LUKE 19 CONSIDERING THE OPPOSITIONS2020 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Luke 19 Considering The Oppositions

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2020.

Well, as we look at Luke chapter 19, it's kind of a different type of message that the Lord's put together for us today. A little bit kind of topical, but expositional as we work our way through, but really focusing on some different things that I would normally highlight in this passage. What really caught my attention as I was reading through this passage this week is the different groups of people that are involved in the passage.

And here are these groups of people who are experiencing the same events. They're in the same time period. They've grown up in the same culture. They're in the same essential environment. But at the same time, there is completely different responses to the things that are happening and to the things that are unfolding. And so I've titled the message, Considering the Oppositions.

considering the oppositions. As you walk through this passage, we can see that there are those who are on different sides, and there's opposition between people. There's animosity and fighting and hatred and bitterness, and there's all this division, even though this is a group of people who...

you know, have grown up in the same country. They're all Jewish people from Israel, even though they've seen many of the same things and read the same scriptures and, you know, they've gone through so much in similar things to each other, and yet their responses are vastly different. And so there's some opposition. There's some sides that are chosen. And as we work our way through this,

Obviously, there's some types of occasions where we are looking at an understanding conflict in order to resolve the conflict. But I'm not trying to resolve the conflict here in this passage, but really to allow it to help us to let the Lord search our hearts. And as we see the different sides, I want to encourage you

to really ask the Lord about the things that you are adamant about, that the things that you are, you know, excited about or passionate about, that it's perhaps an appropriate occasion for you to consider, am I on the right side of this? Am I in the right as I hold this position, as I, you know, hold this doctrine, as I portray this thing or say this thing

We need to allow the Lord to minister to our hearts about the positions that we take and the stances that we hold. And so considering the oppositions, we're going to look at four sets of opposing views or opposing behavior, again, amongst a group of people that are very similar in most regards, and yet there are these major differences between them.

And so as we consider the oppositions and the different things that are going on, we're going to start with the first point in verses 37 through 40, and that is some rejoice while others rebuke.

Again, in verse 37, it says,

♪♪ ♪♪

palm branches, and they begin to really celebrate and announce Jesus as king. And they're beginning to rejoice here in this passage. And there's good reason for them to rejoice.

Because this is the fulfillment of so much that God has promised. There's so much, you know, through the scriptures, the prophecies that were given about the coming Savior, the coming Messiah. And this really speaks loudly that Jesus is the Messiah. And this day is here. This day is such a prominent day. It's foretold in the book of Zechariah, chapter 9, verse 9, where Zechariah says, Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion.

Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your king is coming to you. He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey. There in Zechariah, it prophesies about the king coming to Jerusalem on a donkey. And here we see Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. It's the fulfillment of this prophecy that was given hundreds of years previously.

And the prophet Zechariah, speaking on behalf of the Lord, calls the people in that occasion to rejoice greatly. There is to be a grand celebration. There is to be some great celebrating happening, some shouting going on because the king has arrived.

He is just and having salvation, the prophet Zechariah says. Now, of course, they were anticipating, they were expecting that Jesus would ride into Jerusalem and establish his earthly kingdom right then and there. But we know that that's not the agenda of the Lord. He will do that. He will come back the second coming and establish his earthly kingdom. But

But here he came this time, riding into Jerusalem, not for the earthly kingdom, but to address the issue of sin and to die upon the cross, really for our sins, that we might have the opportunity of forgiveness and right relationship with God. And really that we might have occasion to rejoice greatly and shout because the king has arrived and we get to experience his work in our lives.

And so this prophecy came forth from the prophet Zechariah. But also there's a prophecy in the Psalms, in Psalm 118, about this occasion, about this day. In Psalm 118, verse 24, it says, this is the day the Lord has made. Perhaps you're familiar with the song, right? This is the day the Lord has made. It's talking about this day. We will rejoice and be glad in it.

Save now, I pray. Now, that word save now is translated for us, save now, but in the Hebrew, it's Hosanna. And this is one of the things that the people were crying out. As you look at Matthew chapter 22, the parallel passage,

with this one. And you look at the different gospels and you see this picture as a whole. The people are praising the Lord. They're shouting out Hosanna, quoting from Psalm 118, 25. Save now, I pray, O Lord. O Lord, I pray, send now prosperity. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. We have blessed you from the house of the Lord. Blessed is the one

It says in Psalm 118, 26, blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. This was a reference to the Messiah, the one who comes in the name of the Lord, the one who came to save, the one who is the savior that God had been promising. And these are the things that the people were shouting because this is the day, this day as the king is being presented to Israel, riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, the

rejoice and be glad in it, the Lord says. And they're shouting out, they're praying, Hosanna, yes, Lord, save now, and blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

And so as the crowd is rejoicing, they're celebrating, they have great reason to rejoice. And it is the fulfillment of what God has said for much time before, that God is bringing forth the Savior and revealing him to the nation of Israel.

