believe it’s our call as well in this season of Lent to set our faces toward Holy Week.
Even the Stones – Luke 19:37-40
37 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, 38 saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 39 And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”
Jesus is saying – if true worship and a testimony to the truth of who I am do not come from my people the very stones will cry out. Worship is the highest and best response to the revelation of Christ as King, as Lord. It is the response not only of God’s people, but of all creation!
Shout for joy to God, all the earth; 2 sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise! 3 Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you. 4 All the earth worships you and sings praises to you; they sing praises to your name.” Selah 5 Come and see what God has done: he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man. (Psa 66:1-5 ESV)
Do you reckon the psalmist means stones as well?
Jesus weeps over Jerusalem –
Luke 19:41-44 41 And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42 saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side 44 and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”
This is a side of Jesus rarely seen. In John’s account Jesus wept when he saw the anguish of Mary and the other Jews with her, mourning Lazarus’ death. “He was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled.” (John 11:33). I think Jesus stands on the hill overlooking Jerusalem and sees the week ahead. He will see the abandonment of his friends, he will see the mockery of the soldiers, he will listen to the cry – “Crucify Him!” and he will look for and find so little faith. But this is why He came.
Palm Sunday comes every year – and I often wonder if we enter into it with as much attention as it deserves. It’s the introduction – not the finale. It is joyous but ominous as well. And so I’ve wondered – how do we keep faith with it?
How do we keep faith with Palm Sunday?
We worship the King. The title “King” highlights Jesus’ divine authority, his role in redemption, and his eventual return to rule over all creation. Christ was hailed as King on his journey into Jerusalem, but on Friday the title becomes a mockery when the Roman soldiers strip his clothes from him, put a scarlet robe on him and a crown of thorns on his head. They taunted him calling him, “king of the Jews.” (Mat. 27:27-30)
At the end of time, when He returns we see his title worn across his body as John describes him in Revelation – “On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords” (Rev 19:16 ESV). Our worship of Him will for all of eternity proclaim him as King, the conquering victorious King. We will, alongside Paul cry out: Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen. (1Ti 1:17 NIV)
We keep faith with Palm Sunday when we worship the true King. The one who went fearlessly to the cross, who died for all men, who rose from the dead, and who ascended into heaven, taking us with him. Worthy is the King!
We keep faith with Palm Sunday when we receive Him as the meek serving Lamb of God. The King on Sunday came in on a donkey – a work animal, who came not with earthly power, to re-assert an earthly kingdom but who (in great authority none the less) came to claim back His people for His Father’s glory…He was a king like no other. Every devoted Jew expected the Messiah to come and rebuild Jerusalem and the temple. He was supposed to be an earthly king – with soldiers and armies at his bidding…yet Jesus came into Jerusalem not with rings, robes or crown. He came riding in on the back of a lowly donkey – a work horse, a symbol of humility and peace. We hear the voice of the prophet Zechariah chapter 9 – “Rejoice! Daughter of Zion. Shout! Daughter of Jerusalem! A righteous king, who brings salvation, is coming. He is humble and rides a donkey or even a young donkey.“
Most Jews believed that their Messiah would be a man who with political power would take over Roman rule and restore Israel to its rightful place in the world. But Jesus had another kingdom in mind.
Heaven is the kingdom of eternal life, the kingdom of truth, goodness and beauty. Heaven is the total spiritual transformation of human life; heaven is the kingdom of God, victory over death, the triumph of love and care; heaven is the fulfillment of that ultimate desire, about which it was said: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man, what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). 1
The way he rode that day, the way he welcomed the crowd’s worship, the way he came in humility and meekness tells us so much about the kingdom of God. It tells us that we worship both the lion and the lamb. There is such irony here -for He is the Lion-King, coming into Jerusalem with such authority – an authority we see at work when he enters the temple overturning tables.. (Luke 19:45-46). This is the King who will reign for all eternity. Like Aslan from Narnia – he is terrifying yet also good. “Aslan is a lion- the Lion, the great Lion.” “Ooh” said Susan. “I’d thought he was a man. Is he quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion”…”Safe?” said Mr. Beaver …”Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”2
And yet, on Friday He is the Lamb. “29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (Joh 1:29 ESV) It is the Lamb we see in Revelation 5:12-13 12 saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” 13 And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, ‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!’” (ESV)
Healing vanquishes illness and creates health. Yet it does not vanquish the power of death. But salvation in its full and completed form is the annihilation of the power of death and the raising of man and woman to eternal life. In this wider sense of salvation…people are healed not through Jesus’ miracles, but through Jesus’ wounds; that is, they are gathered into the indestructible love of God.3
We keep faith with Palm Sunday when we worship Christ as the Lamb of God who was sacrificed for us and who will be there at the end of time – “then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb” (Rev. 2:1).
Finally, we keep faith with Palm Sunday when we begin to truly love His people.
Jesus wept over Jerusalem because there was no faith there, once a city of beautiful faith, now a city that is barren and unbelieving. So many “righteous” people, so many “teachers” of the Holy Scriptures… So many hypocrites. And so little faith.
What does it mean to have our hearts broken over what breaks the heart of God? What does it take to unsettle us? I’m not talking about feeling guilty – I’m talking about having the strength of resolve it takes to shake up my life so that I will see that the harvest is ripe? How do we cultivate a love like His? I was challenged today with this very thing. We have a young man in our lives who has come and gone a lot. He has lived on his own for many years and has kept a simple and good spirit about him. He believes in God. But he is needy. And the last thing I want right now is a needy person. He’s presently homeless and is sleeping in his car. Nate has offered to let him stay with us for a few days. Of course, he asked my permission – and I simply said, I don’t know if I can do it. But then my own words came back to haunt me – Am I willing to have my heart broken over what breaks the heart of Jesus? And so, I was called. I’m not naïve about the challenges and it wasn’t guilt that motivated me in the end. It was simply – can I weep for those for whom Christ weeps? Can I keep faith with Palm Sunday by opening my home to a stranger?
We worship the King; we welcome the Lamb, and we love as He loved. This is the worship of a people who keep faith with Palm Sunday.
1 Alexander Schmemann, source not known.
2 Lewis, C. S.. The Chronicles of Narnia : The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. New York: Harper Collins Publisher, 1978. Text.
3. Thomas Long, What Shall We Say: Evil, Suffering and the Crisis of Faith. Grand Rapids: Wm B. Eerdmans, 2011. loc. 1743