Let's turn briefly to the book of John. I am going to take a departure not only from our up close look at John as we preach and learn and teach that book through, but I'm going to take a survey of some of the other gospels where it pertains to that traveling of Jesus and ministry of Jesus just before the triumphal entry. We will read the passage regarding the triumphal entry. But then we will back up to those passages which lead to that to see what was his emphasis just before he arrived at Jerusalem. You probably can tell that my voice is beginning to fade and so I promise to preach until it is completely gone. Whatever God would call that to be, we will just trust him. Let's turn together, John, and not chapter 9 which is where we will begin Sunday after next. But look at chapter 11, I'm not going to read all the way through chapter 11, rather I'm going to read the passage in chapter 12 beginning at verse 12, but I want you to see that it is at the point of his calling Lazarus from the tomb and Lazarus being raised again from the dead. It is at that point that the final rejection and the plotting against Jesus has begun in earnest. Now they have said several times that Jesus has got to go, but it is here at this point that the final rejection occurs in the Pharisees and the Sadducees. They are told in the Scriptures that they had seen many of the miracles but they chose to reject him. And Caiaphas, the high priest, even said, don't you understand it is better that one man would die for the nation than for the nation to perish for the one. How ironic is he meant simply that we must do away with Jesus so that Rome will not come in and overthrow our nation and take over and remove us as the priest. Many minute that way, but what he really said had a kernel of truth for it was God's design that one would die for the many. And so we look there first at chapter 11 with the raising of Lazarus and now turn to chapter 12 beginning at verse 12. The next day, the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him crying out, Hosanna, blessed it is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the king of Israel. And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, fear not, daughters of Zion, behold, your king is coming sitting on a donkey's coat. His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign, so the Pharisees said to one another, you see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him. The Lord blessed the reading of his word as we take a look at the Lord Jesus Christ in these last days. The crowd had gone out to him, let's just pause at this passage long enough to point out, why? Why was this crowd going out to him? It puzzled me over the years and probably you as well, how there could have been such a huge crowd that went out to meet Jesus and then where were all of his friends when Pilate had him standing there, said who do you want and they called out for Barabbas? Where were all of these people with the palm branches? Where were all of the folks who were shouting loud Hosanna's to the king? Where had they gone? Had they disappeared? Well, it could be that because of the many thousands that were teaming in there in the hour that Pilate brought Jesus out and the fact that it was all done so secretly that those who were calling out loud Hosanna's would not have been aware of all of the incidents that were occurring and so they weren't there to support Christ. But why does it tell us this crowd came out? They came out because they had heard of the raising of Lazarus, many had even been there and they had heard about all that Jesus had been doing on his way. His miracles, his works, his remarkable teachings were no secret. And so when they heard that Jesus was coming, there was at this Passover a rising excitement and expectation of his announcement to be the king of Israel. Now we know it's not the kind of king that Jesus was to be that they were expecting but nevertheless the anticipation was building and was rising and so here comes the miracle worker. Here comes the one who just raised a man from the dead and they go out to greet him and loud Hosanna's they sing. We have here a picture that is presented to us of when the Son of Man comes on clouds of glory as well because his people go out to meet him as he travels to his people. So they go out and they sing loud Hosanna's to him. Look just very quickly at verse 23, Jesus answered him, the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Now that's an important thought for us to remember because Jesus is announcing that this is the time when he will be glorified in the passage we read. The disciples remembered that Jesus, once Jesus was glorified, they remembered his teaching and that all these things applied. So we need to keep in mind as we begin to explore the passages that it was at this time at his resurrection that Jesus is glorified because the idea of his being glorified has direct connection with the coming, the approach and the arrival of his kingdom because he is glorified in his kingdom when he sits on the throne at the right hand of God. Now let's look at some of the other gospels. If you'll go back to the gospel of Matthew chapter 15 and where we are going back to now is a portion that John leaves out. After the raising of Lazarus, Jesus left Bethany and began his travel towards Jerusalem. Now he avoided those areas that were most hostile to him. He probably traveled going to Korea following along the border of Galilee most likely. There were many who were there who were very not only sympathetic but very affectionate towards Christ and so as he comes to Galilee we find in the passage I'm about to read that a crowd begins to gather with him so not only when he gets to Jerusalem are there those who come out but he has a fairly large entourage as it were who was traveling with him to Jerusalem. So you have this large crowd coming with Jesus singing and praising him and then that reaches the ears of those who are already on the road traveling to Jerusalem. They hear that, they turn, they recognize what's happening and so these two come together and that's where we have a remarkable scene at his triumphal entry. Jesus was