Luke 19:28-48
Entry into Jerusalem
• Jesus has finally reached Jerusalem
o He has been walking towards the capital since Luke 9:51 – when a Samaritan village refused to let him path through because he was going to Jerusalem
o Luke 18:31-34 Jesus told his followers that he was going to Jerusalem to die
• It was an emotional day
• Jesus sent two of this followers into Bethphage to get a colt
o A great example of faith and following the words of Jesus!
• As Jesus rides into Jerusalem the crowds starts singing praises
o A blessings from Psalms 118:26
• They also lay down their cloaks and wave palm branches
o A sign of respect for the coming of a king
• Zechariah 9:9
o God will judge the nations around Israel
o Jerusalem will shout in triumph for her King will come
o The people of Judah and Israel (the northern tribes) will be delivered because of the blood of the convent with God
• Some of the Pharisees told Jesus to stop the crowds
o Jesus said that if he did, the stones would cry out
o Reminds me of Romans 8 in which Paul says that creation itself awaits the coming King
o Psalms 19 also talks about creation declaring the glories of God
Cries over the City
• As Jesus drew near the city, he stops and begins to weep
• As he cries, he gives a prophecy about Jerusalem and the nation
o If they would have recognized Him, they would have had peace
o But now peace is hidden from them
o War and pain would be their lot and the city would be destroyed
• This happened in 70 AD when the people of Israel revolted against the Roman Empire
o They were catching another Messiah
o They thought that they could send up God’s Kingdom by themselves
Cleanses the Temple
• Jesus then enters the temple area and begins to drive out the money exchangers in the Temple
• We must remember that the money exchangers had a purpose
o The Torah tells the people of Israel to bring livestock to the Temple to sacrifice
o This was during a time when all of Israel lived within the same geographical area
o They were now scattered across the Roman Empire
o They couldn’t bring livestock
o So they brought money from their various countries and areas that could be exchanged for livestock or for the Temple coin
* A special coin to pay the Temple tax
• The problem wasn’t with what they were doing persay as much as it was that they lost their focus
• The focus stopped being worshiping God and on the business
o They forgot that the house of God was to be a place of prayer
o In fact, most likely the area in which they had set up shop was the Court of the Gentiles
o A place left open for Gentiles to come and pray to God as set up by King Solomon
For Us
• We need to pay special attention to this passage
• In a lot of ways we, the church in the USA, has missed the King who has come into our midsts
• We have set up a sub-culture within the greater culture similar to what the Pharisees and the Israelites did
o We have Christian bookstores
o Christians TV
o Christians Radio
o Christians clubs
o Christians Facebooks
o Etc
• We have huge ‘temples’ focused on stuff
• It is not that this stuff is necessary bad or evil – for it is not
o It is the fact that we have exchanged God for it
o Our stuff – our way of life is more important than obeying the words of God