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Scripture Reading: Luke 19:28-48
In the foregoing messages we covered the first three sections of the Gospel of Luke: the introduction (1:1-4), the preparation of the Man-Savior in His humanity with His divinity (1:5—4:13), and the ministry of the Man-Savior in His human virtues with His divine attributes (4:14—19:27) both in Galilee (4:14—9:50) and on the way from Galilee to Jerusalem (9:51—19:27). Now we come to the fourth section of this Gospel — the Man-Savior’s presentation of Himself to death for redemption (19:28—22:46). After the Savior finished His ministry in 19:27, the time came for Him to go up to Jerusalem to present Himself to the death ordained by God for the accomplishment of eternal redemption.
The Lord’s transfiguration on the mountaintop took place toward the end of His ministry in Galilee. The purpose of that transfiguration as reported in the Gospel of Luke was to show the disciples that for the enjoyment of the jubilee there is the need of transformation signified by transfiguration. After completing His ministry in Galilee, the Man-Savior began to make the long journey from Galilee to Jerusalem.
While the Lord was making the journey from Galilee to Jerusalem, He had a number of talks with His disciples. In those talks certain main things were covered. First, the Lord showed the disciples how to receive God’s salvation. Then He revealed to them how to serve God. To receive God’s salvation is to enjoy His jubilee today in the age of grace. Serving God qualifies us to enter into the coming kingdom to enjoy the jubilee in the next age. At least five times in the Gospel of Luke the Lord speaks concerning how to follow Him and serve Him so that we may be qualified to enter into the coming kingdom and enjoy the jubilee in the next age. He speaks of this in chapters fourteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, and nineteen, where He gives the parable of the servants who received gifts with which to serve Him (Luke 19:11-27). As servants who have received gifts from the Lord, we need to make a profit for Him so that we may be qualified to inherit the earth and rule over it as kings. Participating in the coming jubilee in the millennium, therefore, will be a reward to the overcoming saints.
The Man-Savior’s ministry was carried out first in Galilee. It began with His proclaiming the jubilee of grace, and it continued until His transfiguration. The Lord’s transfiguration signifies that all His followers need to be transformed in order to share in the enjoyment of the jubilee. After completing His ministry in Galilee, the Lord left Galilee for Jerusalem. On the way from Galilee to Jerusalem, He repeatedly taught His disciples and followers how to take God’s salvation, that is, how to receive the kingdom of God, which is actually the Man-Savior Himself, in order to enter into the enjoyment of the jubilee today. The Lord also taught them that to follow Him and serve Him, we need to renounce material things. We must overcome all distractions and frustrations so that we may love Him to the uttermost and serve Him faithfully. Then we shall be qualified to enter into the kingdom in the coming age and have the full participation of the jubilee in the millennium.
We all need to see that enjoying Christ as the kingdom of God in this age qualifies us to enjoy Him as the jubilee in the next age. In other words, the present enjoyment of Christ qualifies us to enjoy Him in a further way in the coming age. However, thousands and even millions of those who believe in the Lord and who have received His salvation do not enjoy Him. This failure to enjoy the Lord today will disqualify them from enjoying Him as the jubilee in the coming age. We need to be impressed with the fact that today’s enjoyment of Christ qualifies us to have the enjoyment of the jubilee in the next age and even ushers us into this enjoyment. Therefore, let us learn to enjoy Christ in the church life so that we may be qualified to enjoy Him in the kingdom age.
The jubilee proclaimed by the Lord Jesus in chapter four of Luke is of three stages: first, the stage of grace in this age; second, the stage of the kingdom in the coming age; and third, the stage of the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and new earth for eternity. These are the three stages of the enjoyment of the jubilee. The jubilee in this age is a foretaste. The jubilee in the coming age will be fuller than today’s jubilee. Ultimately, in the New Jerusalem we shall enjoy the jubilee to the fullest extent for eternity. There all believers will enjoy Christ as the jubilee. For eternity there will be a testimony that the Lord Jesus is our jubilee, that He has set us free from bondage and has brought us into the full enjoyment of the processed Triune God.
