[0:00] But we will be looking at that in the gospel according to Luke this morning in Luke 19 verses 28-48. It is a joy to have been together with you so far and we've been able to fellowship with one another.
[0:14] We've been able to hear the response that God answers prayer. And it's amazing that we know that we've been reminded of the power that's available to us, the resurrection power and spent time. And we've praised the Lord's holy name and just so thankful that we can just focus on his holiness as we're together.
[0:32] So we approach the same manner as we come to the reading of his word. So if you're physically able and desire to do so, if you would join with me in standing together as we read the word of God. Found in Luke chapter 19 starting at verse 28.
[0:47] And we will go to the end of that chapter which gets us down to verse 48. The word of God says, After he had said these things, he was going on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.
[0:58] When he approached Bethphage and Bethany near the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples saying, Go into the village ahead of you. There as you enter, you will find a coat tied on which no one yet has ever sat.
[1:13] Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, why are you untying it? You shall say, the Lord has need of it. So those who were sent went away and found it just as he had told them.
[1:24] When they were untying the coat, its owners said to them, Why are you untying the coat? They said, the Lord has need of it. They brought it to Jesus and they threw their coats on the coat and put Jesus on it.
[1:36] As he was going, they were spreading their coats on the road. As soon as he was approaching near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen, shouting, Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord.
[1:55] Peace in heaven and glory in the highest. Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, Teacher, rebuke your disciples. But Jesus answered, I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out.
[2:10] When he approached Jerusalem, he saw the city and wept over it, saying, If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace, but now they have been hidden from your eyes.
[2:22] For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you and surround you and helm you in on every side. And they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.
[2:42] Jesus entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling, saying to them, It is written, And my house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a robber's den.
[2:55] And he was teaching daily in the temple. But the chief priests and the scribes, leading men among the people, were trying to destroy him. And they could not find anything that they might do, for all the people were hanging on to every word he said.
[3:14] Let's pray. Father, we thank you that you have given us this day. What a joy it is to be able to gather with your people. Lord, to worship together, to lift up our voices in song together.
[3:28] Lord, as we have come and we have read your word, seen your word, and heard your word, we pray that now by the power and presence of the Holy Spirit that you would speak to every heart and mind. Lord, that we would not just understand it as we would factual events, but that we would hear it as the very word of God, which seeks to shape and mold us and conform us more and more to your glory and image.
[3:51] We ask that you be glorified and honored through it, and we ask it all in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. This morning, as we begin this Easter series, I want you to see the presentation of the Lamb.
[4:09] The presentation of the Lamb. John the Baptist, when he was in the height of his public ministry, and multitudes were coming to him to the River Jordan to be baptized by him, he continuously pointed to one that was another, one that was apart from him.
[4:29] He was pointing to the one that was coming after him, of which he said he was a forerunner. It was Jesus whom he pointed at when he said, Behold the Lamb which takes away the sin of the world.
[4:42] The word of God is very clear in that declaration. He does not say that he is the Lamb which takes away the sins, with an S on it, of the world, but the sin of the world.
[4:53] We find the same stating in Romans chapter 7, when Paul is referring to this same individual. Paul is referring to the sins, plural, which he commits, but then he refers to the one who sets him free from sin, singular.
[5:09] Because the Lamb is not one that comes to try to change the bad things, that is, the sins we do, but rather to change the individual, that is, the sin that we are.
[5:21] Jesus is not so consumed about changing our behavior as he is about changing our personhood, giving us a new heart, a heart of flesh, no longer a heart of stone.
[5:35] Because we may change the behavior, but that does not mean that we change the individual. We need new life. And we find that life in the Lamb of God who takes away the sin nature of mankind.
[5:49] But before he could do that, there were a series of things which he had to do, of which we are beginning to see the first one this week, and that is the presentation of the Lamb.
[6:00] I remember, and I think I've shared this with you, several years ago while I was pastoring down in Normandy, I was asked by another church in our association if I would take part in a revival week, so to say, a week that was actually a passion week, and each night of passion week, the week leading up to Easter, there was a different speaker coming in and preaching on that night.
