Blessed is the King (Journey to the Cross): The journey was almost done. But when Jesus finally rode into Jerusalem, it forced a confrontation. Some loudly hailed Jesus as the promised Messiah-King they had waited for. Others resisted or rejected his authority, trying to silence his disciples. How have you received Jesus into your life? Recorded on Mar 22, 2026, on Luke 19:28-44 by Pastor David Parks.
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This sermon is part of our Journey to the Cross: Lenten Reflections from the Gospel According to Luke series. “As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.” (Lk 9:51). The cross of Christ wasn’t an embarrassing accident or tragic defeat. While his enemies opposed him and his disciples were confused about him, Jesus was very clear about his identity and intentional about his mission. He had come to seek and to save the lost through his death and resurrection — as had been foretold. This would become clear to anyone with spiritual eyes to see. But when you understand who Jesus is and the nature of his kingdom, it changes everything! Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!
Sermon Transcript
Today, we’re continuing our sermon series for Lent called, Journey to the Cross, from the gospel according to Luke. Jesus had set his face toward the city of Jerusalem, and for Lent, we’ve been following the story of how he made his history-shaping journey to the cross. Now, despite the many opinions and expectations of others, Jesus was crystal clear about who he was and what he had come to do. And as he traveled through the city of Jericho on his way to Jerusalem, we saw Jesus heal a blind man, save a tax collector named Zacchaeus, and teach the Parable of the Ten Minas, all to correct the false expectations people had of his identity, mission, and kingdom. If you missed any of those sermons, you can always go back and watch or listen online, if you’d like. Today, we’ll finally get to Jerusalem. The journey is almost done. Our passage today is known as the Triumphal Entry of Jesus when he was welcomed into Jerusalem as the King that he was and is, even if people still weren’t entirely sure what King Jesus was there to do. One small note, typically, this passage is used for Palm Sunday next Sunday, but we’re going to get to the Last Supper next week. So happy early Palm Sunday, I guess. But this was an important part of the journey; it’s found in all four gospel accounts of the life and ministry of Jesus in the Bible. And one reason it’s so important is that when Jesus was welcomed into the city of Jerusalem, it forced a confrontation. How would they receive him? So if you have your Bible/app, please open to Luke 19:28. We’ll read through this passage and unpack it as we go.
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. 35 They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it.” So we’ve been following Jesus as he made his way toward Jerusalem, and Jesus is about to arrive. Bethphage and Bethany were only a few miles east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives was just across a valley from the Temple Mount. But here comes Jesus, and it feels like something big’s about to go down. And I’ve always loved this scene. It feels so mysterious. How did Jesus arrange all this? Luke doesn’t say. But clearly, Jesus was in complete control of the situation. We’ve said that the death of Jesus wasn’t an embarrassing accident or a tragic defeat. And here we can see his intentionality in directing even the details of these final events leading up to the cross. But what would happen next? I bet the disciples wondered the same thing.
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!” Now, this is very significant, but it’s easy to miss what’s happening. Luke says a whole crowd of the disciples of Jesus, and surely many more people who were coming into the city for the Passover celebration, started joyfully/loudly praising God as Jesus rode into town. They caused a ruckus. But why? Luke says it was for all the miracles they had seen. Now, just as a reminder, the miracles of Jesus weren’t about being impressive or gaining clout. The miracles of Jesus validated his message; they were evidence that what he was saying was true. You can see this in many places in the gospels, where people are amazed by what Jesus does and praise God, recognizing that the power to perform these miracles can only come from God. So people were praising God. But, wait, did you notice what they said? “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” Blessed is the king? We’ve already seen in this series that people had all sorts of different opinions and expectations for Jesus. And many people thought he was the Messianic King that God had promised through the Old Testament prophets. We saw that this was partially right. Jesus was the Messiah and God’s King, but he had come for a bigger purpose than anything they expected. But even with this partial confusion, the disciples still (maybe accidentally) got it right. Why? Because “Blessed is the one/king who comes in the name of the Lord!” was from Psalm 118, a psalm about God’s saving work that was sung by the pilgrims who made their way to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover every year. Did they realize that in the arrival of Jesus, Psalm 118 was being fulfilled in their midst? To some degree, I think they did. John says the crowd waved palm branches, referenced in Ps 118, and spread their cloaks along the road, rolling out the red carpet for Jesus. This wasn’t typical behavior, so the crowd must have expected that this was going to be a bigger moment for Jesus. Later, the disciples fully realized the meaning of this whole scene, and how it fulfilled another prophecy, Zechariah 9:9 (NIV), “Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” Over 500 years earlier, Zechariah called the people to rejoice at the arrival of their king, victorious and yet humble/lowly (sounds like Jesus), riding on a colt, the foal of a donkey. There you go! Psalm 118 was being fulfilled. Zechariah 9 was being fulfilled. God’s king had arrived. Praise the Lord! The disciples were more right in their worship than they even knew at the time. But what would the authorities think about all this? Crowds usually make authorities nervous. And this crowd was loudly welcoming Jesus as the King of the Jews. If Rome found out, it wouldn’t look like worship or a religious festival, which the Romans allowed. This would surely look like a rebellion, which the Romans very much did not allow. And if there was a rebellion in Judea, Rome would send the army in to crush everybody. Rome didn’t mess around with rebels. With every step of the colt and every chorus of the crowd, the tension built toward some sort of confrontation between Jesus and the powers at the start of what would be the most consequential week in human history. How would the powers respond?