drawing to Korea across the Jordan so that he might avoid those who would seek his life. Look with me at chapter 15 verse 29 the reason for reading these few verses down through 31 is to help you kind of get a sense of the environment Jesus is going to be in in the in the days traveling to Jerusalem. Jesus went on from there and walked beside the sea of Galilee and he went up on the mountain and sat down there and great crowds came to him. Great crowds are now gathering around Jesus, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others and they put them at his feet and he healed them so that the crowd wondered when they saw the mute speaking and crippled healthy the lame walking in the blind sing and they glorified the God of Israel. These miracles and this teaching are all pointing to the messianic kingdom. What do we expect when Jesus comes back? We expect to be raised from the dead to have our glorified resurrection bodies. There'll be no more sickness, no more sin, no more death. Every tear will be wiped away. We expect those who work lame, blind, deaf and firm to be healed. Can you imagine what it must have been like? For them to be sitting there knowing this great reputation of Jesus, knowing that Passover is coming, having we just studied in depth the Feast of Tabernacles, how Jesus walks into the temple at the pouring of the water, walks into the temple as the torches were being lit and announces that he is the living water, that he's the water of life and that he is the light of the world and all of that erupted in a tremendous crescendo and then as he leaves Jerusalem and prepares to come to Passover, the raising of Lazarus from the dead and now here on the mountain he's teaching great crowds are gathered and in front of everyone, they're the blinder made to see, the lame get up and walk, the sicker healed, there's casting out of demons and other passages that we read, there is tremendous activity that is going on and all of it points towards the arrival of the messianic kingdom. What would be in your own mind? How would you be interpreting this? Would you just kind of shut down, pack it up and go to the house? Probably not. They were under the yoke of Rome, they were longing for and waiting for and expecting the arrival of a deliverer and now Jesus in full public view in front of everyone is walking through and he is doing all of these tremendous and outstanding miracles that defy any explanation as being except from God and the very last verse, they glorified the God of Israel in Matthew, flipping over to, let's go to Mark. Mark beginning in verse 8, chapter 18, Jesus has just now spoken of the kingdom of God being in their midst, he's told the Pharisees that the kingdom of God is in their midst that I say, Mark, you know that I meant Luke. I expect you guys to be able to translate and figure those things out. Luke, chapter 18, Jesus has been teaching them and verse in chapter 17 that the kingdom of God is in their midst. He also in chapter 17 cleansed the 10 lepers, we had a wonderful sermon and thanks giving by Dr. Reed on the cleansing of the 10 lepers and how nine did not return, one came back to Christ to give thanks. The point to be made here today though is with these 10 lepers, they stood at a distance from Christ, 10 lepers that were not allowed to enter into the presence of anyone that was not like them and unclean. That's what leprosy was, it was a disease of the flesh but it signified that they were unclean and because they were unclean they could not be with other people and so they stood far away and they called out to Christ, Lord cleanse us, heal us and Jesus healed them. He said go to the priest and when they turned to go to the priest, acting in faith they were healed and one came to Jesus. The lesson here is that as Jesus moves off of the mountaintop and as he begins to make his way towards Jerusalem, what is the heart of Christ? What is he showing forth? That he has come to clean those who are unclean. He has come to make acceptable those who are unacceptable. He has come to heal those who are defiled in the flesh and make them clean again that they might be able to approach Christ and that one out of nine did come and offer Jesus his thanksgiving and his praise. In verse 8, in chapter 18, looking at verse 15, now they, that is the people, were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them and when the disciples saw it they rebuked them but Jesus called them to him saying let the children come to me and do not hinder them for to such belong the kingdom of God truly. I say to you whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it. Here we have Jesus with children so small that he's taking them up in his arms and he is blessing them as people are bringing their children to him. Again, try to imagine the scene and all of this activity moving to Jerusalem and as Jesus moves through a town the people come running out with their children and they just want Jesus to touch the children. They just want him to put his hand on their children and the disciples see this as a distraction and it's slowing them down and they basically are turning around and going don't bring your kids. We're healing blind folks and the lame and feeding 5,000 and all sorts of other important things. Don't bring your children out here and Jesus rebukes them because the least, the least are greatest in the kingdom of God. We've had some conversation here about children and worship and about their accessibility of worship to them. This past week I went to Greenville and I was in a conference there on the last days. None of this that we're talking about today was part of the conference but it was nevertheless informative and while I was sitting there I looked around and it was clear that there were families that brought their kids to this lots of families of children with all ages from this high, I heard a couple of infants in the background but I don't I don't include them necessarily in the illustration but from very young up until the teenage years and early 20s and we were there all day in the sanctuary of this church. We got there and spent the afternoon on Wednesday all day Thursday and then