Blessed is the King, Part 2

Father God, we thank you for today and we are grateful, Lord, for your wonderful provision of grace and mercy. We are grateful, Lord, for how it is you call us to yourself and how it is you have called us to come and to worship in your presence. For we know, Lord, that the Bible says that you inhabit the praises of your people.

So as we gather together on this Lord's day, we have come to praise the glorious presence of our God among us. And trust that, Lord, the things that we hear today, the things that we read would revolutionize everything we think and believe about who we are and who you are and what you do. And we ask, Lord, that you'd use your word in our lives, that we truly would honor and glorify your name. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. If you got your Bible, turn me to Luke chapter 19. Luke chapter 19, the triumphal entrance of Christ into Jerusalem.

It's a marvelous passage of scripture for many reasons. But the dichotomy that it presents is overwhelming. The people in Israel were expecting a coronation. Instead, there would be a crucifixion. They were looking to commend Christ as their king. And the king would turn on them and condemn them for their superficial praise. It's quite ironic how it all comes to play, but it truly is all under the sovereignty of Almighty God. This is a beautiful story about God's sovereignty and how he controls all of life's events.

The king comes and he refuses to be enthroned on high. The king comes and turns the tables. He turns everything toward Israel and talks to them about their impending judgment. He talks to them about their destruction. They expected one thing. Their expectation level was so high. It was overwhelming, the euphoria of the day. You can't even begin to imagine what was happening. There had been the raising of Lazarus just a couple of weeks before this. And the Bible tells us that in John chapter 12, Jesus was in Bethany six days before the Passover.

So on the Sabbath, he would have been in Bethany. And the Bible tells us that the people of Israel were coming out of Jerusalem to see not only Jesus, but this one Lazarus whom he raised from the dead. I mean, think about it. You're Lazarus. You've been raised from the dead and everybody wants to see you, to touch you, to talk to you, to understand you because of the transforming miracle that took place in your life. I mean, that had to be overwhelming. And by the way, Lazarus never wrote a book about, you know, three days in heaven.

You know, he never wrote a book about what took place during his death. But we know that it was a miracle that God had performed in his life. So people wanted to see this Lazarus. They wanted to see Jesus who raised him from the dead. So you can imagine the euphoria. So John tells us that people are coming out of Jerusalem to see this one Jesus and Lazarus. On top of that, Jesus was coming from Jericho, 17 miles away. Jerusalem is about 4,000 feet up from Jericho. And so they would ascend up this huge, huge mountain because Jericho is at the base of a mountain.

And so they had to make their way up to Jerusalem. And there's already all these people going to Jerusalem for Passover anyway. And Jesus, when he stops in Jericho, heals these two blind guys, one of them by the name of Bartimaeus. And so once again, there is another miracle that Jesus performs. We know that Bartimaeus is born again. We know Zacchaeus is born again. This tax collector is now saved from his sin. And so the talk about that is happening, the swell of everything about Jesus and all of his miracles and everything that he's done.

He's pretty much banished all of disease from the land of Israel. Everybody who has been healed is probably on the Jesus train going to Jerusalem for Passover. So the crowds are enormous. The popularity of Jesus is overwhelming. And the euphoria is beyond anything explicable in our life today. You cannot even begin to explain it. And Jesus is at the center of it all. And so as he makes his way into Jerusalem, the crowd begins to erupt. We know that on that Sabbath before his crucifixion, he was in Bethany with Mary and Martha, Lazarus, and the Twelve.

It was a special dinner in his honor. It was one of those times in which Jesus was able to really celebrate the relationship he had with those who loved him. In spite of that, Judas was still present because Judas was still one of the Twelve. He would be the betrayer. Oh, by the way, Jesus knows that too. So no matter how comfortable the setting, no matter how comforting the situation might have been, that Sabbath before the crucifixion, Judas' presence would be that constant reminder of the impending pain that would come upon our Lord.

And so he was still there. But all that was taking place. It would be on the next day that he would send his men into Bethphage to find this cult, this foal of a donkey. And it would be exactly as Jesus said. In fact, as he went in, everything happened as Jesus detailed it happening. It speaks to the beautiful sovereignty of God in all of life's events. Let me read it to you.

