Luke 19:28-40Luke 19:28-40After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “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.

Luke 19:28-40Luke 19:28-40If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ tell him, ‘The Lord needs it.’ “Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” They replied, “The Lord needs it.” They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it.

Luke 19:28-40Luke 19:28-40As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road. 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: “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

Luke 19:28-40Luke 19:28-40Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

Luke 19:28 - Luke 19:28 - After Jesus had said After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. Jerusalem. •Jesus said many things during His ministry. What are some of our favorites?•The greatest thing Jesus taught was that He would offer Himself for the sins of the world and in this passage Jesus was on the way to fulfill His destiny, death on the cross.•This was the defining moment not only of the life of Jesus, but the defining moment of all of history.

Luke 19:28 - Luke 19:28 - After Jesus had said After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. Jerusalem. •We are also on a spiritual journey which will have a number of defining moments along the way.•What are some defining moments in our lives?•Regardless of how many defining moments Christians have in our lives, we can rejoice that our final destination on our spiritual journey is heaven.

Luke 19:28 - Luke 19:28 - After Jesus had said After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. Jerusalem. •For those who refuse to accept Christ, the final destination on life’s journey is eternal separation from God. Proof that sometimes the destination is just as important as the journey!•Unfortunately, many of us get sidetracked on our journey and wander in circles.•When we find ourselves sidetracked in our spiritual journey, we need to remember our spiritual destiny and refocus on Christ.

Luke 19:30 - Luke 19:30 - Go to the village ahead Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here.ridden. Untie it and bring it here.•Jesus sent two of his friends ahead of the group to make preparations for His coming.•Jesus sends us out into the world to prepare people to receive Him.•What are some ways we can prepare the way for Jesus to come into the lives of others?

Luke 19:30 - Luke 19:30 - Go to the village ahead Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. ridden. Untie it and bring it here. •They were told they would find a young colt that no one had ever ridden. The other three Gospels tell us this colt was a donkey.•No one had ever ridden this young donkey before. It was untrained and had no experience carrying a rider. Yet, it was the one Jesus wanted to use for His final trip into Jerusalem.

Luke 19:30 - Luke 19:30 - Go to the village ahead Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. ridden. Untie it and bring it here. •Fulfilling our destiny may require us to do things we have never done before.•We may feel inadequate for the task.•We may BE inadequate for the task.•But when Jesus calls us to do something special, He will also equip us to accomplish what must be done.

Luke 19:30 - Luke 19:30 - Go to the village ahead Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. ridden. Untie it and bring it here. •They were to untie the young donkey and bring it to Jesus.•Before this young donkey could be useful to Jesus, it had to be freed from the rope that tied it.

Luke 19:30 - Luke 19:30 - Go to the village ahead Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. ridden. Untie it and bring it here. •Many of us need to be freed from the chains that hold us back so we can become all that God wants us to be.•We must stop telling ourselves what we cannot do and start trusting God to do all that He wants to do in our lives.

Luke 19:31 - Luke 19:31 - If anyone asks you, If anyone asks you, Why are you untying the colt? tell him, Why are you untying the colt? tell him, The Lord needs it.The Lord needs it.•Jesus warned them that some people would question why they were taking the colt. They were to respond that the Lord needed the young donkey.•Some people will question the changes God brings in our lives. We should explain to them it is part of God’s destiny for us. They may not understand that, but it is the only answer we have to give.

Luke 19:35 - Luke 19:35 - They brought the colt They brought the colt to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. and put Jesus on it. •The disciples obeyed Jesus and brought the colt to Him.•Having no saddle or horse blanket, they put their cloaks on the young donkey so Jesus could ride it into Jerusalem.•The disciples did not have everything they would have liked to have for this task, but they used what they did have and it worked out just fine.

Luke 19:35 - Luke 19:35 - They brought the colt They brought the colt to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. and put Jesus on it. •When Jesus calls us to deeper levels of commitment to Him, we just have to walk in obedience even when success seems unlikely.•We must start with whatever we have, in whatever situation we find ourselves, and walk with Jesus where ever He takes us.•We may not have all our issues worked out completely, but we should start following Jesus anyway so we can achieve our destiny.

Luke 19:36 -Luke 19:36 - As he went along, As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road.people spread their cloaks on the road.

•As Jesus came into town, the people began to spread their cloaks on the road in front of Him.•This was a traditional Jewish way of honoring someone special and was the equivalent of rolling out the “red carpet” in our culture.•These people honored Jesus in the way that fit their culture. What can we do to honor Christ in ways that fits our culture?