Luke 19:39–44 (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.” 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.” This is God’s word. So the Pharisees, who were conservative religious leaders, tried to put a stop to this dangerous ruckus. “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” they said. Now, they were probably rightfully scared of what Rome might do if they heard about this. But they were scared of the crowd, too. They couldn’t control the crowd themselves, so they tried to get Jesus to calm everyone down instead. But Jesus’ response is fascinating. “I tell you [there’s that verbal highlighter phrase]…if they [meaning my disciples] keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” I bet the donkey would’ve, too! Meaning, you can’t stop this! Even the most educated religious authorities, with all the backing of Rome, couldn’t even delay the saving work of God and the King of his kingdom, much less stop it. Jesus was the King of the Kingdom of God, and he had arrived to establish his reign, and there wasn’t anything they could do about it. But then (if you were writing this story, would you have ever imagined what happened next?), Jesus broke down in tears. Wasn’t this his moment? Wasn’t he finally being given the recognition and honor he deserved? Wasn’t this his Triumphal Entry with the palm branches and red carpet and everything? It was, but when he saw the city, he wept over it. His heart was profoundly moved. He wept because he had come to bring peace—peace with God and peace with one another, the peace they longed for and desperately needed. But he wept because he knew that so many of them would reject him and the peace he offered at infinite expense to himself—the expense of the cross. “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes.” Can you feel the weight of his broken heart in this statement? Many of his own people were as spiritually blind as Bartimaeus had been physically blind. Many of them would reject Jesus, as the subjects had rejected their king in the Parable of the Ten Minas. But instead of writing them off or making fun of them or of using violence against them, Jesus wept for them. And he took no delight in the fact that their rejection of him would have terrible consequences. He knew there would come a day when Jerusalem would be conquered, and Herod’s Temple would be destroyed. “The days will come upon you when your enemies will…” come against you and you will be crushed. This prophecy of Jesus was tragically fulfilled in 70 AD, but even this would pale in comparison to the consequences of rejecting Jesus that would come during Judgment Day. Not all would receive him or the peace he offered. So on this triumphant day, a day that was supposed to be full of joyful praise, Jesus wept. But this is the heart of God for a broken world. In Ezekiel 33, the Lord said, “As surely as I live…I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, people of Israel?” (Eze 33:11) How undignified to have a God begging people to turn from their wicked ways so they wouldn’t face the destruction of their own decisions. What God acts like this?? But, again, both of these things reveal the incredible heart of God for the lost. Remember, Jesus really couldn’t have cared less about what other people thought of him, going to Zacchaeus, the tax collector’s house. Why? Because he cared way more that the lost would be found and the dead would be made alive! This was his mission; this is why he had come, to save people from the sinking ship of sin/death/hell/judgment. But Jesus knew that not everyone would receive him. And this broke his heart. But what love! What compassion Jesus had for people who would choose to remain his enemies. What king acts like this?? Later on, the disciples realized that Psalm 118 had also prophesied this rejection. Psalm 118:22–23 (NIV), “22 The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; 23 the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes.” King Jesus would be rejected by the builders, that is, many of the political and religious leaders of Israel, but he would become the cornerstone of a new Temple, not one that Solomon or Herod or Caesar or any other earthly king would build. But a new and living Temple that God would build out of the people who would find true and lasting peace by the grace of God and through faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ. But coming back to the story, isn’t Jesus incredible here? Perfectly in control of every detail. Hailed as the King that he truly was. But weeping for his enemies because he knew what that meant for them, and it broke his heart. No one is like him! But what do we do with this story? How might we apply this to our lives today? Well, let me ask you a big question: How have you received Jesus into your life? Of course, Jesus doesn’t visibly ride into our lives as he rode into Jerusalem all those years ago. Today, Jesus comes into our lives through reading or hearing the gospel proclaimed. But we are still confronted by how to respond to him. Is Jesus who he claimed to be or not? Either way, it has huge implications for our lives. So today, I ask again, how have you received Jesus? Have you welcomed him as the true King of the Kingdom of God