It begins in verse number 28. And after he had said these things, he was going on ahead, ascending to Jerusalem. And it came about that when he approached Bethphage and Bethany near the mount that is called Olivet, he said to his disciples, saying, Go into the village opposite you, in which, as you enter, you will find a colt tied on which no one yet has ever sat. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, Why are you untying it? Thus shall you speak. The Lord has need of it. And those who were sent went away and found it just as he had told them.

And as they were untying the colt, its owner said to him, Why are you untying the colt? And they said, The Lord has need of it. And they brought it to Jesus and threw their garments on the colt and put Jesus on it. Wow. Everything went as Jesus detailed it. That had to be overwhelming in itself, in the lives of who those two men were. We don't know who they were. The Bible doesn't give us their names. Maybe it was James and John. Maybe it was Peter. We don't know who it was. But boy, to be able to go in.

And Matthew's account says that when you immediately go into Bethphage, there's going to be the colt. Untie it and bring it to me. Someone's going to ask you. When they ask you, say, The Lord has need of it. Just exactly as Jesus spelled it out. I marvel at that. But I marvel at this blessed King. The blessing of the King this day speaks to us on several accounts. Let me continue reading the story for you.

It goes like this. Verse number 36, And as He was going, they were spreading their garments on the road. And as He was now approaching near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen, saying, Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord, peace in heaven and glory in the highest. And some of the Pharisees in the multitude said to Him, Teacher, rebuke your disciples. And He answered and said to them, I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out.

Oh, that's going to be so good in just about 10 minutes from now. Wait a second. Verse 41, And when He approached, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace, but now they have been hidden from your eyes. For the day shall come upon you when your enemies will throw up a bank before you and surround you and hymn you in on every side and will level you to the ground and your children within you. And they will not leave in you one stone upon another because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.

You know, the precise event, the precision of this is overwhelming. Seven things I want you to see about the blessing of the King. First of all, the blessing of the King is about prophecy fulfilled.

It's about prophecy fulfilled, particularly Daniel chapter 9 verses 24 to 27. If you've got your Bible, turn back there with me, if you would, for just for a moment, please. Daniel chapter 9 verses 24 to 27. It says 70 weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy study to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place. So you are now, so you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince.

There will be seven weeks and 62 weeks. It will be built again with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. Then after the 62 weeks, the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing. And the people of the Prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary and its end will come with a flood. Even to the end, there will be war, desolations and will be determined. All this is a prophecy that begins its fulfillment with the Messiah, the Prince, which is a technical term to speak of an official presentation.

So there's going to be a time when Messiah the Prince is going to be officially presented in Jerusalem. And the question comes, when will that happen? Well, we know it happens after 483 years, or as the Bible says, in these weeks of years.

To understand exactly what happens, you need to understand when it all began. And it began on March 14th, 445 B.C. with the decree by Artaxerxes to Nehemiah to go back and rebuild the temple. We know that because Nehemiah chapter two verses one to eight tells us exactly when the decree was given. That's important because Daniel receives his vision and it tells us when the 70 weeks of Daniel's prophecy begins. So we know that. And we know that after 69 weeks of that prophecy, Messiah the Prince will be presented.

And we know that when you look at the 483 years of the prophecy, it equals up to be 173,880 days. And we know that for several reasons. First of all, in a Jewish calendar, there are 30 days in a month.

You need to understand that. How do we know that? Book of Genesis, Book of Revelation. You go back to read Genesis chapter seven, Genesis chapter eight. We know that the flood lasted for 150 days or for five months, which is 30 months, 30 days per month. We also know that in the Book of Revelation that the tribulation period lasts seven years. It's divided up into two segments, three and a half and three and a half. The first three and a half, 42 months, second three and a half, 42 months, meaning 1260 days as the Book of Revelation describes it, meaning that there are 30 days in every month.

So we know from Genesis to Revelation that there are 30 days in each month according to a biblical calendar. And when you go back and you begin to do all the historical records and begin to add up all the days, it comes up to be 173,880 days. If you want to read more about this, we have a tape series on the coming of the King that tells you more. But you need to read what Sir Robert Anderson said in his book, The Coming Prince, or what Harold Hohner said in his book, The Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ, because both of them go back and they detail the exact number of days from the time that the decree from Artaxerxes was given to Nehemiah in 445 BC to the exact day, April 6th, AD 32, the day that this took place.

