Luke 19:28-40
28 After he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.
29 When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, 30 saying, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.’ ” 32 So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 They said, “The Lord needs it.” 35 Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36 As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. 37 As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power 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 heaven!”
39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” 40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”
Professors Gary Hamel and C. K. Prahalad mentioned in their book, Competing for the Future, about an experiment that was conducted with a group of monkeys.
Four monkeys were placed in a room that had a tall pole in the center. Suspended from the top of that pole was a bunch of bananas.
One of the hungry monkeys started climbing the pole to get something to eat, but just as he reached out to grab a banana, he was doused with a torrent of cold water.
Squealing, he scampered down the pole and abandoned his attempt to feed himself. Each monkey made a similar attempt, and each one was drenched with cold water. After making several attempts, they finally gave up.
Then researchers removed one of the monkeys from the room and replaced him with a new monkey. As the newcomer began to climb the pole, the other three grabbed him and pulled him down to the ground.
After trying to climb the pole several times and being dragged down by the others, he finally gave up and never attempted to climb the pole again.
The researchers replaced the original monkeys, one-by-one, and each time a new monkey was brought in, he would be dragged down by the others before he could reach the bananas.
In time, the room was filled with monkeys who had never received a cold shower. None of them would climb the pole, but none of them knew why.
Here’s a group of people in the Bible known as the Pharisees and Sadducees, or the religious leaders of Jesus time. When they saw people shouting passionately to Jesus, “Hosanna! Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!” they told them to shut up. And the came to tell Jesus to shut them up. I am sure they didn’t know what they were doing because a few days later when they put Jesus on the cross, Jesus said, “Father, forgive them because they don’t know what they are doing.”
Jesus told them that, “You know what, if they were silenced, the stones would shout out.”
Have you noticed in our society, when you express your joy and devotion to God, people will point out something negative and make you feel stupid? But, when you start to tell people about your misfortune, people just come and surround you with comfort. That’s why many people develop a habit of whining because when you whine, you make friends. When you are joyful, you lose friends. It’s like if you are not miserable, you don’t belong to this world.
In fact Christians don’t really belong to this world. Paul said that we are in the world but not of the world. We are supposed to be a joyful people because we have all the reason to rejoice and no reason to be miserable.
Rejoice because You know the Prince of Peace
By riding on a donkey, rather than a stallion, Jesus came into Jerusalem as the Prince of Peace, to make peace between God and human beings. Luke paraphrase the term Hosanna as “Peace in heaven.” Why do they shout “Peace in heaven” rather than peace on earth? At the beginning of Luke, when Jesus was born, it was peace on earth. It seems that the earth doesn’t want this prince of peace and they will soon kill him. So peace is only in heaven. Since heaven is where we have relationship with God, peace is with you when you invite the Prince of Peace into your heart.
John said, “He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. 12 But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:10-13)
Rejoice because you have the opportunity to know the Price of Peace, and because of him you are given the power to become children of God. Before Jesus left this earth he said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.” (John 14:27) The peace that Jesus gives you is the kind of peace the world cannot give. So don’t let the world silence your joy.
Rejoice because you know the true secret
Recently there is a very popular video and book called, “the Secret.” How many of you have heard of it. It is a New Age pop psychology material. It teaches you the secret of how to get anything you want. The secret as the taught is the secret of attraction. They said, we attract what we make ourselves attract to. If you have misfortune happen to you it is because you live in a way that you attract them. So the secret is to live in a way that you deserve what you want. But it is cheap materialistic pop psychology.
Jesus has revealed to us the true secret, that we have talked must about recently. The true secret is, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things (meaning everything you need) will be given to you.” All you need to do is to practice it.
When Jesus asked the disciple to bring the colt, he gave them the secret word. He said, if the owners ask you why you are untying the donkey, just tell them that “the Lord needs it.” The disciples follow exactly what Jesus told them and the got the donkey. Jesus didn’t tell them if he had made any arrangement with the owners. It takes some courage for the disciples to go and untie somebody’s colt. The owners saw them and asked them why they were untying the colt, and they gave the code word, “The Lord needs it.”
Some scholars said that the words spoken by Jesus were the most precious words of wisdom and instructions that ever come out of human mouth. It is one thing to just listen to these wonderful words, but it is another to trust his words and follow his instructions.
As followers of Jesus Christ, you have all the secrets of the world. So rejoice because the secret of the universe has been revealed to you.
Rejoice because God is Looking Out for You
In 1799, when the armies of Napoleon were sweeping over the Continent, Massena suddenly appeared on the heights above the town of Feldkirch at the head of 18,000 men. It was Easter Day, and the rays of the rising sun glittered on the weapons of the French, as they appeared drawn up on the hills to the west of the town. The town council were hastily called together to consult what was to be done. To defend the town was out of the question. What, then, were they to do?
After much discussion, the old Dean of the Church rose and said, “My brothers, it is Easter Day! We have been reckoning our own strength, and that fails. Let us turn to God. Ring the bells and have services as usual, and leave the matter in God’s hands.”
They agreed to do as he said. Then from the church towers in Feldkirch there rang out joyous peals in honor of the Resurrection, whilst the streets were full of worshipers hastening to the house of God.
The French heard the sudden clanging of the joy-bells with surprise and alarm, and concluding that the Austrian army had arrived to relieve the place, Massena suddenly broke up his camp, gave the order to march, and before the bells had ceased ringing not a Frenchman was to be seen. (Walter Baxendale)
There is a mysterious power of joy that can drive the evil away. When the disciples were rejoicing, the religious authorities came and ask Jesus to shut them up. Maybe they think Jesus has always showed himself as a humble rabbi, he must not like because exalted publicly in such a large crowd. But they were wrong. Jesus silenced the proud and let the humble rejoice.
When you rejoice and exalt the Lord, he will take care of the evil force that tries to silence you because God loves to see his children happy. God loves happy babies. Every parent loves happy babies. Watch this video:
[Laughing baby video]
How does make you feel. God feels the same way when you rejoice because it means you trust him, and he wants to provide you with more love, joy, and peace.
