By Rev. Dr. Brent Russett – Asbury Free Methodist
April 13, 2025 – Luke 19:28-44
Today is the 6th Sunday of Lent. Throughout Lent, we have been journeying with Jesus to the cross. Last week, we looked at the time between when he was sentenced to death and when he was crucified. Today, we’re going to take a one-week step back in the story. We are going to journey with Jesus as he enters Jerusalem.
Today, I want to take you into the story. If you are one who likes to go to concerts in stadiums, then you will know that where you sit matters. Your experience of the concert is different if you are sitting in the front row, or dancing in the mosh pit, or sitting in the nosebleed section. Your experience of the concert will be different if you are sitting in a section where people are really into the music as opposed to a section where people have their arms folded, seemingly enduring the concert. If you are in a section where everyone is singing along and you want to listen to the music or vice versa, it affects your experience. Where you sit and who you sit with matters.
Today, I am not going to take you to a concert but rather into the story of Palm Sunday. I am hoping that if you see yourself in the story. I want you to find where you are sitting in this story. If you find you are not sitting in the place you want to be sitting in, unlike a concert, you can get up and move seats.
You have heard the story read and portrayed by video. Now, I want you to dive into the story in your imaginations.
If you had been there that first Palm Sunday, you couldn’t fail to understand the symbolism of what Jesus was doing. Jesus had been teaching and preaching, healing and doing miracles all over Israel for the last three years. He had a following.
In fact, when he fed the 5000, the people tried to make him King. After all, who wouldn’t want a king who could feel people for free? But Jesus wouldn’t let them make him King at that time.
But now things had changed. In those times, if a Roman emperor was going to celebrate a victory in battle, he would enter the city sitting on a prized stallion. He would make this triumphal entry, and people would be cheering for him.
Now, Jesus was making a triumphal entry. He came not on a prized stallion but on the colt of a donkey. This was a humble king. But the people understood. He was coming into Jerusalem like a king. That is why the people were yelling out.
Luke 19:38a (NIV)
“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”
The procession started off at Bethany.
Luke 19:28–29 (NIV)
28 After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives.
It wasn’t all that long ago that Lazarus was raised from the dead in Bethany. The people of this town knew Jesus’ power. A man they knew was dead had come back to life. Who wouldn’t want a man like that as their King? They had heard him speak about the kingdom of God, but they thought that was just some metaphor for Israel. The crowd was primed for a king, and they saw Jesus as their King.
Jesus is a king. Just not the kind of King they imagined. You may remember a couple of weeks ago, when we looked at Jesus before Pilate, that he told Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world.”
But Jesus is a king. However, the people in this story have different relationships and perspectives on this King. We will look at those different groups of people, and you need to decide who you will sit with.
The first people I want you to consider are the owners of the colt.
Luke 19:28–34 (NIV)
28 After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, 30 “Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it.’ ”
32 Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?”
34 They replied, “The Lord needs it.”
Scholars are divided about whether Jesus arranged this transaction beforehand or whether this was the gift of knowledge being displayed. Either way, the owners were being asked to give their colt to Jesus.
Here is what you need to know. A colt would represent a significant amount of wealth for the average person in Bethany. Luke records that this colt had never been ridden. If you know anything about colts, you will know that one that has never been ridden, surrounded by a screaming crowd, is probably not a good idea. It is not the best way to protect your investment.
But, when the owners heard that “The Lord needs it,” they handed the colt over. That takes a lot of faith and generosity.
But if these people don’t give the colt over to the disciples, the ministry of Jesus is impeded. Imagine Palm Sunday without a donkey. It amounts to Jesus taking a stroll into the city. There might have been cheering crowds, but the whole image of Jesus as King is lost. Jesus was demonstrating who he was, but it took the faith and generosity of the donkey owners to make that happen.
There are a number of you in this room who could quite comfortably sit beside the colt owners. You support the work of Jesus through faith and generosity. Your heart is to let the world see Jesus for who he is. To that end, you give generously. You exercise faith when Jesus says he has need of something; you give what you have. It is people like you who make the story go to the ends of the earth.
The two disciples.
Now, let us turn our minds to the two disciples that went to retrieve the colt. They displayed faith and obedience.
Jesus told them Luke 19:30 (NIV)
30 “Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here.
I am one who doesn’t like to overstep my bounds. So, if I were one of these two disciples, my initial reaction would not be to walk up to someone else’s colt, untie it, and walk away with it.
I would be more likely to walk up and knock on the door. Then I’d say, “Hey, I see you have a colt. It doesn’t look like it has ever been ridden. Could, by chance, let Jesus use it? I am sure nothing could go wrong with a cold that has never been ridden before in the middle of a crowd of people. What’s that? Oh yeah, Jesus is going to ride it.”
But that is not what Jesus asked those disciples to do. He said, go up and untie it. Go and look like you are horse thieves. If anyone stops you, simply say, “The Lord needs it.”
I would be saying to myself, but I don’t want to look like a horse thief. If someone stops us, are they just going to believe us when they say, “The Lord needs it.” What if they don’t even know who the Lord is?