And so here's the crowd celebrating, rejoicing. There's all kinds of shouting and cheering. And you can imagine it was just this huge, impressive occasion. But not everybody had the same response. Not everybody was as excited. Even though they all had the same promises given to them through the scriptures. Even though they all believed the prophecies that were given in Zechariah and Psalms. There was a difference of perspective there.

between these disciples and the religious leaders. In verse 39, it says, some of the Pharisees called to him from the crowd, teacher, rebuke your disciples. The Pharisees, the religious leaders in this same occasion. And again, I think it's interesting to consider.

These are people who are, you know, grew up in similar cultures. They had different backgrounds and their, you know, exact details. And some were fishermen, you know, like the disciples, and some were Bible scholars. And so they had those kinds of differences. But

This is not that big of a nation, right? They're the same culture. They're the same people with the same scriptures, with the same God. And yet they watch this event unfold and there is very different responses to it. And the Pharisees and religious leaders are very upset. And they are insisting that Jesus should rebuke his disciples because they recognized

as the crowd was chanting, Hosanna, save now, they recognized the reference back to Psalm 118. They recognized what was being said here. They recognized that Jesus here was being proclaimed as this Messiah, this promised Savior. As the crowd shouted, blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord, they said, no, no, no, that's reserved for the Messiah who is to come. Now, of course, we know and understand that Jesus is that Messiah.

But the religious leaders did not believe that. They rejected that thought, that idea. And so they said, this is wildly inappropriate. This is completely wrong. These people should not be behaving this way. They should not be rejoicing this way. They should not be saying those things. And as they are against this occasion, I find it interesting they address their concern to Jesus. They say, "'Teacher, rebuke your disciples.'"

It's not a surprise that the religious leaders didn't agree with the occasion because they, you know, had been fighting against Jesus and his ministry for some time. But here, I kind of look at this as a little bit of recruiting going on. They didn't just oppose or make their perspective known about how they felt about the situation, but here the Pharisees tried to get Jesus on their side.

Jesus, look at this situation that's going on here. You have all these people, they're shouting, they're cheering, they're celebrating, they're saying wildly inappropriate things. And that's not right, the Pharisees are saying. Now you need to tell them. You need to tell your disciples. You need to let this crowd know you are not the Messiah. You need to tell them to be quiet and stop saying these things. As the people are shouting and celebrating, the Pharisees want to silence them, but their technique, their tactic for silence

attempting to silence the crowd is to recruit Jesus, that's hard to say, recruit Jesus to be on their side so that Jesus will accomplish what they want on their behalf.

You know, in the environment that we're in and the things that we face all around us. And whether or not, you know, you might immediately connect this to the immediate situation we're in and the pandemic and the different opinions that are going on and different perspectives. And similarly, you know, there's a wild variation of

in how everybody is receiving this and processing these things and the positions that are held are very different. Even amongst, you know, I can look at the example of Calvary Chapel Pastors because that's a group I'm familiar with. And there's a great variety of opinions about, you know, what's appropriate, what's not appropriate, and how to handle these things, how to respond to these things, when we open up, when we close down. All of these things have such great variety.

And yet at the same time, it's not limited to these immediate days that we are in. It's something that is a part of life for us, that there are people around us, there's opportunities, there's occasions, there's events, there's things that are happening, and there's

Differences of opinion amongst even those who you might think would have some very similar perspectives because they're so close together. They're, you know, so familiar with the things that they both have experienced. They've all experienced. And one of the things that happens routinely, regularly in these kinds of situations is the recruiting process.

And I want to encourage you to just think about that a little bit and maybe allow the Lord, maybe ask the Lord to show you if there's some recruiting happening in your life or maybe if you might be one of those who are doing recruiting

The recruiting. The recruiting can happen in a few ways. Sometimes recruiting takes place with seductive tactics. It's nice and sweet and complimentary. And there's, you know, compliments that are given. There's, you know, kind of like a smothering of kisses, you know, like just you're so wonderful. And it's an attempt with flattery to get you onto my side to accomplish what I think is right and appropriate.

