The King Who Weeps for Our Hearts

This Sunday, we consider a familiar story, Jesus’ final approach of Jerusalem on Palm Sunday (Luke 19.28-48). Throughout Luke’s Gospel we have seen King Jesus do battle with the greatest enemies of human flourishing: human pride and self reliance; Satan and his servants; even death itself. His superior authority and power have been manifest, his divine kingship. Now he draws near to his final show down with these forces in Jerusalem. As he approaches the city, Jesus flexes his divine muscle, revealing divine foreknowledge and power in the collection of the young donkey. At the same time he redefines popular expectation of God’s King. Indeed, it is a strange messiah that will come on donkey rather than war horse. The crowd of disciples praise him as King, but will the religious leaders recognise him? Will we? What does it mean to be wept over by King Jesus? What does it mean to weep with him today?

 

Reflection Questions 

1. Which do you feel your heart longs for more, and why? 
   (a) a redeemer who can actually save you from forces that enslave  
   (b) a worthy king who actually deserves your submission   
   (c) a world-wide kingdom of goodness, justice, and peace   
   (d) a sense of inner cleansing, a royal pardon for moral failure 

2. In Jesus’ day, what did the Jewish people expect God’s promised king, the Messiah, to do, when he came? 

3. How has Jesus, throughout Luke’s Gospel and during our series, disrupted the popular expectations of the Messiah? 

4. What kind of enemies has Jesus done battle with in Luke’s Gospel? Give examples and stories. 

5. As Jesus approaches Jerusalem, a week before his crucifixion, how does he demonstrate his divine kingship (Luke 19.28-35)? What divine attributes are displayed?

6. The donkey owners (or stewards) at Bethphage allowed the disciples’ to take the donkeys* on the disciples’ request. What is remarkable about this (Luke 19.32-35)?
*There would have been both the colt and mother together, though Luke focuses on the colt. See Matt 21.2 to establish the presence of the mother.

7. In what way does the mode of transport itself (donkey – common form of transport for people, goods, and produce eg. Luke 10.34, 13.15) disrupt popular expectations of God’s king?

8. Jesus affirmed his divine kingship in Luke 19.28-40, not just by demonstrating divine attributes, but also by accepting the praise of the crowd of disciples. Yet by the form of transport he chose, he showed that he had not come to initiate an insurrection, but be a servant king. He came, the first time, to battle sin & death for the people (see Zechariah 9.9, 11). The religious leaders did not expect this kind of messiah and so rejected him. 
Answer at least one of the following:

(a) in what ways do our expectations of Jesus interfere with our capacity to recognise his kingship today? 
(b) describe Jesus’ heart attitude towards those who fail to recognise his kingship (Luke 19.41-44). How does his attitude compare to our attitudes towards those who deliberately fail to recognise his kingship?
(c) what would it look like for us to weep with Jesus over those who fail to recognise him today?