We are in the season of Lent. Lent is notionally the 40 days prior to Easter Sunday. Many Christian Churches observe Lent as a somber and contemplative period marked by penance, fasting, and self-denial. I know it will come as no surprise to you, but we Baptist are different from most everyone else. We do not strictly observe Lent. I do not want to change that Baptist tradition, but I do want to use the weeks of Lent this year to focus our attention on the events of Jesus’ last week of ministry.
Did you know that the last week of Jesus’ life in the flesh is the major focus of all four Gospels? Nearly one-third of the Gospel of Matthew (21-28) and one-third of the Gospel of Mark (11-16) deal with Jesus’ last week. About one-quarter of the Gospel of Luke (19-24) addresses Jesus’ last week and almost one-half of the Gospel of John (12-20) focuses attention on Jesus’ last week. There are 89 chapters in all four Gospels and 29 of those chapters deal with Jesus’ last week, the time between what we call Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday. I would like us to use the weeks of Lent to talk about some key events from those 29 chapters beginning today with the event we call Palm Sunday and ending four weeks from now with Easter Sunday.
The first event, Palm Sunday, often is called “Jesus’ Triumphal Entry” to Jerusalem. Jesus’ entry is passionate story found in all four Gospels. And while the title, “Triumphal Entry” may be appropriate, I would like us to explore Jesus’ final entry to Jerusalem through the passions of those present. I would suggest there were three passionate responses to Jesus’ entry to Jerusalem. Those responses were “Cheers, Jeers, and Tears.”
Let’s start with Cheers! Cheers represent a passionate response intending to demonstrate encouragement and express praise and joy! Cheers are a wonderful, often spontaneous, outburst of joy. We cheer to celebrate great moments in sports, theater, or politics. Cheering is a contagious group event that often sweeps up and excites even those who may have had only a causal interest in what was occurring.
Allow me to illustrate. I remember my son and daughter-in-law telling a story of the time when they went to Disney World. Almost a year in advance they made reservations to go to the Beauty and Beast Castle and the “Be Our Guest” restaurant. When they arrived, my son could barely contain his excitement about being in the Beast’s Castle. Our daughter-in-law was happy to be there but rather reserved about it. Then an announcement was made, “Ladies and gentlemen, please allow me to introduce our host, The Beast.” Immediately upon the conclusion of that announcement, our daughter-in-law began to shout with great joy and excitement, “The Beast is here! The Beast is here!” The anticipated excitement our daughter-in-law felt from my son and others had become contagious to our reserved daughter-in-law and others who shouted with joy. By analogy, this was the scene of the cheers as Jesus entered Jerusalem.
The Gospel of Matthew and Mark said, “8 And many spread their clothes on the road, and others cut down leafy branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 Then those who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: ‘Hosanna! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ 10 Blessed is the kingdom of our father David That comes [c]in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!’” (Matthew 21:9, Mark 11:8-10).
The Gospel of Luke said upon Jesus’ entry to Jerusalem, “The whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works 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!’” (Luke 19:37b-38).
The Gospel of John said that people heard Jesus was coming to Jerusalem and so “13 They took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out: ‘Hosanna! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ The King of Israel!’” (John 12:13).
The people were overjoyed that their king had arrived. A man from God had arrived to finally change their world. They believed Jesus’ entry meant Jesus would be their king and bring a swift end to the domination of Israel by the Romans. The idea of Jesus as an earthly king of Israel was not a new concept. Early in Jesus’ ministry, Jesus fed 5,000 men plus women and children with five barely loaves and two small fish, the lunch of a small boy. John wrote in his gospel account, that after the meal was complete, “14 Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, ‘This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.’ 15 Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone” (John 6:14-15).
But here, now, as Jesus entered Jerusalem, the people saw that no force was necessary to bring Jesus into his kingship. Jesus was riding into Jerusalem on a colt just as had been foretold in the prophecy of Zechariah: 9 “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9). And so, the people burst into cheers.
But not everyone cheered as Jesus’ entered Jerusalem. Some people jeered at Jesus upon his arrival. Jeers are often rude and mocking remarks typically made in a loud voice expressing displeasure with whatever is occurring. Jeers are often critical of whomever is the focus of the attention.
Who would be jeering Jesus? The Gospel of John brings our first insight into the answer to this question. Jesus had raised his friend Lazarus from the dead and many people began to believe in Jesus. In John’s Gospel we would read the Jewish leaders said to one another, “48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation’” (John 11:47-48). There it was. Those in power and control of the religious beliefs and community of Israel became fearful. These leaders feared three things. First, “everyone will believe in Him (Jesus).” If people believed in Jesus, then they would not believe in them (the religious leaders). Second, the “Romans will come and take away our temple.” Jesus had already made it known that was going to happen. Jesus had said, “23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth” (John 4:23-24). The religious leaders feared the time of the Temple with its cultic practices of animal sacrifice was over. Something greater than the Temple was here, in the person of Jesus. If Jesus was allowed to be continued, the Temple and all the privileges the Romans gave to Jesus leadership to administer the Temple practices would be gone. Third, the religious leaders feared the Romans would come and destroy the nation. The Jewish leadership saw that the people believed Jesus was a king. The Romans would never allow such a king to exist and would come in force to crush the country. John said the religious leaders were so upset at Jesus that, “53 From that day on they plotted to take his [Jesus’] life” (John 11:53).