Another tactic for recruiting is to apply a guilt trip and to make you feel guilty and to, you know, try to manipulate things and accomplish things through the guilt that can easily be stirred up. And sometimes recruiting takes place by, well, I'm going to make you feel really stupid.

I'm gonna make you feel like just a complete idiot. I can't believe you don't see things the way that I see them. You're so insane to think that way, to have that perspective. You know, it's just really dumb. You should change your mind and get on board with what I'm telling you.

And all of these, and there's many more, I'm not trying to cover every different aspect, but all of these are commonly used all the time in people around us, by people around us, and maybe us towards others, in our workplace, in our homes, in a variety of contexts to get us onto their side. And here are the Pharisees, maybe applying the guilt trip.

Teacher, rebuke. This is wrong. It is not just incorrect, but it's unholy. It's not right what is happening here. Rebuke your disciples. I can't believe you haven't rebuked them already. It's so terrible that you're allowing this. Jesus, rebuke your disciples. But Jesus responds in verse 40. It says, he answered and said to them, I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.

Jesus says, you know what? The disciples that are shouting and celebrating, they're in the right. They're doing exactly what they should be doing. In fact, it's so right that if they didn't do these things, the stones themselves would cry out because that's how important today is.

That's how important this occasion is. The king, the promised savior that God had been promising for 4,000 years up to that point that Jesus riding into Jerusalem, it was such an important occasion, even creation would celebrate and sing and declare the praises of God if the disciples did not. And so here you have an event. It's a single event attended by a group of people that,

would easily be thought that they would all understand it from the same perspective and all have the same viewpoint on it. And yet we find some rejoicing while others are rebuking and upset and angry and recruiting Jesus to do the rebuking for them. Now again, I'm not trying to resolve the conflict between these two groups, but to pause and to allow the Lord to search our hearts and say,

God, am I on the right side in these kinds of things? The situations around me where, well, some are rejoicing and some are rebuking. And maybe I'm in the rebuking crowd or maybe I'm in the rejoicing crowd.

But Lord, am I where I'm supposed to be? Now you see in those prophecies in Psalm 118 and Zechariah chapter 9, the instruction from the Lord was to rejoice. It was to celebrate. The disciples were doing exactly what God wanted them to do. And we need to allow the Lord to challenge us in these kinds of occasions where there's groups of people, some rejoicing, some rebuking,

And maybe we're part of the rejoicing, but there's occasions where this is flip-flopped and where what God would instruct us is not to rejoice, but maybe there is the need for correction, for rebuke, for instruction, and that needs to be given as well. And so one camp or the other, it's not automatic that one is the right one. Are you rejoicing? Are you rebuking?

The question to consider and to take to the Lord is, is that the right response for right now? Is that what God has for you right now? Well, as we continue to work our way through this passage, we move on to verses 41 through 44. Here's point number two. Some weep while others celebrate. Very similar to the first one, but different players involved this time. Some weep while others celebrate. Verse 41 says, now as he drew near, he saw the city and wept over it.

saying, if you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace, but now they are hidden from your eyes. Jesus now begins to weep. He doesn't weep because the Pharisees were right and he had to rebuke his disciples. No, they were still celebrating. They're still cheering. As Jesus is making his way towards Jerusalem, he comes up over the top of the Mount of Olives.

And the geography was such that the Mount of Olives was in between where Jesus was coming from in Jericho and Jerusalem. And so the road to Jerusalem would take you over the Mount of Olives, down into the Kidron Valley, and then back up into Jerusalem.

And so Jesus here coming over the Mount of Olives has a perfect view of Jerusalem. He's able to see right down and see the temple there, see the city there. And as he kind of crests the top of this hill and he sees this. Now again, the disciples are celebrating, they're rejoicing. They're still, you know, shouting out Hosanna and blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. And yet while that is happening, there's a change that takes place for the Lord.

He previously, just a few moments ago, said, no, no, it's right for them to rejoice. That's actually what the scriptures instruct them to do. But here is he catches a glimpse of Jerusalem. I picture it like a movie in my head. You know, there's this crowd. You can probably picture it, right? There's this big scene. There's this celebration, you know, all of this to do. And Jesus is writing in. But then suddenly the camera zooms in on Jesus.