[6:22] So there was someone on Sunday morning preaching about the triumphant entry. There was someone on Monday, someone on Tuesday, someone on Wednesday. And so there was a different preacher every night of the week. And I was asked if I would preach on the Wednesday night.
[6:35] Now you may think that is a great honor, unless you know the Word of God, and you know that in the Word of God, for every day of Passion Week, there is much activity except Wednesday.
[6:48] Nothing is said that happens on Wednesday. So I was asked to preach on the day which nothing is recorded that took place. So I had to stand before a congregation and preach about nothing.
[6:59] The good news is, is that very early in my years, of knowing that I was being called into the ministry, while I was up in Pikeville, Kentucky, in the coal mining hills of that area, I stood in Binghamtown Baptist Church, and there was an old pastor who stood up and said, today I want to preach to you about nothing.
[7:16] So I'd already heard a sermon about nothing. So I got some preparation in advance. Many years later, I got to preach about nothing. And it was a long, I think I went about 45 minutes preaching about nothing.
[7:27] You say, well, of course you can, pastor. We've heard you long enough. But it was great. It was great to be able to preach about nothing. But that Passion Week is a week that is full of activity.
[7:38] Why? Well, it all begins here with the presentation of the Lamb. If you were with us on Wednesday night, you know that on Wednesday night, we're making our way through 2 Chronicles.
[7:50] It is our habit on Sunday evenings and Wednesday evenings. We're just preaching through Scripture. This is now my ninth year here as pastor. So the very first year that I came, the very first Sunday night that I was here as pastor, we started Genesis 1-1, and we have now made our way up to 2 Chronicles.
[8:06] And we were looking at the construction of Solomon's temple there in 2 Chronicles. And if you were here on Wednesday night, you knew that we got a little excited because this was a particular place.
[8:16] This place of the temple's construction was a fulfillment of everything that took place and was declared all the way back in the book of Genesis. Because, my friend, listen to me. If you want to understand Scripture, you have to start where Scripture starts, right?
[8:32] You have to go back to in the beginning. God created the heavens and the earth. And the book of Genesis is there because it is the beginning, not just of creation, but it is the beginning of redemption.
[8:44] It is the beginning of salvation. It is the beginning of all of those matters. As a matter of fact, Genesis 1-11 tell you every problem that man has. In the first 11 chapters, there is a declaration of every problem that man has.
[8:58] And then starting in Genesis 12, we find God's solution to man's problem because God called Abram out of the land of the Ur of the Chaldeans so that he may rise up out of Abram, a seed that would be a blessing to the nations.
[9:12] See, every problem takes 11 chapters, but the answer to the problem takes the rest of Scripture. So what we find is always neatly connected to one another.
[9:23] And we now bring about what we looked at Wednesday night to this presentation of the Lamb. And I will allude to a lot of the Old Testament in the Easter account because if you've been with me so long, you say, Pastor, you haven't even got to the text yet.
[9:40] I know we have to introduce the text before we get to the text, right? If you want to understand the salvation event properly, that is your salvation, what it means to be redeemed, then you need to open up the book of Exodus because you need to understand the Exodus events before you can understand the salvation event.
[10:04] Why? Because until you've read the book of Genesis, you don't know to be looking for a lamb. And until you've read the book of Exodus, you don't know what that lamb is going to do.
[10:16] And then all of a sudden, we get to the Gospel of Luke 19 and we find the lamb being presented. So hopefully by the time we leave here this morning, we'll know why he is there.
[10:29] Number one in the presentation of the lamb, I want you to understand this is a matter of determination. This is a matter of determination, it says in the 28th verse there.
[10:42] And after he had said these things, we're not going to take time to go back and see what he says, but you can do it if you want to. Notice this wording. He was going on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.
[10:57] Now this is the beginning of the end of something that Luke started all the way back in the ninth chapter. It is called the Jerusalem descent or ascent.
