Voices
Luke 19:28-48
Introduction
Every day there are many voices trying to convince us about how to live our lives. Those voices do not always offer wise counsel.
Illustration: Here are instructions on how to react to hungry pythons, as given to Peace Corpsmen serving in Brazil —
“Remember not to run away, the python can run faster. The thing to do is to lie flat on the ground on your back with your feet together, arms at your side, head well down. The python will then try to push its head under you, experimenting at every possible point. Keep calm (that was underscored).
“You must let him swallow your foot. It is quite painless and it will take a long time. If you lose your head and struggle, he will quickly whip his coils around you. If you keep calm and still, he will go on swallowing. Wait patiently until he has swallowed up to about your knee. Then carefully take out your knife and insert it into the distended side of his mouth and with a quick rip slit him up.”
I am not too sure I would consider that to be wise counsel.
There are voices that we hear in our text today as we consider the “Triumphal Entry” of Jesus into Jerusalem. Read Luke 19:28-48
Let’s examine the voices of that day and glean for ourselves the wise voices.
I. The Voice of the Donkey’s Owner (v. 33)
As we consider this donkey and its owner an interesting observation become apparent. The donkey seemed to have more sense than its owner. In Matthew’s gospel it is indicated that the donkey colt’s mother was brought along also. That would mean that the colt was young and unbroken and Marks’s gospel confirms that fact. Yet the colt permitted clothing to be thrown over its back and Jesus to sit on its back.
The objection came from the owner. He essentially was saying, “That’s my colt! Where are you going with my colt?” His concern was with his possessions. Had the disciples not insisted, this man would have prevented Jesus from using his donkey. What a loss of blessing we stand to incur if our possessions become so important that we question Jesus use of them.
Illustrations: We must say as Martin Luther did, “I have held many things in my hands and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God’s hands that I still possess.”
Or as John Wesley who he learned that his house had been destroyed by fire, exclaimed, “The Lord’s house burned –One less responsibility for me!”
Illustration: The danger of hanging on to the things we think are important is seen in the method used to trap monkeys. A monkey trapper will tie to a tree a coconut shell with a hole just big enough for the monkey’s hand to fit through. Inside the shell the trapper will place something the monkey really wants. The monkey will place its hand in the shell, grasp the object of its desire and hang on. Not being able to remove his hand from the shell without letting go of its treasure, the monkey will be caught and carried away by the trapper.
Let’s not listen to our own voice of selfishness regarding our possessions. Possessions are temporal. They will pass away. Our relationship with Jesus is eternal. It is much better to give up what we cannot keep and receive something which can never be taken away.
II. The Voice of the Multitude (vv. 37-38)
As the objections of the donkey owner fade away another voice arises – the voice of the multitude. At first observation it would seem that this is a pleasant and positive voice. However, things are not always as they seem.
Illustration: A little boy told a salesclerk he was shopping for a birthday gift for his mother and asked to see some cookie jars. The clerk was impressed by the boy’s thoughtfulness and took him to a counter displaying a large selection of cookie jars. The youngster carefully lifted and replaced each lid. His face fell as he came to the last one. “Aren’t there any covers that don’t make any noise?” he asked. Obviously, the motivation behind the boy’s apparent thoughtfulness was questionable.
Let’s ask ourselves, though, what the multitude really sought. Notice two words in their praise: King and Peace. While the crowd was acknowledging the claim of Christ to be the Messiah, they were also declaring their expectation that He would free them from Roman oppression. The word used was “hosanna” which means “save now.” They expected Jesus to take up the throne and depose the Roman rulers. Their hope was that they would enjoy peace as a result. Their counsel would have been to enthrone Jesus immediately as the means to peace. On a previous occasion Jesus sensed the same desire. In John 6 following the feeding of the five thousand the multitude sought after Jesus. In response we read in John 6:15, “…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.” Clearly the motive of the multitude was not in line with the purpose of Jesus.
What about today? Have things changed much? Do the multitudes of worshippers in our world actually seek for their lives what making Jesus Lord will bring? How many people will populate the pews of churches next Sunday whose motivation arises from having made Jesus Lord of their lives? Jesus said, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” Matthew 7:21.
III. The Voice of the Pharisees (v. 39)
Perhaps one might be surprised that the voice of religious leaders would contain unwise counsel. However, the next voice in our text is the voice of the Pharisees. They called for Jesus to rebuke the multitude that was calling out His praise. You would have thought that these self-righteous religionists would have realized by this time that they couldn’t fool Jesus.
