After telling this story, Jesus went on toward Jerusalem, walking ahead of His disciples. As He came to the towns of Bethphage and Bethany on the Mount of Olives, He sent two disciples ahead. “Go into that village over there,”He told them.”As you enter it, you will see a young donkey tied there that no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks, ‘Why are you untying that colt?’ just say, ‘The Lord needs it.'”
So they went and found the colt, just as Jesus had said. And sure enough, as they were untying it, the owners asked them, “Why are you untying that colt?” And the disciples simply replied, “The Lord needs it.” So they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their garments over it for Him to ride on.
As He rode along, the crowds spread out their garments on the road ahead of Him. When He reached the place where the road started down the Mount of Olives, all of His followers began to shout and sing as they walked along, praising God for all the wonderful miracles they had seen. “Blessings on the King who comes in the name of the LORD! Peace in heaven, and glory in highest heaven!”
But some of the Pharisees among the crowd said, “Teacher, rebuke Your followers for saying things like that!” He replied,”If they kept quiet, the stones along the road would burst into cheers!” But as He came closer to Jerusalem and saw the city ahead, He began to weep. “How I wish today that you of all people would understand the way to peace. But now it is too late, and peace is hidden from your eyes.
Luke 19:28-42
This “day” that Luke (and John) is referring to is what Daniel talked about when he said, “Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler,comes, there shall be seven sevens, and sixty-two sevens . . . After sixty-two sevens, the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing.” (Daniel 9:25-26)
Do you see what I have done with the passage I have served you up today? You would think that I would continue on with Luke 19:43 and complete the segment started by Jesus weeping over Jerusalem. Not yet. There is still more to link up and we need time to take in the breath-taking statements we have just witnessed. Pause and ponder on the majestic scene Luke has laid before us in this passage. Let it soak in. Remember this section starts with “After telling this story. . .” What story? The story of the absentee Prince, crowned King. I deliberately didn’t draw your attention to it before now, until I had covered the 70 Weeks of Daniel. I didn’t want anything I might say before the revelation of the exactness of God’s timing, to dawn on you. Now, the story told before the Triumphal Entry takes on even more significance. Oh, yes we are waiting for the Prince of Peace. But remember, He is soon to be the Coming King. His First Coming was not the time to rule, that is reserved for His Second Coming. With His First Coming, the understanding of Who this One is, dawns on us. The One of Whom it was said,
“For a Child is born to us, a Son is given to us. The government will rest on His shoulders. And He will be called: Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of His ancestor David for all eternity.”
Isa 9:6-7
That One has come! But He has not come as they expected. He came to die, not to rule, and caught them all by surprise. Just imagine the scene for the moment, with Jesus riding along on a DONKEY into Jerusalem at Passover and the people yelling out, “Blessed is He Who Comes, Blessed is He Who comes”. It borders on the surreal. I mean, come on. You claim this one on a DONKEY is The One. The one we are all looking for, Messiah?
This One was The Prince (of Peace) not yet made King; just like the nobleman, one of royal birth. In the terms of the story told before this, the events unfolding here indicate that He is still just Prince, not yet King. But He is the King of Kings in reality. I would strongly suggest that you do some more thinking about the link between this parable and the following events. Will you be found carrying out the Master’s business when He comes back again, or will you be too embarrassed to worship a King who rides on a donkey? But wait, there is far more. I will pick it up again at the right time. I am sure you will be able to find the following connection. So I will leave you the time to ponder it more.
Let me clip for the third time in as many days, the quote I have used in the last couple of Gems (142, 145 and now this one again) –
God has a set time as well as a set purpose, and He who orders the bounds of our habitation, orders also the time of our deliverance.
Oh, how remarkably true that is. Breathtakingly so. There is debate as to whether Daniel was written in the sixth Century BC or in the second Century BC. Either way it is remarkable. This was penned either 200 or 600 years before Messiah’s appearing and God’s timing is perfect to the day. That is goose bumps material. When God says something will happen, you can bank on it. God makes a specific statement through the prophet Daniel that Messiah would come 173,880 days after Artaxerxes Longimanes gives the command to rebuild Jerusalem’s walls and that is the timing, to the day, when Jesus walks into Jerusalem and the people chorus out, “Blessed is He Who comes in the name of the LORD”. That is enough to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. Let me tell you, God does a lot of things that makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. God’s timing is always perfect or timed to the second.
Go get a coffee and sit back while I share with you another Ian story. I have told the first part of this story before in Gems 791. I will retell it here and then add an untold ending to the story.
Our problem is that most often, we interfere with the process before His time has come and we don’t get to see what could have happened because we have done it in our own strength long beforehand. Like Saul not waiting for Samuel and making the sacrifice himself or Abraham taking care of the promised child in his own way. To obey is better than sacrifice. There is no need to panic, even at the last minute. God has it all under control. He is the God who provided manna every morning right on time and took care of their shoes and clothes so they didn’t wear out. There is nothing to worry about. Trust yourself to Him and stop trying to do everything in your own strength.
Maybe you are left wondering like me, what about the other name, Graham McKenzie? Yes, I wondered about that too. Well, more than wondered. It was like I was annoyed with God. I was wanting our testimony to be God honouring. “God, wouldn’t it have been so much better if You had brought it down to just Garry’s name? It would have made such a good testimony if you had shown me who the man was more clearly. If you had pointed him out, rather than one of two possibles. Little did Garry or I know that a year after us leaving, I would have a phone call from Garry to say they were being called out by God too, and I would need to find someone else to take care of the house matters for us. I suddenly realized that was why Graham’s name was always combined with Garry’s every time we prayed about it. We could not separate them. God had for both men (and their wives) to be involved. He takes care of every detail if you will only trust H
But now for the untold part of the story. Toward the end of the financial year with Garry and Glenys taking care of things for us, there were a number of months when we had no tenants in the house. This went on from December for three months into the next year. We kept thinking of the money we were losing in rent and we were having to take care of the mortgage ourselves which was depleting our resources. It seemed critical to get someone in there. Finally, after a few months of waiting, a couple appeared on the scene who wanted to rent our house. They planned to move in March but struck a problem and it was delayed until the beginning of April. We were thinking the timing of things was not working out. What is going on here LORD? You promised to take care of everything for us but this doesn’t seem to be working out that well. What is going on? After the couple had moved in and started paying rent, we learned that the Tax Dept had changed the rebate rules on tax deductions, such that if the couple had moved in March as they intended, we would not have been able to claim a rebate on the outgoings because we had rented our house in that tax year. But because they didn’t move until the beginning of the next financial year (April), we could claim the whole year’s interest paid on the mortgage, which was worth way more than three months rent on the house. God’s timing was again perfect, timed down to the day.
That is the kind of God we serve. Whether it is related to the coming of the Messiah or whether it is related to timing of tenants for our house, God’s timing is always perfect. Our problem is that we don’t see the big picture and we want to give God a helping hand to speed things up. My advice to you: Don’t!
Every time I feel like drowning in life’s situation, I remember my Life Guard walks on water.
Sidney Mohede
Though there are times when it may seem like God is silent, He is NEVER absent!
Brian Houston
The folly of not waiting for God is that we forfeit the blessing of having God work for us.
John Piper
Teach us O Lord, the disciplines of patience, for to wait is often harder than to work.
Anon
Don’t pry the door open if you can’t pray the door open.
Anon
A final reminder: God has a set time as well as a set purpose, and He who orders the bounds of our habitation orders also the time of our deliverance.
Anon