And the loud cheering and the chanting and the celebrating begins to fade out. And here in that quiet moment, Jesus begins to weep. He begins to weep as he sees Jerusalem. Pastor Warren Wiersbe says, while the crowd was rejoicing, Jesus was weeping. This is the second occasion on which our Lord wept openly. The first being at the tomb of Lazarus. There he wept quietly. But here he wept.

he uttered a loud lamentation like one mourning over the dead. Jesus, as he sees Jerusalem, he weeps like one who's mourning over the dead. He is heartbroken. He is weeping loudly. It's a great intensity that is being described here as Jesus wept over Jerusalem. Now, the details, as you look at this, there's a couple of reasons why Jesus was weeping.

He was weeping because of the ignorance and blindness of Jerusalem, of the people of Israel and rejecting their Savior on this day. But he was also weeping as he saw what was to come. And there was a future destruction that was coming. He wept as a result of the things that would take place in the near future. And so, first of all, for their ignorance and blindness,

He wept. In verse 42, Jesus says, if you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace, but now they're hidden from your eyes. Jesus weeps because of what they did not know. They did not know. If you had known, he says, boy, things would have been different if you had known. But you didn't know. And your eyes were blinded. The things that make for your peace, Jesus says. Here I am, the prince of peace, and I'm here

for you and for your peace, for your good. And you're missing out on the peace and the good that you could have had, but you were blind to it. You were ignorant of it. Jesus also highlights, especially in this your day. Again, this is the day the Lord has made. This was an important occasion, an important day, the fulfillment of Zechariah 9. Potentially also the fulfillment of the prophecy that was given in Daniel chapter 9,

where you have the 77s that are prophesied of the nation of Israel, the 69 of those sevens, 483 years. There's some math and calculations that can be done to look at the command to rebuild Jerusalem. And that was given in March 14th, 445 BC. And so 483 years or the 69 sevens,

potentially works out to this very day that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey and is announced and introduced there as the Messiah, as the King that God had been promising, especially in this your day, such an important day, but you're missing it. You're so blind. You're not seeing the things that are good for you and the things that are for your peace. But Jesus also wept for their future destruction. Verse 43 and 44 says this,

Again, he ties in that

That ignorance and that blindness to the things that were good for them, presented to them from the Father through the Son, Jesus Christ. But here Jesus is looking ahead at the destruction of Jerusalem. This is taking place about 40 years after the life and ministry of Jesus. In 70 AD, Jerusalem is destroyed by the Roman army.

And the way that the Roman army destroyed Jerusalem was, first of all, they conquered them with a siege. They actually built a wall all around Jerusalem and trapped the people inside. And siege conditions were terrible conditions. People would die of starvation. They would attack one another. There's a lot that could be said about sieges. I don't want to get into all the details, but here's one quote from Josephus, the Jewish historian.

He said that throughout the city, people were dying of hunger in large numbers and enduring unspeakable sufferings. In every house, the merest hint of food sparked violence and close relatives fell to blows, snatching from one another the pitiful supports of life. Jesus, knowing what is to come for them, knowing the devastation, the hard, difficult things they were going to endure, he weeps for Jerusalem.

He weeps over the things that are to come. And so we're still in the same event. We're still on that celebratory journey into Jerusalem with Jesus on a donkey. And moments before, we see the contrast between the crowd celebrating and the religious leaders wanting to rebuke. They're upset, they're angry over this. And Jesus says, no, it's right for them to celebrate. At the same time, just a few moments later,

things changed. And Jesus, having a perspective on Jerusalem, being able to see and reflect upon their spiritual condition, being able to stop and consider the physical condition that they will go through and the things that they will experience, he begins to weep. It's a great day. It's an amazing day. It's an important day. But here, it was the time to weep. It was the time to mourn

as a result of their spiritual condition and the things that they would experience. Now, again, as we consider these things for ourselves, we go through occasions where some are weeping while others are celebrating. And I'm not trying to, you know, make everybody do exactly the same thing. I'm not trying to resolve this difference. Really just seeking to say, Lord, which side do you want me on?

There are times when I want to celebrate, but the right thing to do is to weep. And there's times where I want to weep, but the right thing to do is to celebrate. Jesus wept here in this occasion for their ignorance and blindness, for their spiritual condition, for their future destruction. There's going to be many events and occasions around us where the world around us is weeping, but it might be an occasion for us to celebrate.