[11:09] It is called the going up to Jerusalem. And it is here that Luke is introducing the final stage of that. So if you really want to understand what he means by going on ahead, you have to go back to Luke chapter 9 verse 51.
[11:24] And if you go to Luke chapter 9 verse 51, you will find the statement there. And he, that is Jesus, knowing that the time of his ascension was drawing near.
[11:36] Now wait a minute, just a moment, hold on right there. He says, knowing that the time of his ascension was drawing near. What does that mean? Jesus knew that his work on earth was coming to a close, that the time of his betrayal, his crucifixion, his death, his burial, his resurrection, and his ascension was drawing near.
[12:01] Don't let anyone tell you that Jesus was taken by surprise. Don't let anyone tell you that he lost a single battle. Someone told me one time, well, even Jesus lost one battle.
[12:12] And I said, oh, my friend, he's never lost. He surrendered for me and for you. He gave it up because it says that he gave up his spirit.
[12:24] And then he took it back. Right? He took it back to him and walked out of the tomb. Notice the reality of this in Luke chapter 9, verse 51.
[12:34] And Jesus, knowing that the time of his ascension was drawing near, set his face, or the New American says, was determined to go to Jerusalem. Starting in the ninth chapter of Luke, Jesus is determined to go to Jerusalem.
[12:53] Now, a lot happens from Luke 9 until we get to Luke 19. There are a lot of different accounts. There are a lot of different stories. There are a lot of different interactions with individuals.
[13:05] There are a lot of touchings of Christ for those who are hurting that need healing. There are miraculous interactions that take place. But at every step of the way, what we find is Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem.
[13:16] Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem. These distractions do not hinder his determination. These obstacles are not set before him to keep him from being there.
[13:26] Therefore, he knew he needed to be in Jerusalem for this time. You need to understand biblical historically speaking that this is the third interaction that Jesus has in Jerusalem at Passover.
[13:41] We can date his public ministry by the amount of times he's in Jerusalem celebrating the Passover. And this would be the third such occurrence. Every other one, he went and he taught and he went back.
[13:52] He went and he taught and he went back. Now we find that he is determined to be in Jerusalem at this time to be there on time. Nothing hinders him.
[14:02] There's a great side note there. And even in my own prayer this morning, I said, Lord, just as you set your face to do your father's work, oh, father, help me to set my face to do what you've called me to do and not be distracted nor hindered by any side thing.
[14:19] Help me not to be caught off guard because this was the plan of salvation set in motion before the foundations of the world were laying. Listen, God did not respond to the fall of man.
[14:31] God knew about the fall of man before man ever took from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God does not respond to our sin. God knew we would sin because it says that he is the lamb born before the foundations of the earth, right?
[14:44] He is the lamb slain before the world was ever created. This was the plan of God from eternity past. And Jesus set his face to fulfill the plan of God from eternity past.
[14:55] Well, just as Christ had a plan, the Bible says that if you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, listen to me, he says that he has good works prepared for you before you were born.
[15:07] So before you knew him as Savior, he already had something for you to do. That's why he called you. That's why he called you to be his child. That's why he called you to be redeemed. That's why he called you to be forgiven because he has something for us to do.
[15:21] So may we be as determined as Christ to set our face to do it, not to be distracted, though there may be obstacles, though there may be hindrances, there may be many interactions.
[15:33] May we say, but this is where I ought to be. Jesus says, I'm going on ahead. I'm going up to Jerusalem. One of the most amazing things that we find here is that Jesus, we see it in the gospel readings, that Jesus knew his time of departure was at hand, so he went, and the disciples followed after.
[15:53] They knew not, but he knew all. This is a determined event, but why? Why Jerusalem? Well, go back to the book of Genesis.
[16:05] It is in Jerusalem on Temple Mount. If you were here Wednesday night, you know, where Abraham was called to go to Moriah, to the mount that the Lord would show him.