and the Savior of the world, as his disciples did on that day (again, even better than they even realized at the time, but still)? We have the luxury of already knowing about the cross and empty tomb. Or have you resisted or rejected the identity claims of Jesus, as the Pharisees or the other citizens of Jerusalem? Later that same week, they would loudly call for his crucifixion. What about the authority of Jesus? Have you taken his teaching as the authoritative commands of your Lord, to be quickly and gladly obeyed? Or do you reject the authority of Jesus, perhaps seeing the teaching of Jesus more as helpful suggestions? I hear quite often from secular people today, “I agree with the teaching of Jesus!” But I think what they mean is more like, “I love that Jesus taught us to love one another.” But what about the rest of it? What about his teaching on forgiveness? Jesus taught that forgiveness for his followers is not optional. Forgiveness of your spouse/parents/anyone else who has sinned against you is a must; you must forgive because you have been forgiven first by God in Christ. Now this is hard. Especially if you’ve been really hurt by someone. Forgiveness is painful and very costly. But if Jesus is your king, then you will do it. Or what about, “I love what Jesus teaches about caring for the poor and the vulnerable.” And that’s unmistakably true! You can’t read the Bible and miss God’s heart for those in need. But you can’t agree with that and then say, “But I’m going to go sleep with whoever I want to and get an abortion if things don’t turn out how I want because ‘My body, my choice.’” Don’t you see? You were bought for a price. If Jesus wasn’t the King of the Kingdom of God, then we wouldn’t have to listen to anything he says. But if he was telling the truth, then he has ultimate authority over our lives! He wouldn’t make suggestions; he would make commands that we’re morally responsible to obey. But, friends, as a rebel, speaking to rebels, we modern people have a problem with this. Of course, if you read the Bible, you quickly realize ancient people often had a problem with this, too. Here’s the problem for people: We believe that unrestrained autonomy, unrestricted freedom, and nobody telling us what to do is necessary for us to be happy. We all have a little rebel in our hearts, even the most conscientious among us. As a result, most people think that if they finally had unrestricted freedom, they would finally be able to do or pursue what would make them happy. So, many people would much rather make Jesus into who they want him to be than take him for who he actually claimed to be. But is unrestrained autonomy or unrestricted freedom what we really need? Will that bring us peace and make us truly happy? In his book, The Reason for God, Timothy Keller writes, “A fish, because it absorbs oxygen from water rather than air, is only free if it is restricted and limited to water. If we put it out on the grass, its freedom to move and even live is not enhanced, but destroyed. The fish dies if we do not honor the reality of its nature. In many areas of life, freedom is not so much the absence of restrictions as finding the right ones, the liberating restrictions. Those that fit with the reality of our nature and the world produce greater power and scope for our abilities and a deeper joy and fulfillment.” (Keller, Timothy. The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism (p. 46). (Function). Kindle Edition.) If Jesus is the King of the Kingdom of God and the eternal Son of God and the Savior of the world, as he claimed to be and as the resurrection proved, then he would know precisely what commands/restrictions we need to find true joy and fulfillment, as Keller said, or to find peace, as Jesus said. So, again, what about you? How have you received Jesus into your life? If you have resisted him, rebelled against him or his word, or even rejected him in the hardness of your heart, would you reflect on the fact that Jesus wept over Jerusalem? He does not delight in your hardships or pain, despite your rejection of him. He isn’t happy about the terrible consequences of your sin. He would lovingly offer you his saving grace if you would but turn in repentance and faith and receive him as your Lord and Savior. In fact, there would be much rejoicing in heaven if you made that decision today. But if you are a Christian, if you have received Jesus as the King of not only the Kingdom of God, but the King of your life, then I would encourage you, too, to reflect on the fact that Jesus wept over Jerusalem. Jesus didn’t gloat over the destruction of his enemies. He didn’t celebrate; he wept. His heart was deeply moved for the lost, and he was willing to pay the ultimate price through his death on the cross for the sins of the world, in order to make a way for salvation. In the story of Jesus and Zacchaeus, we asked, “Will we care about the lost as Jesus does?” Again, will we? Will our hearts be moved, like Jesus, for people who might even angrily reject our Lord today? Will we pray for them? Will we share our gospel with them? Will we compassionately find ways to work for their good? We certainly can and we must. “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” Amen. Let us pray.