Illustration: Consider the way Jesus had confronted these leaders…
• Ye blind guides (Matt. 23:16).
• Ye fools (Matt. 23:17).
• Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees…you are like whited sepulchers…full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness (Matt. 23:27).
• Ye serpents (Matt. 23:33).
• Ye generation of vipers (Matt. 23:33).
• Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! (Luke 11:44).
• Ye are as graves which appear not (Luke 11:44).
• Ye are of your father the Devil (John 8:44)
Obviously, Jesus knew the true concerns of the Pharisees. He saw that their only interest was in preserving their religious system, their leadership and their self-righteousness. For years these religionists had developed a system of works and now Jesus had come along to offer salvation and membership in God’s family as a free gift.
Today there are still Pharisees whose interest is in the religious system they follow and insist that others follow.
Illustration: Showing gospel film at high school – reviewed by religious leaders – “…but people must be educated into salvation…”
We cannot listen to the voice of religion any more than we can to the voices that echo concerns about possessions or deliverance from undesirable circumstances. All of these are negative voices devoid of true wisdom. However, our text does provide two positive voices filled with wisdom.
IV. The Voice of Nature (v. 40)
C.S. Lewis said, “Nature never taught me that there exists a God of glory and of infinite majesty. I had to learn that in other ways. But nature gave the word glory a meaning for me.” Jesus put this very thought into one sentence – “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.” Perhaps Jesus was telling the Pharisees that they were dumber than the stones!
Scripture often speaks of nature praising and attesting to who God is. One of my favorites is in Romans 1:20 – “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead;” In the Old Testament David declared: “The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth His handiwork.”
Jesus was telling the Pharisees that even if all mankind was rendered silent that the creation – even the stones – would cry out His praise.
Illustrations: George MacDonald declares “Something is wrong in the man to whom the sunrise is not a divine glory.”
Perhaps the thoughts of a child express it just as well. In a true story from Today’s Christian Woman magazine two little sisters, Jessica, age five, and Stephanie, age three, were chatting with their mom. Stephanie asked, "Mommy, does God really make rainbows?" "Of course he does," my sister replied. Jessica nudged Stephanie and explained, "Only God has such big crayons."
If only the Pharisees had seriously considered the power of God in nature around them like this little child they would have known that human praise would be the natural result.
V. The Voice of Jesus (vv 41-48)
While nature gives a positive voice, it is the voice of Jesus that offers real wisdom. His voice breaks through the sound of his weeping with true counsel. In our text Jesus focuses on three messages we must hear:
• The Fate of Rejection
• The Folly of Religion
• The Foundation of Redemption
To His rejecters Jesus warned that their city would be surrounded and destroyed which is exactly what happened when Titus laid siege to Jerusalem some 37 years later in AD 70. This judgment was the result of their failure to recognize the Messiah and His purpose when He visited them. How sad that an even worse fate awaits those who reject the salvation offered by Christ on the cross.
To the religion that prevailed Jesus attributed the folly of turning His house of prayer into a den of thieves. The Pharisees and their supporters had used religion as a means of personal popularity and profit. I am concerned that much of today’s religious activity has the same goal. When the fiery eyes of Jesus fall upon it, it will be consumed as wood, hay and stubble.
To those who would listen Jesus declared his teaching. He taught about Who He was and what He had come to do. Then as now those who listened and believed experienced the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
Conclusion
We have examined a number of voices in today’s text. Some of them were wrapped in disguises, but their sound betrayed them.
Illustration: Aesop, the ancient storyteller, told this fable: Once upon a time, a donkey found a lion’s skin. He tried it on, strutted around, and frightened many animals. Soon a fox came along, and the donkey tried to scare him, too. But the fox, hearing the donkey’s voice, said, “If you want to terrify me, you’ll have to disguise your bray.” Aesop’s moral: Clothes may disguise a fool, but his words will give him away.
When our inner voice questions the Master’s use of our possessions, when the multitude attempts to draw us with their hidden motives, when religion would become our deceptive cloak then we must recognize those voices for the fools that they are. Instead we must listen to the voice of creation that calls out the glory of God and then ultimately to the voice of Jesus, the Son of God, Who calls us to redemption and life eternal.