Or it might be that the world around us is celebrating, and it might be an occasion for us to be heartbroken at the spiritual condition of our society or of certain people in our lives. There are those who maybe celebrate a specific event, and it's an eventful event in their life, and it's prominent and huge, and they're celebrating it. But for us, the right thing to do is not join the celebration, but

but to weep for the blindness that is going on, for the spiritual condition of the people. There's times to celebrate. There's times to weep. The question is, Lord, am I exhibiting the right response in this moment? A few moments earlier, Jesus was, in a sense, celebrating with the crowd.

He's not the one shouting, you know, Hosanna, and he's walking through, but he's enjoying the celebration and protecting the celebration against those who would try to shut it down. But now, even just a few moments later, now the appropriate side to take, the appropriate thing to do is to weep because of the condition of the people, spiritual and physical. And so what does the Lord have for you?

Some will weep while others celebrate. Which are you doing? And is it what the Lord would have you to be doing in this moment? Well, moving on to verses 45 and 46, we get the third point. And that is that some pursue profit while others pursue God's purpose. Verse 45 tells us that he went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it, saying to them, it is written, my house is a house of prayer.

but you have made it a den of thieves. Jesus, concluding this trip into Jerusalem, goes into the temple and he begins to clean house. He begins to throw things around. He begins to, well, drive out those who are buying and selling there in the temple courtyard. This is the second time that Jesus has cleansed the temple.

The first time happened at the beginning of his ministry in John chapter 2. And here at the end of his ministry, he cleanses the temple again. And it was necessary because of the corrupt practices that were going on. There's a couple of main things that happened here in this arena, in this courtyard that Jesus was correcting. There was required of the Jewish people to pay the temple tax to help keep the maintenance and upkeep of the temple.

And so they would pay this temple tax, but it was required that it would be a specific kind of temple currency, not just the regular Roman currency that they probably had. And so they had to have a currency that was allowed for giving unto the temple.

And so, like you would if you were, you know, trying to pay for something, but you needed the right currency, you had to go and exchange your money. Well, here in the temple, they would have these exchange places set up where people could come and get the temple money that then they could pay the tax and do what was right for them to do in regards to that. But what they would do then is they would charge...

really high exchange rates. And so the idea wasn't, you know, hey, we're here to help you to worship the Lord and fulfill your, you know, duty unto the Lord. And so here is a fair trade here.

From that currency to this currency. Now, of course, they would take advantage of the situation. Hey, you have to have the temple money and you can't get the temple money anywhere else. So you got to pay top dollar to get the temple money. And so they would require a high exchange rate and really cheat the people in order for them to be able to do what the Lord required them to do.

Well, the other way that they were corrupt in their practices here at these tables was, well, the sacrifices that were brought to the temple would be inspected by a priest to make sure is this a good sacrifice because the Lord had instructed that the lame, you know, animals shouldn't be sacrificed, the leftover animals, the weak animals, the animals that weren't, you know, in good condition, those should not be offered to the Lord. God had established those instructions.

And so the priests would then inspect the animals before offering them or allowing them to be offered unto the Lord. And that was appropriate.

But what they figured out was, hey, if we're really strict and if we, you know, make up reasons why this animal can't be sacrificed, then we can sell them a pre-approved sacrifice over here at these tables and make a good deal of money and they still get to worship the Lord. And so that was what was happening here. This is why the Lord calls them a den of thieves because they were taking advantage of the situation. They were finding faults that

were above and beyond what the Lord had required. They were making up reasons why those sacrifices couldn't be offered. And so instead of helping the people, remember the job of the priest was to help connect the people to the Lord and help them walk with the Lord and help them to be with the Lord and hear from the Lord. And instead of doing that, they were exploiting the situation

to make a profit for themselves. Pastor Warren Waisby says, instead of praying for the people, the priests were praying on the people. Now, if you're listening to this, praying, first of all, is P-R-A-Y, praying as in interceding on behalf of the people. That's not what the priests were doing. They were praying as a predator does on its prey on the people. And so they're taking advantage of the situation.

And they were exploiting the people and getting out of them more money and more resources and more wealth that was not right and not appropriate. And so here you have this group of people who are corrupt and selling these things.

And Jesus comes in with a righteous whip and he begins to overturn the tables. He begins to crack the whip and drive out those people who are doing those corrupt practices. Again, saying, look, this was meant to be. This was the courtyard of the temple. This is where people are to come to pray and have a connection to God. And you've made it this swap meet of corruption and this marketplace which distracts from that.

