MISTAKEN IDENTITY
Luke 19: 28-44
28 And when he had thus spoken, he went before, ascending up to Jerusalem.
29 And it came to pass, when he was come nigh to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount called the mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples,
30 Saying, Go ye into the village over against you; in the which at your entering ye shall find a colt tied, whereon yet never man sat: loose him, and bring him hither.
31 And if any man ask you, Why do ye loose him? thus shall ye say unto him, Because the Lord hath need of him.
32 And they that were sent went their way, and found even as he had said unto them.
33 And as they were loosing the colt, the owners thereof said unto them, Why loose ye the colt?
34 And they said, The Lord hath need of him.
35 And they brought him to Jesus: and they cast their garments upon the colt, and they set Jesus thereon.
36 And as he went, they spread their clothes in the way.
37 And when he was come nigh, even now at the descent of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen;
38 Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.
39 And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples.
40 And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.
41 And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it,
42 Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.
43 For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side,
44 And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.
The Palm Sunday story is very festive, isn’t it....
All 4 gospels tell this magnificent entry into Jerusalem….
Wouldn’t you have loved to be there that day?
Can you imagine yourself being a part of the crowd?
grabbing a coat or palm & waving it…
yelling at the top of your lungs…
Hosanna in the highest….
Jesus is coming into my town!
Everything is gonna be different!
Major God breakthroughs are coming!
While it’s fun to imagine yourself in the crowd…
This passage also presents us with some hard challenges and questions to answer.
St. Ignatius said…When you study God’s Word, don’t just turn to the parts that comfort you…turn to the passages that trouble you.
You know what’s troubling here?
Jesus’ comment at the end of this narrative…
“You did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”
The Message: Luke 19:44
“You didn’t recognize and welcome God’s personal visit."
Many are going to miss it because they didn’t recognize God’s coming to them through,
1. An invitation to church.
2. A gospel tract that they discarded.
3. A message on a billboard.
4. A newspaper article.
5. Something on TV.
Is it really possible for that to happen to a person?
It happened to this whole city.
Yes they did say, "Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord:" They considered Him religious, but they never acknowledged Him as the Son of God.
They thought that He was coming to save them from Roman oppression and set up His kingdom.
It was clearly a case of mistaken identity.
Jesus asked,
Luke 9:18
18 Whom say the people that I am?
19 They answering said, John the Baptist; but some say, Elias; and others say, that one of the old prophets is risen again.
20 He said unto them, But whom say ye that I am? Peter answering said, The Christ of God.
John 7:12
.....some said, He is a good man: others said, Nay; but he deceiveth the people.
But, who do you say that He is? Everyone can say the He is Jesus, but how many can say that He is Lord?
Many of those people said, “here comes Jesus,” but its not recorded that even one cried out saying, “here comes Jesus the Lord.”
They were willing to accept Him as anyone other that the Son of God.
Is it really possible for God to come to you and you wouldn’t recognize it…or wouldn’t embrace it…or would miss it completely? Troubling questions…don’t you think?
In this passage…we see at least four different responses to Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, and what would be yours?
RESPONSE #ONE
The “Yes, Lord…whatever the Master wants” response.
The two disciples & the donkey’s owners at the story’s beginning.
They were convinced of who He was and were obedient to His request.
Is this our response to Him since He has entered into our lives?
I know that we would say if He were to ask us to go and get Him a donkey that we would go and get Him one. But He is asking far more than that.
What has Jesus been asking you to do and you have refused? Is it a total surrender? There is a blessing awaiting every obedient act. Do not cheat yourself out of it.
RESPONSE #TWO
Lets look at the response of the religious folks when He came riding in. Did they worship Him? No, they scoffed at Him because the people, praising Him, made them feel uncomfortable.
They said, "rebuke them." There are people today who get very upset if anyone gets emotional and loud when they worship Christ in their church, and many have been ask to leave because they were too loud.
But that is what happens when you just have religion instead of an experience with God. You can’t stand to see the outward expression of an inward experience.
If they can’t stand someone verbalizing their thanksgiving to Christ here, they wouldn’t be happy in heaven either.
Check this out.
Rev 5:11-13
11 And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;
12 Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.
13 And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.
RESPONSE #THREE
Then there were those who were there because of the excitement. I’ll shout what everyone else is shouting, I’ll dance because everyone else is dancing but I’m not going to commit like some of these folks have. I don’t even care to know Him. This is just fun.
There were many of these people in the crowd. All this was exciting for them but it was short lived. In less than a week their tune changed. They were crying crucify Him.
RESPONSE #FOUR
There were few in the crowd who were genuine in their praise who went on to serve God’s Kingdom, even dying for the faith.
One of the most serious questions in the Palm Sunday story is….
How am I responding since Jesus has come riding humbly into my life?
Does it still excite me to go where I know that He is going to show up?
Do I still yell at the top of my lungs, offering praise and worship?
Have I fellowshipped with Him to the point that I have no trouble recognizing His presence or His voice?
Do I recognize and welcome God’s personal visits?
Or are we like most of the multitude who had mistaken His identity?
They cried “Hosanna,” which in the Hebrew means “save us, help us.”
They thought that He was coming to save them from Roman oppression and set up His kingdom.
But He came to save them from sin’s oppression and that they were not interested in.
He was worshipped when He was giving them what they wanted.
When He healed them. (Opened their eyes, ears, loosed their tongues, straightened their bones, fed them, raised their children from the dead.)
When He set them free from demon possession.
And whiled He was doing all that, He was the greatest. “Praise” “Blessed is He” “Glory.”
But when He told them His real mission, that He was the only way, they killed Him.
Which of these 4 responses would be yours?
1. Instant obedience?
2. Too religious to give Him total control of your life?
3. Its fun but not real?
4. Unconditional acceptance?
Since it may be difficult to honestly answer this question…
Lets do this, lets follow Jesus from Palm Sunday to the CROSS!
Song:
I come to the CROSS seeking mercy & grace.
I come to the Cross where You died in my place.
Out of my weakness and into Your strength.
Jesus I come to the Cross.
Do you know who Jesus really is, or have you mistaken Him for somebody else?