But the two disciples demonstrated obedience, exercised faith and displayed courage. They put their reputation on the line to be obedient to the commands of Jesus. When Jesus said go and do this, they did exactly what he told them to do.
There are some of you who could quite comfortably sit with the two disciples in this story. When you hear Jesus’ command, you do what he says in spite of the risks. They went further.
Luke 19:35 (NIV)
35 They brought it (the colt) to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it.
These two disciples honoured Jesus. They used their own coats as a horse blanked so that Jesus could sit on the colt. I don’t know who these two disciples were – but I want to sit with them. Obedience, faith, courage and honour. I would like to be like them. Maybe I will move my seat there.
The Crowd
Now let’s look at the crowd.
Luke 19:36–38 (NIV)
36 As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road.
37 When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:
38 “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
Other gospels tell us that people waved Palm branches. The crowd was filled with people who admired Jesus. It was filled with people who were friends of Jesus. This crowd was on Jesus’ side. They were joyfully praising God. This was real worship. If this had been a concert, the stadium would have been rocking.
But even though they love Jesus and are on Jesus’ side. Even if they thought they were worshipping – They got it wrong. The worshippers got it wrong.
The people who were worshiping didn’t get what was going on.
They were people worshiping with an agenda. The people had an agenda to see Jesus become an earthly king. They wanted him to set himself up in a palace in Jerusalem. They had their own agenda, and their agenda was different from God’s agenda.
God’s agenda was far grander than setting Jesus up in a palace in Jerusalem; His agenda was to conquer sin and death and evil. The people had an agenda of seeing Jesus become King of Israel. God’s agenda was that Jesus become Lord of life, the Lord of all. Where someday “every knee will bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.”
What I find interesting is that although they are worshipping with their own agenda, Jesus doesn’t try to shut them down. Although their worship is flawed, Jesus doesn’t correct them. In fact, he receives the worship and confirms those who are worshiping.
Luke 19:39–40 (NIV)
39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”
40 “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
Jesus says if they don’t worship, the stones will have to.
I have been known to stand in this crowd. I know that Jesus deserves to be worshipped, but sometimes, I worship with my own agenda.
There have been times when I have worshipped because I want the feeling that worshipping gives me. I make worship about me.
Sometimes, I have worshipped, and my worship has been inherently flawed. I have come to understand something now that I didn’t know twenty years ago. There have been times when I have been caught up with the crowd – where it is more about the event than Jesus.
But here is the wonderful thing about God. He receives our worship even though it is flawed. He receives our worship even when we want our own agenda rather than his.
Sometimes, the best we can do is bring our flawed worship to God. Knowing that he knows all. He looks at our hearts. Even when we are missing the mark, God honours our intention.
Maybe you have been part of the crowd too. You are afraid to say anything in case you get it wrong. Worship with what you have and trust the heart of God to receive what he can.
Let’s take a look at The Pharisees,
Luke 19:39–40 (NIV)
39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”
40 “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
The Pharisees were angry. This isn’t how worship is supposed to go. Jesus, do you know the political ramifications of this? Do you know that what the people are doing is heresy? They are getting worship all wrong. Worship isn’t supposed to look like this.
Have you ever judged other people’s worship?
I am old enough to remember the worship wars between hymns and choruses. Depending on what side you were on, one side was spiritual, and the other wasn’t. There was a lot of judging going on about people’s worship.
But it still happens. I have gone to churches where the music was so loud that you couldn’t hear anyone singing except for the people on the platform. It was easy to judge. I have been to churches where they seem to sing the same chorus over and over and over again. It was easy to judge. The trend in some churches is to use smoke machines as part of worship. It is easy to judge. But instead of judging, I am learning to say, – that is not my cup of tea, but you honour God in the way that seems best to your community.
I don’t like how close I have been to standing with the Pharisees. That is a place in this story where I don’t want to find myself standing. If you find yourself there, maybe it is time to change seats.
The last group of people I want to look at is the city of Jerusalem.
Luke 19:41–44 (NIV)
41 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 42 and said, “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.”
While Jesus was coming into Jerusalem, much of the rest of the world was conducting business as usual. They were buying. They were selling. They were working. They were resting. Jesus was close by, and they missed him.
The prophecy that Jesus makes in this passage was fulfilled forty years later when, in 70 A.D., the Romans decimated the city of Jerusalem. But there are so many people who are like that city. Jesus comes near, and they miss him. Jesus is close by, but they don’t recognize him.
If you are here today, and you have never given your heart to the Lord, I want you to know that Jesus is close by. Will you reach out to him and invite him into your life and choose to follow him?
Where are you sitting in relationship to the King?
The colt owners – full of faith and generosity
The two disciples – obedience, faith and courage.
The Crowd – worshipping with their own agenda – but worshipping.
The Pharisees – Judging other people’s worship.
The City – missing Jesus when he comes close.
It is Palm Sunday. The crowd is cheering. Make sure you are sitting in the right place. This isn’t a concert. There are no assigned seats. You can get up and move.
I have found that where I want to sit at a concert has changed with age and experience. Maybe you are here, and God is calling you to change seats in this portion of your life. If you feel God’s call towards faith or generosity or courage or worship, get up and move.