You've made it a den of thieves, Jesus says. And so here you have, again, the point. Some pursue profit while others pursue God's purpose. The religious leaders in this case, they weren't interested in God's purposes. They weren't seeking to do God's will. They were pursuing their own profits, their own selfish desires, seeking to gratify themselves and meet their own needs.

As we read this today and consider this today, there's still those kinds of situations happening around us all the time. And again, even in the midst of situations like we're in right in this moment, in this pandemic, there are those who are seeking to profit from it. They're taking advantage of the situation and not really trying to help people, but there's an attempt to make a profit.

But it doesn't have to be this kind of emergency and this kind of situation for that to go on. It's happening around us and in our lives continually. Some pursue profit while others pursue God's purpose. Consider these words from the Apostle Paul in Philippians chapter 3.

He says,

Paul says, look, you need to pay attention to what's happening around you because there's people around you that are not walking like you're walking. And you may give them the benefit of the doubt and you may think automatically, of course they're walking like I'm walking. You know, we grew up together and we go to the same church together and we experienced these same events together and we were part of that same outreach together. And there's all these things, these shared things that

But notice what Paul says. He says, join in following my example and note those who so walk. He's saying, pay attention. There's people around you who walk differently than we are walking. Many of those people, he says, I'm telling you this with weeping, Paul says, that they're enemies of the cross of Christ. There are some around that you might automatically think, they're with me, we're the same, we've got the same approach, the same walk, but they are enemies of the cross of Christ. Paul says, their God is their belly.

They're chasing after the things of this life. They're pursuing their own profits. Their minds are set on earthly things. Or maybe Paul there is describing you. And everybody else around you is pursuing the will of God and the purposes of God. But what you're most concerned about and what you're most consumed with is the things of this life. And you're focused on and you're pursuing after things.

your own gain. Maybe even taking advantage of situations and taking advantage of vulnerabilities in the situations and people around you to profit from it. Paul says their end is destruction. That's not a good place to be. Listen, even when we have shared experiences and we have very close similarities and strong brotherhoods, some pursue profit while others pursue God's purposes.

And again, the objective here, I'm not trying to, okay, here's how to make it different. You know, here's how to make everybody be on the same page. There's a lot of things that are out of our control and we can't always change what people are pursuing. But we can take the opportunity to invite the Lord to speak to us. Lord, what am I pursuing in the situation that I'm facing? And it might be unexpected because, well, of course, you know, I think I'm doing right and I'm walking right and I'm walking like everybody else around me, but perhaps...

The Lord would say, you're pursuing some profit. You're pursuing some selfish goals and desires and you've neglected the purposes and the will of God. Are you profiting? It's not that God doesn't want anybody to ever have a profit, but we need to be careful that we pursue profit in the will of God and in a way that honors God. And is the will of God more important to me than my profits, than what I can gain from it? Is that the right response right now?

to be profiting, to be gaining? Or is there maybe a different response that the Lord would require? Well, we're going to finish it up in verse 47 and 48. Here's point number four. Some seek to destroy while others seek to hear. Verse 47 says, and he was teaching daily in the temple, but the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people sought to destroy him and were unable to do anything for all the people were very attentive to hear him.

Here we follow with Jesus now into the rest of the week. It was there on that Sunday. We call it Palm Sunday. He rode into Jerusalem. And then for the rest of the week, he's in and out of Jerusalem and back to the Mount of Olives and teaching the people, interacting with the people, and engaging in what we refer to as Passion Week. And so here is kind of summarizing that week. He was teaching daily in the temple.

Meanwhile, the chief priests, the scribes, the leaders of the people, they sought to destroy him. They're really frustrated. They really hate Jesus. He claims to be the Messiah. He preaches against their practices and the things that they had going on. The corruption is, you know, has been revealed by him. He has announced himself as king. He's overturned their money tables. You know, there is...

great reason for these wicked men to seek to destroy Jesus. But at the same time, they're being very careful because

they do not want to upset the crowd or let their real motivations and heart be known. And so they're unable to lay hands on Jesus immediately because, well, it tells us they were unable to do anything in verse 48, for all the people were very attentive to hear him.

It was hard for them to get Jesus, to take him out like they wanted to, because everybody was always around Jesus. There was always people eager to listen to him, drawing close and hearing what he had to say. And so they were struggling to find an occasion where nobody was watching, where the crowds wouldn't be notified, where people wouldn't realize what was going on.