[16:19] And upon the mount in the region of Moriah that the Lord would show him to offer up Isaac, his son. And when he climbed that mount and he put Isaac on the altar and he raised his hand to offer up his one and only begotten son, he said, oh no, Abraham has another son.
[16:35] He has another one. No, but one and only begotten doesn't just mean his only single son because I know about Ishmael. I've read scripture. It means his special set apart son, the son of promise, right?
[16:45] And he was getting ready to offer him and the Lord stopped him. God called out and said, Abraham, don't do it. But do you remember what Abraham said? The Lord will provide for himself the lamb.
[16:57] And then you remember on this past Wednesday night, what did we say? But when he looked in the thicket, he didn't see a lamb. He saw a ram. Remember that? There's a big difference there. You say, oh, it's just, that's just a male lamb.
[17:08] No, there's the wording is intentional. The Lord will provide the lamb in the mount of the Lord. It will be provided. It is not until we get to 2 Chronicles that we find that the threshing floor of Arunah the Jebusite, which David bought because of his sinful numbering of the people, in which the angel of the Lord stood up over that threshing floor and said, here, build an altar here.
[17:29] And David purchased that threshing floor for the full price. He built an altar. He deeded it over to his son Solomon. He gave him the plans for David said, this is the house of the Lord. And it is there upon Mount Moriah, it tells us in 2 Chronicles, that Solomon begins the construction of the temple of the Lord.
[17:48] And in the mount of the Lord, it will be provided. Fast forward hundreds and hundreds of years later, and now it's no longer Solomon's temple standing there. Now it's Herod's temple standing there.
[17:58] Standing in the midst of Jerusalem, which used to be the temple. Why? Because in the mount of the Lord, it will be provided.
[18:14] This is where the lamb had to be. This is where the lamb had to go. So we see, it is the prophetic word being fulfilled before our very eyes.
[18:28] It is a... It is a public declaration.
[18:42] Every word of the word of God finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ. Just as Abraham had said in the mount of the Lord it will be provided, Zechariah had written in Zechariah chapter 9 that there would be a unique king coming in a unique way.
[19:01] In the midst of the tragedies that were going on during the days of Zechariah. When the people were failing, the Babylonians were encamping, the city of Jerusalem was sweltering, and everybody was being led away.
[19:15] If you want to know how miserable it was, then you need to read the book of Lamentations, and you see the lament of Jeremiah who was there. There was atrocities taking place that are beyond mentioning.
[19:28] And yet here's Zechariah where God says in the ninth chapter of Zechariah, Though the armies camp against you, though the enemies build their barricades, there will be a king coming, gentle and lowly and mounted on the coat of a donkey.
[19:43] Jesus says the lamb has to be in the temple. But he says, But the king has to ride on a coat. So as he draws near, he sends his disciples to go in and to get this coat of a donkey, and I love what the word of God says, on which no one has yet set.
[20:04] Because there's always the yet. That's about to change. Just like when we get to the book of Acts and we find the man who used to sit at the temple gate and beg of alms.
[20:20] The reason the author tells us that he used to sit there is because when he encountered Christ, he no longer sat there. There's things that he used to do that he no longer does. There's a coat that used to never have been ridden and yet that changes in a moment.
[20:36] An absolute fulfillment of the prophetic word of Zechariah chapter 9, verse 9. He comes in and he comes in in a very unique form. He does not go without notice.
[20:48] The reason we call it Palm Sunday, Luke doesn't tell us, but the other gospel accounts do. Not only they're spreading their cloaks and their outer garments out on the donkey from the settle, not only they cast him on the road, they're taking the palm branches and they're putting them down on the road and it's this procession, right?
[21:03] It's a magnificent parade and the people are crying out, King who comes in the name of peace in heaven and glory in the highest. Now these very same ones who are crying out, blessed is the king, or the second one will later crucify him, crucify him.
[21:23] Yet they had to cry this out. Why? Because it said in the prophetic word and Jesus himself and the Pharisees said, tell them to be quiet.