Luke 19:37 -Luke 19:37 - When he came near the When he came near the place where the road goes down the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had loud voices for all the miracles they had seen.seen.•This event was prophesied in Zachariah 9:9 and most of the people present would have known that prophecy well.•When the people realized they were literally seeing prophecy fulfilled, they obviously got excited.

Luke 19:37 -Luke 19:37 - When he came near the When he came near the place where the road goes down the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had loud voices for all the miracles they had seen.seen.•When Jesus got to a certain point, it suddenly dawned on the crowd who Jesus was and what this event symbolized.•They spontaneously began to shout praises to God and give testimony of the many miracles they had seen.

Luke 19:37 -Luke 19:37 - When he came near the When he came near the place where the road goes down the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had loud voices for all the miracles they had seen.seen.•At various points in our spiritual journey, pieces of the puzzle fall into place and we realize more of who Jesus is.•In those moments something changes inside us and our spirit begins to shout.

Luke 19:37 -Luke 19:37 - When he came near the When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen.for all the miracles they had seen.•Unfortunately, in their excitement, the crowd missed one key part of that prophecy.•If the “King” rode a horse into town, it meant he was coming to conquer the enemies of the people.•If he road a donkey into town, it meant he came in peace.

Luke 19:37 -Luke 19:37 - When he came near the When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen.for all the miracles they had seen.

•The crowd thought that Jesus was going to throw off the foreign Roman government that had occupied Jerusalem for so many years.•They failed to realize Jesus was actually coming to bring peace to the hearts of mankind.

Luke 19:37 -Luke 19:37 - When he came near the When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen.for all the miracles they had seen.•It was that misunderstanding of why Jesus came that allowed that same crowd only days later to turn on Jesus and shout “crucify Him!”•When Jesus first comes into our lives, we often misunderstand His intentions.

Luke 19:37 -Luke 19:37 - When he came near the When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen.for all the miracles they had seen.•We often mistakenly think that Jesus has come to make all our problems go away and make us live “happily ever after.”•But that is the Cinderella story, not the Jesus story!

Luke 19:37 -Luke 19:37 - When he came near the When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen.for all the miracles they had seen.•When we misunderstand why Jesus wants to be involved in our lives, we begin to see Him as a cosmic Sugar Daddy.•Then, when Jesus does not grant our every desire, we are tempted to abandon our faith in Him thinking that He let us down.

Luke 19:37 -Luke 19:37 - When he came near the When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen.for all the miracles they had seen.•Jesus does give us a lot of help, but not always in the ways we thought He would.•He helps us make sense of the senseless parts of life. He brings peace in the middle of our adversity. Jesus gives hope to the hopeless as He walks with us through the trials in our lives.

Luke 19:39 -Luke 19:39 - Some of the Pharisees in Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”your disciples!”•The Pharisees did not like it when the people got excited about Jesus.•The Pharisees were the people who emphasized all the “dos” and “don’ts” of Jewish religion.•They were more concerned with making sure people followed the rules than how much passion those people had for God.•Pharisees destroy the very point of faith!

Luke 19:40 - Luke 19:40 - “I tell you,” Jesus “I tell you,” Jesus replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” cry out.” •The Pharisees were scared of spiritual passion.•Jesus explained that such spiritual passion should not be quenched and if it did, the stones themselves would have cried out in praise to Jesus! •Our culture is also scared of spiritual passion because they equate spiritual passion with fanaticism. But they are not the same thing.

Luke 19:40 - Luke 19:40 - “I tell you,” Jesus “I tell you,” Jesus replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” cry out.” •Fanaticism looks for ways to use faith to control, destroy or punish those who do not agree.•Spiritual passion looks for ways to help people discover a personal connection with God so that their lives can be full of peace and joy in the midst of pain.•Passion is a blessing. Fanaticism is a curse.

Luke 19:40 - Luke 19:40 - “I tell you,” Jesus “I tell you,” Jesus replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” cry out.” •For many people, it takes a long time to find real spiritual passion. Once we find it, we must not let anyone quench it.•What spiritual passions has Jesus given us in our lives?•How can we learn to refocus on those passions so that our lives fulfil the destiny God has for us?

Conclusion:Conclusion:

•We are on a journey through life that has a final destination.•It is easy to get sidetracked on our journey and we must constantly refocus on Jesus.•Jesus may call us to serve Him in ways we do not expect nor feel adequate to fulfill but we should still say YES to Him.•We must not let anyone stifle our passion for Christ and we must remain committed to fulfilling the destiny God has for us.