left at lunch on Friday and you would think that they would be lying down and sleeping or drawing pictures they were taking notes. They were taking notes all day all day because I watched instead I think I crept one girl out by I just couldn't believe it that they were doing that I sat watching and I kept thinking she must be writing a letter she's going to pull out her phone and text somebody or no they took notes all day long there were concepts in words I didn't know I couldn't understand I wanted to take a nap but they sat there all day why because their parents had the expectation that they would bring them to learn from God and the children had been raised to expect themselves to learn of God and so when men stood up and they were preaching and they were teaching there were concepts that were beyond them but they did not stop from bringing their children to the Lord to hear him speak and to hear him teach trusting the Holy Spirit to apply and to direct and to make them to understand and so it was an inspiring scene for me and it was also a rebuke for me that our children's greatest handicap is usually our expectations of the children can do far more greater than we will allow them to do and so we should not hinder the children from coming to Christ we should not hinder them because we don't have the patience we should not hinder them because we think that they all not be doing this because it's too serious or too grave or they should be staying children perpetually till their 35 years old we should allow the Lord to teach them by bringing them and letting them hear from God's word God speak to them and have an expectation that they actually will listen to the Lord Jesus here was saying not only the unclean and the leper but the children the smallest babe is to be brought to me the next one down the rich ruler we've heard this many times in chapter and chapter 18 verse 18 and following there is a rich young man who comes to Jesus some places called a lawyer and he says to him good teacher what must I do to inherit eternal life and Jesus said to him why do you call me good no one is good except God alone now some have misunderstood this is Jesus saying he wasn't good then only God is good don't call me good there are two senses of the word good that I did learn this week one is an intrinsic a word that is used to mean intrinsic goodness and another is to to mean the effect of goodness to do something good to have a good effect on someone or something the word that is used here is intrinsic goodness and Jesus is not denying is intrinsic goodness he wants to know because the scripture also has a name for God which is God of all goodness and so he wants to know is this the word that you're using and applying to me he's asking him he's not denying his goodness he's asking him why do you call me good because no one is good but God what is it that we've been studying in John chapter 8 except that Jesus has been claiming to be God what is so infuriated the Pharisees and Sadducees that Jesus claimed to be God and so he asked this young man why are you calling me good don't you know no one is good but God he's giving this man an opportunity to affirm the person of Christ as being God incarnate regrettably he does not respond you know the commandments Jesus says to him do not commit adultery murder do not steal do not bear false witness honor your father or mother he said all these I've kept from my youth when Jesus heard this he said to him well then one thing you still lack sell all you have and distributed to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven and come follow me but when he heard these things he became very sad for he was extremely rich Jesus looking at him with sadness said how difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God Jesus looks at him with sadness why why sadness because the man was asking a genuine question what must I do to be saved and he was showing Jesus difference in respect what must I do to be saved Jesus tells him all you have to do is forsake all the things in this life that grant you such great reward and give you such standing in the community and follow me and the rich young man rejected cannot it's outside of his paradigm of life it's outside of his understanding of life that that which the community so respects and that wealth which he has been associated with righteousness and blessing from God should become a handicap how could it be that that which he has either earned or been given that the community so respects him for which has purchased him a place of standing in the community could now be his condemnation he enjoys it so and he does good things with it but Jesus looks at him with sadness sadness a broken hearted Christ looking at a man who is not able to forsake the very thing that keeps him from Christ Peter said see we've left our homes and followed you and he said to them truly I say to you there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God who will not receive many times more in this time and in the age of eternal life to come continuing over now chapter 19 as we continue the journey of Jesus towards Jerusalem here we find the story of Zacchaeus excuse me many of us know the story of Zacchaeus the wee little man who climbed into the tree the sick of more tree I believe Jesus is walking through the city Zacchaeus being a wee little man could not make his way through the crowds so he climbs a tree so that he might catch a look a glimpse of Jesus Zacchaeus is a tax collector he is not welcome in the house of the religious and the righteous in the community he is considered to be a wealthy man but a man not welcome by those whom he has extorted and taken the money from Jesus and passing under the tree knows the heart of all men and he looks up he sees Zacchaeus he could have stayed and sojourned that night with anyone in the city but instead he looks at Zacchaeus he goes I'll stay in your house tonight imagine how the people were so shocked there were so many who were much more deserving I'm sure and yet Jesus wants to stay with Zacchaeus after in Jericho Zacchaeus after he takes him into his house looking at verse seven and when they saw it they