[21:34] He says, if they are silent, the stones will cry out. There had to be a public display and it had to be without a doubt this declaration that here is your king.
[21:49] Why? Well, if you read the rest of the verse of Zechariah 9, 9, as Paul Harvey used to say, you need to know what the rest of the story is there, right?
[22:00] We know that Zechariah 9, 9 says, behold, your king will come gentle and lowly riding on the coat of a donkey. But what does the rest of it say? And he will be endued with salvation.
[22:13] He is the victor who will come bearing salvation. Isaiah says, I believe it's in the 43rd chapter of the book of Isaiah, Isaiah says, thus says the Lord, there is no savior but me.
[22:34] And in Zechariah 9, 9, it says, but a time will come that one will ride on the coat of a donkey and he will be empowered and endued with salvation to give.
[22:46] And when Jesus fulfills it, what we see is, here, oh, Israel, is not just your savior but this is your Lord God almighty.
[23:00] Publicly declaring he's the one who brings salvation and he weeps over Jerusalem. Jerusalem. This leads many historians to think that Luke wrote after the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.
[23:14] I don't think so because he who sits on the back of a donkey can tell you everything that's about to take place before it takes place, right? He who spoke it all into existence can clearly tell you what's going to happen before it does.
[23:26] And he weeps over and he says, oh, if only you knew who came to you today for the city will be encamped around that will build siege walls against you. Every stone will be left overturned.
[23:38] The children will slay. The adults will be slain. He speaks of the fall of Jerusalem but he says, but it has been hidden from you. He says, for you do not realize the day of your visitation.
[23:49] What is that visitation? That the one who's coming is not just a king but the one who's coming is the savior. Notice the presentation of the lamb. He is where he had to be and he is publicly declaring what he has to give.
[24:06] Third and finally, we see it's a matter of determination. It's a public declaration. And number three, the whole reasoning for his coming when he did, it is a blameless demonstration.
[24:23] For three and a half years, Jesus has publicly ministered. For three and a half years, he has taught demons have been cast out. For three and a half years, he has told those within Jerusalem or those in the Judean territory not to tell anyone who he is.
[24:43] As a matter of fact, the only ones that we find him telling to go tell their friends and family who he is are those outside of the land of Israel. Those on the other side of the Sea of Galilee in the region of Decapolis, which was not the land of Israel.
[25:01] It has led to what multitudes of people refer to as the messianic secret. I don't believe that's a true reality. I think it's an intentional timing.
[25:11] Stay with me. I'll show you why. For years, he has been publicly teaching. He has went back and forth to Jerusalem over and over again. For years, he's been casting out demons. For years, he's told people to remain silent, though they have not.
[25:24] He has went often away into the wilderness to escape the notice of the crowds. Time after time again, it tells us that they have attempted to kill him. The Gospel of John tells us that they sought to kill him and he would pass through their midst and they couldn't lay their head.
[25:38] And John says, for his time had not yet come. Over and over again, we find the religious leaders so upset at him, so enraged at him, that they want to stone him or they want to cast him off the cliff.
[25:51] And Jesus has been in the midst and they can't touch him. For John says, for his time has not yet come. Luke chapter 9 says, but he knew the time of his ascension was drawing near, so he went.
[26:05] In the Gospel of John, John chapter 13, the one who refers to time so often, in John chapter 13, Jesus says, and knowing that his time had come, he said to his disciples.
[26:19] And so we understand that not only did he go to the right place, not only did he come in the right way, but he must have come at the right time. Because now, when he knows the time of his ascension is drawing near, he publicly enters Jerusalem in an unmistakable way.
[26:44] I mean, the crowds are declaring he's the king. And he goes to the most public place possible within the city.
[26:55] He goes to the temple. And when he goes into the temple, you read it there, he begins to overturn the money changer tables, which would be what we refer to as the court of the Gentiles. Not only did he go to the most public place in the city of the temple, he went to the most public space within that place, that is, the court of the Gentiles, where everybody was welcome.
