“Has to Be”
[Luke 19:28-40]
April 14, 2019 Second Reformed Church
Jesus was thirty years old when He left His father’s carpentry shop and went to the Jordan River to be baptized by His cousin, John. From there, He spent three years teaching people all around His homeland – explaining what God has truly said, and when John the Baptist asked if Jesus is the promised Savior, Jesus said, “And he answered them, ‘Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me’” (Luke 7:22-23, ESV).
Just before this, we read, “And [Jesus] came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.’
“’And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “’“Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing”’” (Luke 4: 16-21, ESV).
If Jesus is God the Savior, then it has to be true that Jesus fulfills all of the prophecies about the promised Savior. If Jesus does not fulfill all of the prophesies or does something against one of the prophecies, then He cannot be the Savior.
The first text is from Isaiah 29 and 35. The second text is from Isaiah 61. Jesus tells the crowd and John’s disciples, “I have fulfilled this prophecy – this text – which has to be fulfilled by the Savior; Yes, I am the Savior.”
Three years later, we have this morning’s text, and we see:
First, Jesus has to ride into Jerusalem on a colt.
“And when he had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. When he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples, saying, ‘Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, “Why are you untying it?” you shall say this: “The Lord has need of it.”’” So those who were sent went away and found it just as he had told them. And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, ‘Why are you untying the colt?’ And they said, ‘The Lord has need of it.’ And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it.”
Why?
Jesus walked here there and everywhere, around and around Israel, and now that He’s a mile and a half outside of Jerusalem, He says, “No further. I want to ride a colt for the rest of the trip. Go into town and take one and just say ‘The Lord needs it.’”
Why?
Because it has to be.
Zechariah prophecies, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9, ESV).
It is prophesied that the Savior will come into Jerusalem in this way. The Savior will ride a colt into Jerusalem as a sign that this is the Savior God sent. And so, just as He was born in a borrowed bed, He rode into Jerusalem on a borrowed colt. And the biblically literate world in which He lived knew He was telling them – in this act – that He is God the Savior.
Some of the people understood what Jesus was doing and cried out.
Second, Jesus has to be praised as God and King.
“And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. 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, saying, ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!’”
Many in the crowd cry out, and what they cry out is not accidental. They understand Jesus’ fulfillment of the prophecy of Zechariah, and thy respond by quoting prophecy.
Psalm 118 ends:
“Save us, we pray, O LORD! O LORD, we pray, give us success!
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! We bless you from the house of the LORD.
“The LORD is God, and he has made his light to shine upon us. Bind the festal sacrifice with cords, up to the horns of the altar!
“You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God; I will extol you. Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!” (Psalm 118:25-29, ESV).
“Hosanna,” as we read in the other gospels, means, “Save us, we pray.”
Knowing that what they say is from this Psalm, and this Psalm is directed towards God and God Alone, we can conclude that these people recognized – on some level, anyway, that Jesus is God the Savior. It is unlikely that they understood the fullness of what this means – even the apostles didn’t understand until after the resurrection.
Third, Jesus has to receive the crowd’s praise.
“And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, rebuke your disciples.’ He answered, ‘I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.’”
Some of Pharisees aren’t upset because what the crowd was saying is untrue – some of them don’t care whether it is true or not. The issue for them is that Jesus’ popularity with the people is taking power and authority away from them because the people are looking to Jesus for His interpretation – His teaching on the Law and the Prophets, and they are questioning what the Pharisees are teaching.
Others of the Pharisees are upset because they don’t believe it is true – which is why the word “rebuke” is used. These people were calling Jesus God, and that is blasphemy (if it isn’t true), so they called on Jesus to rebuke them – to deny that He is God.
But Jesus tells them it has to be – they know that He is God and Savior, so they have to call out and praise Him and ask for His salvation. Even so, if they were silenced – the stones on the ground would cry out.
What?
Jesus wasn’t saying that the actual rocks would cry out praising Him and identifying Him as God the Savior, is He?
Maybe he meant that the most stubborn of His disciples would refuse to stop praising Him. Maybe He meant that the lowest of the low would not listen to any authority, but would continue to cry out what they had heard.
Or, maybe Jesus meant the rocks would cry out…
The Psalmist tells us it is the right duty of all creation, not just humans, to praise God for Who He is.
“Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD from the heavens; praise him in the heights!
“Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his hosts!
“Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars!
“Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens!
“Let them praise the name of the LORD! For he commanded and they were created.
“And he established them forever and ever; he gave a decree, and it shall not pass away.
“Praise the LORD from the earth, you great sea creatures and all deeps, fire and hail, “snow and mist, stormy wind fulfilling his word!
“Mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars!
“Beasts and all livestock, creeping things and flying birds!
“Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of the earth!
“Young men and maidens together, old men and children!
“Let them praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted; his majesty is “above earth and heaven.
“He has raised up a horn for his people, praise for all his saints, for the people of Israel “who are near to him. Praise the LORD!” (Psalm 148:1-14, ESV).
All of Creation praises the Lord. All of Creation glorifies God. All of Creation shows God to be Who He is and He will be praised for Who He is and what He has done. The Creation recognizes Jesus for Who He is. So, He has to be praised.
When Jesus was crucified, the sun went dark, the earth quaked, rocks split, and many of the dead saints were raised and came into the city – why do we doubt that the stones on the road to Jerusalem would not cry out that this is Jesus, God in the flesh, the promised Savior?
In order for Jesus to be our Savior, everything that is prophesied about Him had to come to pass. It has to be.
If we believe the Bible is the Word of God, it has to be.
Let us pray:
Almighty God. You have given us Your Word and the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit, and we ask that we would read Your Word and hear Your Word and receive Your Word as the Holy Spirit helps us – that we would respond rightly, with joy, in obedience, and to Your Glory. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
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