all grumbled he has gone in to be the guest of a man who has a sinner Jesus the friend of sinners and Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord be hold Lord the half of my goods I give to the poor and if I have defrauded any one of anything I restore it for fold and Jesus said to him today salvation has come to this house since he also is a son of Abraham for the son of man came to seek and to save the lost what what happened Christ coming to the house of Zacchaeus so burdened his conscience that not only did Zacchaeus confess his sin but he demonstrated true repentance by seeking restoration with those whom he had defrauded Zacchaeus not only confess sin but demonstrated repentance through action he lost his wealth isn't that what we just talked about with the religious young ruler he wouldn't give it up Zacchaeus said I'll give it back four times over all that I have earned all that I have taken I will give back and have nothing and Jesus's response was not to look at him with sadness but here to rejoice this day salvation has come to this house since he also is a son of Abraham if we were to continue reading you would notice I'm sure your Bible has a header that says triumphal entry down at verse 28 this is Luke's version of what we read in John I want to go down to verse 41 and when he drew near and saw the city he wept over it saying would that you even you had known on this day the things that made for peace and skipping down to verse 44 the last part of the verse you did not know the time of your visitation Jesus is weeping over Jerusalem why did he weep over Jerusalem because when Jesus looked at Jerusalem as he was making his triumphal entry and as the people were singing loud Hosanna's he did not hear the loud Hosanna's he heard the screams of those who would experience eternal condemnation and judgment of God as the fire of God's wrath would be poured out upon them as he looked at the city he didn't see the white stone of the temple with the sun glistening off of it he saw as he described to his disciples the scene from 70 AD the the the very stonework of the temple being undone and laying as rubble Jesus saw a city judged because they were rejecting their king and second Thessalonians you don't necessarily have to turn I just want to read this verse for you and second Thessalonians I'm going to pick up on verse 5 this is the evidence of the righteous judgment of God that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God for which you are also suffering since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you and a grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and listen soberly to these verses they will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints and to be marveled at among all who have believed no one taught more about condemnation and hell than the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew chapter 25 in the parable of the talents he says in verse 30 cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness and that place where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth in verse 41 he will say to those on his left depart from me you cursed into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels in verse 46 these will go away into eternal punishment but the righteous into eternal life Jerusalem's day had come and was passing and Jesus as he rode into the city though the song of loud Hosanna's was singing what he saw was the coming destruction and judgment on that city but not just judgment that acted for a day and then passed he understood that the very voices of some of those that were singing would suffer eternally in a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth why did Jesus weep and the word weep here is not that same soft weeping that Jesus had when Lazarus died and Martha and Mary came out and it said in Jesus wept the word that is used here Jesus was wailing he was loudly crying so deep was his sadness so deep was his anguish so broken was his heart even as they're singing loud Hosanna's and he's riding through in fulfillment of the prophecy on a cult why why so sad why why so downcast why cry out in such anguish at such a time as this because in his divinity Jesus his eyes could see that it wasn't just a missed opportunity it was the judgment of God for the rejection of the one true king they had rejected Christ and would crucify him and bury him and he would rise again in glory on the third day the rejection of the king is not something that we toy with the putting aside the decision to follow Christ the losing of ourselves of whatever encumbers us whether it's wealth or whether it's relationships and associations or business whatever it is that keeps us from following after Christ we cannot delay we cannot remain in the uncleanliness of the lepers we cannot remain in the infantile thinking of children we cannot remain stuck in the tree as Zacchaeus but we must come to Christ that we might be cleansed that we might be held and blessed by him and that he might come and declare that today salvation has come to this house do not let Jesus look upon our house and have his heart to break because we have heard we have seen we've even participated here as Hebrew said for a time enjoying the the work of the spirit and receiving the light of the gospel only to turn away and reject because eternal destruction and damnation is just that eternal it is the most absolute aloneness and helplessness and hopelessness and it caused our Lord to weep and he cried for the people because he doesn't will that any would perish but that all would come to faith in Christ he takes no pleasure in the condemnation of the wicked but his justice requires it and salvation is not hard we turn to Christ we surrender and died all that is in this world and let us not be like a rich young ruler who puzzled over these words and wondered how he could loose himself from so much that he enjoys can he just add a little Jesus to his life and Jesus said no you have to forsake it all and follow me your family will condemn you your friends will condemn you but yet I will receive you such as the love of Christ such as the heart of our king for his people