[27:15] Men and women from all nations could be gathered in the court of the Gentiles. He could have easily went into the court of the Jews, or he could have went a little bit further into the temple and went into the court of the men, but he didn't. He stayed in the most public of places and did the most public of demonstrations and caused a scene.
[27:34] Causes us to scratch our heads and go, but why now? Why do such matters matters? Just mere days before his crucifixion.
[27:49] Well, do you remember what I said about understanding your salvation? If you were to go to the book of Exodus, oh, that Old Testament, by the way, has got a lot more application than we give it credit for, right?
[28:00] If you were to go to the book of Exodus and you will find there when God is declaring how they should do the Passover, there is some terminology there as it pertains to the Passover lamb, right?
[28:15] On the tenth day of the first month, they were to get the lamb. On the tenth day, go get your lamb. Every family, get your lamb. And on the tenth day, you were to get your lamb and you were to bring that lamb into your house.
[28:30] And you were to live with that lamb and you were to watch that lamb and you were to observe that lamb and you were to get close to that lamb and then on the fourteenth day of that first month, you were to kill that lamb.
[28:44] You say, oh, that seems harsh. I'll get attached to it. No, because from day ten to day fourteen, you were to be watching the lamb to make sure that what you were about to offer was perfect.
[28:59] If you went and got what you thought was a good lamb and on the eleventh day, you saw imperfection in that lamb, you had to go get another lamb. You were required to ensure by having it in your home, by living alongside of it, that there was no blemish in that lamb.
[29:22] For this was not just a lamb, this was the Passover lamb. This was not just a sin offering or a Thanksgiving offering.
[29:34] this was the Passover lamb in which the blood would be smeared over your home so that the death angel would pass over your house. And it had to be absolutely 100% perfect.
[29:49] And it was deserving of all of your energy so that you would observe it and watch and make sure it had no limp, it had no blemish, it had no spot, it had no wrinkle, so that on the 14th day you could confidently say I am offering to the Lord God Almighty who is holy, holy, holy, something perfect.
[30:14] Why did Jesus come in that day? The same reason it says he's daily in the temple. Jesus put himself on public display for the last days of his life so that everyone would have time to look at him.
[30:33] So that everyone could watch him and he did it in the most public of places. But notice what it says, that last verse, and they could not find anything.
[30:48] Oh, they wanted to kill him, but they couldn't find anything. This final week, this Passion Week, that's the week of investigation, that's the week of questioning, that's when they come to him and they ask him about, shall we pay taxes?
[31:01] That's when they come to him about the woman who was married and divorced, or married and her husband's died so often. That's when they come to him and they ask about the resurrection. That's when they ask all these questions. And finally, and to the point it says they no longer had any questions.
[31:16] Why? He's answering every one of them. He's there. He wants to show he's perfect. Friend, listen to me. At the end of the week, guess what we find? He is perfect.
[31:28] Here is the perfect lamb. Here is the one with no spot, no wrinkle, no blemish. Here is the one with no equal.
[31:39] Here is the one that can answer every question, but no man can answer his. He says, I have one question for you, and if you answer, they can't answer it. Here is the one who has no guilt.
[31:53] Here is the one that though they tried on a public daily basis, they tried to find fault, they could find no fault. Here is the one in which they could find no failure. And here is the one that will willingly be betrayed, arrested, beaten, marred beyond recognition, and crucified on the cross for my sins and your sins.
[32:24] Here is the perfect one who has no fault, but here is the one who dies for us. Look at the presentation of the Lamb.
[32:39] Don't miss His perfection. You find no fault. You find no cause for stumbling, and yet you find one who chose to die for us.
[32:55] Praise be to the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. Let's pray. Oh Lord Jesus, what can we say?
[33:17] Besides, blessed be the name of the Lamb of God. may every heart be searched, may every mind be known, and may you be glorified in every individual, for you are so deserving.
[33:40] We ask it in Christ's name. Amen. Amen.