So, we learn that the religious leaders were upset and agitated even before Jesus arrived in Jerusalem. On the day Jesus arrived in Jerusalem to the cheers of his followers, “39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, rebuke your disciples!’” (Luke 19:39). The Pharisees were telling Jesus, “Be responsible and get your disciples under control!” The Pharisees command to Jesus was a rebuke of Jesus himself. “You call yourself a Rabbi and Teacher! Hardly! Get yourself and this rabble under control!” the Pharisees jeered.
The jeering of Jesus would continue in the days ahead. The Pharisees would assemble a crowd of people who on command would jeer at Jesus saying, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” The behavior of the Pharisees led to Jesus being mocked and jeered at by Roman soldiers and a thief upon the cross.
Jeering is a contagious behavior of a mob. Mobs are dangerous because they act in fear. People were and remain afraid of Jesus. I think many people today reject Jesus from a sense of fear. They often express their fear indirectly by changing the subject or say something like, “I think Jesus was a good guy, but I don’t believe in God.” It takes a humbling mind for people to realize their weaknesses, and to arrive at the conclusion that they are not able to save themselves. Genuinely thinking about Jesus what He said and did made people in Jesus’ day afraid, and it still does.
As Jesus entered Jerusalem there were the cheers of the crowd and jeers from the mob. But amid the cheers and jeers there was one person in tears. Luke wrote that amid all the noise of joy and anger, “41 As he [Jesus] approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it [the city]” (Luke 19:41). Amid the cheers and jeers, Jesus was in tears.
This was a very emotional scene. Luke said Jesus wept. The English word, “weep” here does not do justice to what was occurring. The Greek word Luke used was klaiō (κλαίω) (klah'-yo), means to sob, to mourn, weeping as the sign of pain and grief like those who mourn for the dead. The crowd cheered the arrival of their future king to the city, the religious leaders jeered his arrival, and God tears and cries. Jesus revealed to us that God is a god of emotion. He feels and cares deeply. He cried as we do when someone we love has died. Why did Jesus cry? Jesus cried the people of the city did not see why Jesus had come. The crowd could not see. The religious leaders do not see. They were blinded by their own ambitions, agendas, and desire to control God. They do not see that their long-awaited Messiah, the one who would break the bonds of spiritual enslavement, was before them.
Jesus could see what was going to happen because of their blindness and ambition. The Jews would revolt militarily against the Romans in 66 A. D. It would be a disaster for the inhabitants of the city. The Jewish historian, Josephus, wrote, “While the sanctuary was being destroyed …pity for age nor respect for rank was shown. On the contrary, children and old people, laity and priests alike were massacred. The emperor ordered the entire city and temple to be razed to the ground, leaving only the loftiest towers … and the portion of the wall enclosing the city on the west… All the rest of that surrounded the city was so completely razed to the ground as to leave future visitors to have no reason to believe that the city had ever been inhabited.” Jesus prophesy of tears as recorded by Luke, was “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43 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. 44 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” (Luke 19:42-44).
Cheers, jeers, and tears. The first two behaviors, cheers and jeers, were the human responses to Jesus’ entry to Jerusalem. Tears was God’s response. Jesus, God in the flesh, cried because people did not recognize Him and the salvation through grace he was offering to those who would believe in him.
What does this story tell us? The story tells us that you and I have a savior and a God who cries for us? We have a savior and God who cries for our families and our neighbors. Why? Because God wants everyone to be saved. God’s passion for us is so intense that He expressed it in tears. Scripture says repeatedly:
- The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. (2 Peter 3:8)
- “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
- For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:40)
- Who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:4)
- For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:13)
- Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. (John 3:36)
- For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)
- But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
The list of Bible references goes on demonstrating God’s desire is that everyone be saved.
Jesus came to Jerusalem to be seen as the savior coming to each person who would receive. Jesus comes peacefully as savior. He is not impressed by cheers and is not deterred by jeers. Jesus comes to each of us in tears of passion for us. He knows that if we do not accept Him in the day of his coming, our enemies will tear us down just as they did to the city of Jerusalem. We must not let jeers of ridicule from some prevent us from accepting Jesus nor should we accept Jesus just because others cheer Jesus. We should accept Jesus fully and completely in our lives because we can trust a man and God who would cry for us. Cheers, jeers, and tears. What will be your response? Let us pray.