The Gospel of Luke may be divided into seven sections: the introduction (1:1-4), the preparation of the Man-Savior in His humanity with His divinity (1:5—4:13), the ministry of the Man-Savior in His human virtues with His divine attributes (4:14—19:27), the Man-Savior’s presentation of Himself to death for redemption (19:28—22:46), the death of the Man-Savior (22:47—23:56), the resurrection of the Man-Savior (24:1-49), and the ascension of the Man-Savior (24:50-53). In this message we shall begin to consider the fourth section of this book — the Man-Savior’s presentation of Himself to death for redemption.
The Lord Jesus made the long journey from Galilee to Jerusalem for the purpose of being put to death. He knew that in Jerusalem He would present Himself to God on the altar. In the book of Leviticus the offerings offered on the altar are types of Christ, and in the New Testament fulfillment the altar is the cross.
The Bible reveals that Christ is not only the offerings, but also the offering Priest to offer the sacrifice to God. This means that He is both the Priest and the offerings. As the offering Priest, He presented Himself to the altar, to the cross. The thought that Christ is both the offering and the Priest is revealed clearly in the Epistle of Hebrews. In Hebrews we see that Christ is the High Priest who offered Himself to God as the eternal sacrifice (Heb. 9:11, 14). Now in the Gospel of Luke we see that Christ went down from Galilee, the place where He was working, to Jerusalem, the place where He would be put to death. In Jerusalem He would be both the offering and the Priest presenting this offering to God on the cross.
The Lord Jesus was not arrested by the Pharisees in Galilee and then brought by them to Jerusalem to be put to death. On the contrary, He went to Jerusalem of His own initiative. Furthermore, He did not sneak into Jerusalem as a thief, but entered the city in a public way. When He drew close to Jerusalem, He prepared Himself to enter the city as a King. However, He did not enter the city as a king in splendor but as a King in humility. Instead of riding on a horse, He rode on a colt that sovereignly was made ready for Him.
How this colt was prepared for the Lord’s use is a mystery. The Lord simply told two of His disciples, “Go into the village opposite you, in which, as you are entering, you will find a colt tied, on which no man has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it” (19:30). The Lord went on to tell the disciples that if they were asked why they were untying the colt, they should say, “Because the Lord needs it” (v. 31). The disciples went away and found the colt just as the Lord had told them. When they were asked why they were untying the colt, they replied, “Because the Lord needs it” (v. 34). Then they brought the colt to Jesus, “and throwing their garments on the colt, they put Jesus on it” (v. 35).
It may seem that the preparation of the colt was not a great matter. Actually, for the colt to be prepared in such a mysterious way was something great. Only the Creator of the universe could do such a thing. No doubt, the Lord Jesus is the real King. He spoke a brief word to His disciples concerning the colt. When they took His word and acted on it, everything happened exactly as He said it would.
Luke 19:37 and 38 say, “And as He was already drawing near to the descent of the Mount of Olives, all the multitude of the disciples began, as they were rejoicing, to praise God with a loud voice for all the works of power which they had seen, saying, Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” The disciples who brought the colt to the Lord Jesus may have taken the lead to be excited, for they believed that the triumphant entry into the capital was for the purpose of taking over the country.
According to John 12, the raising of Lazarus was a great miracle that attracted people to the Lord. That miracle took place shortly before the feast of the Passover, which was the time for the Lord Jesus as the Lamb of God to be put to death. Not long before He was killed, He raised Lazarus from the dead, and that miracle caused many to crowd around Him. Luke, however, does not record this miracle.
There was a great celebration as the Lord traveled from Bethany to Jerusalem. The temple in Jerusalem was built on Mount Moriah (later called Zion), the place where Abraham offered Isaac, and Bethany is located at the foothill of the Mount of Olives. Between these two mountains there is a valley. I believe that as the Lord passed through this valley, He was followed by a long parade of celebration. Those in this celebration were excited and even beside themselves with joy. The Pharisees, who were not able to do anything about the situation, were greatly surprised. They said to one another, “Behold, the world has gone after him” (John 12:19).
