This past Sunday, churches around
the world celebrated the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. People shouted his name, welcoming Him as
their King. But I imagine as Jesus
received their adulation He silently whispered, “Yes, but do you love me?” We are good at celebrating religious
occasions and enjoying festivities like Easter, but do we really show Jesus
that we love Him in these things? Jesus
said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments (John 14:15
ESV).”[i] So, today I want to look at
those things that Jesus commanded, asked for, or wanted in the Gospel of Luke,
between the Trimphal Entry and Maundy Thursday.
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| Jesus Rides into Jerusalem on a Donkey |
First, Jesus wanted a donkey. In Luke 19:31, Jesus told the disciples, “If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’
you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’” Jesus wanted the donkey to fulfill prophecy
(Matt 21:5; Zech 9:9) but He also wanted to test the disciples to see if they’d
trust Him for the completion of a task that didn’t make any sense. Without asking questions, Jesus wanted them
to simply say “yes” to His commands, whether they encountered difficulty on the
way or not. Today, Jesus wants the same
thing from His followers.
Then, Jesus wept over Jerusalem, saying, “Would that you,
even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace (Luke 19:42)!” How
ironic, that the name Jerusalem has the word
“peace” in it, and yet it is far from being a city of peace. Jesus wanted Jerusalem to be filled with
people of peace. He wants the same from
all believers today—but peace is hidden from our eyes.
The
next thing Jesus required was that believers “render to Caesar the things that
are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's (Luke 20:215).” God expects us to be good citizens of the
earth, and also good citizens of heaven.
Romans 13:7 says, “Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom
taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is
owed, honor to whom honor is owed.” This
includes honor and respect due to our government, but it also includes worship
and service due to God.
In
Luke 21, Jesus talked about trials and persecution. Jesus tells believers, “Stand firm, and you will win life (21:19 NIV).”
Just as He wanted early believers to stand firm in times of difficulty,
the Lord wants today’s Christians to stand the test. In verse 36, Jesus says, “Stay awake at all
times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are
going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” What does the Lord require? Steadfastness of faith in the midst of
struggle.
Finally, in Luke 22,
Jesus tells the disciples to find a man carrying a water pot and follow him to
the house that he enters. Then they
should say to the master of the house, “The Teacher says to you, ‘Where is the
guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples (22:11)?’”
Again, Jesus asked the disciples to follow a divine command that made no
sense to them. Why would some random
person respond favorably to such a request?
But Jesus was teaching them to trust Him. And He was asking the master of the house
(with whom he had probably prearranged the meeting space unbeknownst to the
disciples) to make room for Jesus on this most important night.
What does the Lord
require? That you trust Him. That you obey Him. That you become people of peace, practicing
good citizenship on earth and in heaven.
The Lord requires that you stand firm and stay awake during troubling
times. He asks you to make room in your
home and in your heart for Him. In other
words…
He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
(Micah 6:8)
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