And of course, as we read through the account, we know later on they're given that opportunity by Judas Iscariot. And Judas essentially goes in and says, look, I can help you find the right opportunity where the crowd won't be around. I'll know where Jesus is. He'll be alone or just maybe a few people with him. But, you know, you'll have your opportunity then to grab him while the crowd is not around. And they get excited and they make that deal with Judas Iscariot to destroy Jesus. But you see the contrast here.

They're seeking to destroy. While you have others, the multitudes around, the disciples around, it says the people were very attentive to hear him. Think about that. You thwart the enemy's work when you are very attentive to Jesus. What the enemy wants to do, it's unable to do while you are very attentive to Jesus. This word attentive, it means to hang on the lips of a speaker.

Have you been hanging on my lips this morning? Have you been, you know, paying attention, engaged? You're like, I don't know, man. It's kind of hard, you know. It would be easier if we were in church service. Listen, you know, I don't usually see it, but people feel guilty and tell me about it later. People fall asleep in service, not engaged, not paying attention, right? Are you reading the scriptures in a way that is attentive and you're hanging on the lips of the Lord as he's speaking to you?

This phrase here, they're very attentive to him, describes this aggressive listening. You know, there's a kind of listening that is like, you know, well, I mean, if Jesus wants to say something, I'm sure he can get my attention, right? He has my number. He can call me up. So I'll hear it. But then there's the other kind of listening where it's like, hey, Lord, hey, here I am. Hey, hey, what are you saying? I want to hear. I want to hear. There's this very attentiveness here.

and purposefulness to approach the Lord and hear from him. If I'm sitting on the couch with my remote, just like, okay, Lord, you know, just interrupt me, you know, if you don't want me to watch this, you want something else to happen, you know, just interrupt me. I'll be here. You can just let me know if you need something, you know. That's not the description that is being given here.

attentive listening is, oh no, I'm here. I want to hear. I'm pressing close. I'm drawing near. I'm making a way. I'm making sacrifices to be able to be in a place where I can hear from the Lord. Pastor Dylan, when he was around, he would always encourage us to have a pen in hand and a paper ready anytime you opened up the scriptures.

Because you want to have that attentiveness. You want to be ready to record if the Lord gives you something. You want to be ready to write down as the Lord speaks. You want to be ready and at attention and able to process what it is that the Lord is saying right away. And so here you have this group, some seeking to destroy Jesus.

While others were so excited to hear him, it was hard to find an occasion where there wasn't the people around Jesus because the people would continually press in. They would continue to seek to hear from the Lord as we consider these things for ourselves. There are those who seek to destroy. And again, I'm not trying to resolve all things or cover all the different ideas and concepts that this would cover, but

Boy, we live in a day that there are those who they just want to destroy. And whether or not it's directly Jesus that they're attacking, there's ideologies, there's philosophies, there's ideas, there's mindsets, there's practices. And the whole intent is I just want to destroy. But at the same time, there are those who are truly interested in hearing.

Let me listen. And maybe we need to consider and allow the Lord to speak to us. First of all, in our relationship with the Lord, of course, it's never the occasion to seek to destroy the Lord or Jesus or his plans or purposes, right? When it comes to the Lord, we always need to be in that position of being very attentive to hear him. But as we interact with situations around us and people around us, you know, sometimes we're on the attack, right?

when we should be in a listening position, in a hearing posture. And sometimes we're listening when we need to have our defenses up and not be listening and receiving that, but we need to be on guard and on attack in that situation.

There's different occasions and different situations, and the question to consider is, am I on the right side of this, Lord? Lord, is this what you want me to be doing? Am I in attack mode and defense mode when I should be in listening mode? Should I be listening to this person and hearing their heart and hearing what they have to say instead of coming out in attack mode and fighting against, arguing with? Or, Lord, am I in listening mode?

And I just, oh man, I just, it's so great to hear this person. And I want to hear what they have to say and hear what's going on and hear their perspective and hear their view. And the Lord might be saying, you need to put your guards up, that you need to be ready and vigilant to stand against those things, not to be open and receptive to what is being given and the direction that is being given. Is this the right response right now?