As the Lord Jesus drew near to Jerusalem, He was not joyful. Instead, He lamented over the city. Of all those in the crowd, He must have been the only one who lamented. All the others were celebrating, rejoicing, and shouting praises to God. The disciples may have said to one another, “What a celebration this is! Our King will soon take over the country. We are His followers, and we shall participate in His ruling.” This may have been the thought of the Lord’s followers, but it certainly was not His thought. “As He drew near, seeing the city, He wept over it” (v. 41).
In 19:42-44 we see what the Lord said as He wept over the city: “If you knew in this day, even you, the things that are for your peace! But now it has been hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a rampart before you, and will encircle you, and will press you in on every side, and will level you to the ground, and your children within you, and they will not leave a stone upon a stone in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.” The peace in verse 42 will be in the restoration of Israel (Acts 1:6) after the Savior’s return. The Greek word rendered “level” in verse 44 may also be translated “dash.” Jerusalem was leveled, dashed, to the ground in A.D. 70 by Titus with the Roman army. The word “visitation” in verse 44 refers to the Savior’s first coming to visit them in grace in the acceptable year of the Lord (Luke 2:10-14; 4:18-22).
In His lamentation the Lord seemed to be saying, “O Jerusalem, poor Jerusalem! I wish that you knew your days. This is the day of your visitation, but you do not recognize it. You are not grateful for the visitation I am rendering you. You need to realize that not long after I die and am resurrected and ascend to the heavens, a different day will come upon you. In that day you will be leveled to the ground.” Later, the Roman army destroyed the city of Jerusalem. The narration of Josephus shows in detail what a terrible destruction that was.
In the midst of the celebration the Man-Savior had sorrow instead of joy. He was about to make a triumphant entry into Jerusalem, but He was moved with compassion for the city.
Luke 19:45 and 46 say, “And entering into the temple, He began to cast 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 robbers’ cave.” The Lord entered into the temple for the purpose of cleansing it. Do you know what was in the temple? The temple was filled with mammon and material things, filled with the matters of buying and selling. This was the reason the Lord cleansed the temple.
On His journey from Galilee to Jerusalem, the Lord emphasized the need to overcome mammon and material possessions. He even said that in order to follow Him we need to renounce our possessions and stay away from the stupefying effects of material things. Because what He required His disciples to renounce was prevailing in the temple, He went into the temple to cleanse it.
The Lord’s cleansing of the temple indicates that His presenting of Himself on the cross to God was for the producing of a cleansed temple. This means that His death has the effect of producing a church that is a purified, cleansed temple. Our basis for saying this is the clear revelation in the New Testament. The New Testament reveals that the Lord Jesus died to produce many grains that would be formed into one loaf, which is the Body (John 12:24; 1 Cor. 10:17). This Body is the church (Eph. 1:22-23), and the church is the temple of God (Eph. 2:21; 1 Cor. 3:16). This temple, in contrast to the robbers’ cave, is a purified and cleansed house for God’s dwelling place.
The Man-Savior’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem was not for the purpose of taking over the country. The Lord entered into Jerusalem to present Himself to an all-inclusive death, to the death ordained by God. This death would not merely bring in the jubilee; it would also produce a cleansed and purified dwelling place for God.
When I was young, I knew only that the Lord entered into Jerusalem and cleansed the temple. I did not know the significance of these things. Now I can declare strongly that the Lord’s real concern was to take care of the temple. When He was twelve, He was found in the temple (Luke 2:46), and when He came forth to minister at the age of thirty, He cleansed the temple (John 2:14-16). Because He was concerned with His Father’s interests, He said to His parents, “Did you not know that I must be in the things of My Father?” (Luke 2:49). This indicates that He cared for the temple, God’s dwelling place composed of His chosen ones according to His eternal economy. Therefore, the temple is the central point, the focal point, of God’s economy. The Lord was concerned for this when He was twelve, when He began to minister at the age of thirty, and when He reached the end of His earthly ministry. The Man-Savior entered into Jerusalem to present Himself to God as the all-inclusive offering. But before presenting Himself in this way, He once again expressed His concern for the interests of His Father, for the Father’s dwelling place.
In contrast to the disciples, the Lord Jesus was not concerned with gaining a kingdom for Himself. His only concern was that God’s people become God’s dwelling place. According to the full revelation of the New Testament, the Lord’s concern in entering into Jerusalem was to produce a purified temple for God’s dwelling place.