And so there's a lot of opportunity and room for us to hear from the Lord in the situations that we face, in the relationships that we have with people around us, in the things that we experience. There's occasions where some are rejoicing while others are rebuking, and we might find ourselves in one or the other. And one or the other is not necessarily right or wrong. It depends on the situation. And so we need to seek the Lord and say, Lord, what is the right response in this situation? How do you want me to handle this and respond to it? There's going to be situations where some weep,

while others celebrate. And again, you might find yourself in the weeping camp or you might find yourself in the celebration camp and both might be right or both might be wrong. You need to seek the Lord. What's the right thing? What is the right response? And ask the Lord to give you that spiritual perspective. Jesus was weeping there in Jerusalem while everybody else was celebrating. All they could see was the king coming in and you know, this great day, but Jesus could see with a greater depth looking at their spiritual condition.

You could see the results and the conclusions of their choices that they were making. And you know, sometimes as you're interacting with people and they're celebrating this event that has just happened in their life, and you might be needing to weep because you can see past that event and the surface thing that is going on and see why there's a bad spiritual condition there. And these decisions lead to a really destructive place. And so sometimes we need to be weeping while others are celebrating. We're celebrating while others are weeping.

Some pursue profits while others pursue God's purpose. Are you pursuing profits? Are you pursuing God's will? What is it that you're working towards? What's driving you? And then finally, some seek to destroy while others seek to hear. Are you fighting? Are you on defense? Or are you in listening mode? There's going to be lots of events and occasions around you where both are appropriate at different times.

The question is, what is this occasion right now, the right time for this mode or for that mode? Now, as you think about these different things, I want to finish up with one last thought, and that is that sometimes there isn't a right side. Sometimes there isn't a side where God would say, pick that side. And I was thinking about this in the context of Joshua chapter 5.

where Joshua, having now taken over as the leader of the nation of Israel, has an encounter with the Lord. In Joshua 5, verse 13, it tells us, So he said, no.

This is an amazing encounter that Joshua has with the Lord. But as the Lord appears to him as a man with a sword drawn, first of all, Joshua is a little bit concerned. And he first of all wants to know, whose side are you on? Are you for us?

Or are you for our adversaries? You know, it's long been kind of a perplexing problem for people to say, well, you know, when teams pray before a game, you know, both are praying. And how does that work? How does God answer those prayers? When nations or peoples go to war and both sides are crawling out to God and crying out to God. And how does that work? Which side is God on? And it's important to understand sometimes God doesn't have a side.

Joshua says, are you for us or are you for our adversaries? Which side are you on? And God says, no, I'm not choosing sides. I'm not going to pick one side or the other side. I'm here as the commander of the army of the Lord. I'm on the Lord's side. That's my agenda. That's who I'm aligning with. And Joshua joined him and he bowed down and he said, what does my Lord say to his servant? The Lord was going to lead Joshua into battle and into victory.

but he was also going to provide opportunity for people like Rahab to respond to the Lord and receive grace and mercy and forgiveness. There's not always a clear side where it's all right and then all wrong. Many times the Lord wants to work through both sides, and his agenda is altogether different than what we're looking at or what we're considering with one side or the other.

And ultimately, we need to come and find ourselves in the position of Joshua, saying, you know what? It's not so much whether or not I'm right or they're right. It's not so much if I win or they win. No, I come before the Lord and say, Lord, what do you say to your servant? What do you want? What's your desire and your plan for me? I want to align myself to you. I don't want to be aligned so much to an ideology, to a

you know, political party to a group of people, a nationality. I don't want to be aligned so much to any of those things that I become misaligned with you.

No, what did you say to your servant? I'm here to listen, to do that, and to follow you. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for your word and your challenge to us and your encouragement to us. And Lord, amongst all the confusion around us, and it can be so confusing with all the different ideas and perspectives and things being shouted at us and the recruiting that's happening all the time, people trying to get us on their side.

God, I pray that you would give us great clarity, Lord, that we would be able to come to you and bow down and say, Lord, what do you say to your servant? Lord, we want to align ourselves with you. We want to be on your side. And that may not be on one side or the other of the particular thing that we're facing. It might be a whole different thing altogether that you want to do. Lord, help us to see through the deception, the fray, the confusion, to see you clearly. Lord, that you might speak to us.

Lord, that we might follow you. And so, Lord, help us to bow down before you and allow you to speak and lead and guide. Help us to not take our stances so strongly that we don't allow you to redirect and to change and to move. Help us, Lord, to be led by your spirit, even in the sides that we take and the choices that we make and the way that we handle the differences amongst the groups of people around us. May we align ourselves to you first and foremost.

We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.