The precision is absolutely astonishing. It was on this day he had to come. It was on this day he was to be presented as the prince. It was all mapped out. It was all outlined just as the vision of Daniel in Daniel chapter 9. And I read that and I begin to understand, boy, my God has everything in control. And that Israel needs to understand that this is what's going on. He said that only if you had known in this day, what day? The day that Daniel had spoken of way back in Daniel chapter 9. All you people who think you know the law, all you people who think you know your Bible, which they thought they did, they did not.

A lot like us as Christians today, we think we know our Bible, but we really don't. They didn't understand it. And yet they missed their Messiah because he tells them back in Daniel chapter 9 that those 70 weeks of Daniel's prophecy, there must become the finish of the transgression to make an end of sin and to make atonement for iniquity. That happens at his first coming.

There must bring an everlasting righteousness to seal up the vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy. That happens at his second coming at the end of the 70th week.

And so Daniel's prophecy tells us, it's everything about Luke 19 is a prophecy fulfilled in the blessing of the King. It's also about a presentation that was foretold. A prophecy fulfilled, a presentation fulfilled where? Back in Zechariah chapter 9, verse number 9. Remember Zechariah chapter 9, verse number 9, it speaks to us concerning the prophecy of the coming King. Behold, your King is coming to you. He is just and endowed with salvation, humble and mounted on a donkey, even on a coat, the full of a donkey.

It's a fulfilled. And not only that, it was a praise foreseen because in that same verse in Zechariah 9, 9, it tells the nation of Israel to shout joyfully. And what did they do in Luke 19? They shouted joyfully. A prophecy fulfilled, a presentation fulfilled, a praise foreseen. It all happened exactly as it was presented in the Old Testament, which makes this story so alive to understand exactly how it is our Lord was in charge of every aspect of his life. And by the way, he's in charge of every aspect of your life as well.

And so he comes into the city, the omniscience of God. And they began to sing the praise of Psalm 118, a coronation song. In Matthew's account, in Mark's account, in Luke's account, when you're in John's account, when you read them all together, you begin to understand everything that was said. It was everything was about Hosanna, save now, son of David. It was all about a political salvation for them. They didn't understand the spiritual salvation that he came to offer. Mark's account tells us about, it was the kingdom of God that was to be established.

And true, when the Messiah comes, he offers the kingdom, but we know it's an internal kingdom. At this point, it will be an external kingdom when he comes again. But it all talks about their euphoria because they know what the prophet Zacharias said, that when the Messiah comes, he will stand on the Mount of Olives, he'll split them out. They're looking for the mountain to be split. They're looking for the mountain to be split because Messiah stands on the Mount of Olives and they gained victory over their enemies.

This is what they, they understand to happen, but they missed Zachariah 13, Zachariah 12, Zachariah 9, because they wanted everything about their prominence to be established when the king came. But this prophecy, this praise was all about Jesus, the coming Messiah. And so the Pharisees were upset. And rightly so, because they thought that Jesus was not the Messiah. They were convinced he wasn't. Even in spite of all the miracles, the overwhelming evidence, they refused to believe. And they wanted him to rebuke his disciples.

Tell these people to be quiet. Now you got to remember, there's probably a quarter of a million people surrounding the Messiah on this day. Not a couple of hundred, not a couple of thousand. There are thousands of people. They're all over the place. And so here he is, people coming out of Jerusalem to greet him. All the people going into Jerusalem with him. They're all over the place. And they're putting their garments down, saying, Lord, we're yours. We're submitting to your authority. They're cutting palm branches down.

They're waving them, singing Hosanna, save now, son of David. This is what we want you to do. And they're just angered, seething on the inside. Of course, remember Christ had squelched any kind of overt praise up to this point, because he didn't want to escalate his enemies that would cause them to a point where it would cause them to want to kill him even sooner than they did. Because everything was on a divine timetable. But this was the time. He was going to die on Friday. Everything was set in motion by the escalation of the celebration.

He knows that. And they say, rebuke your disciples. And Jesus makes this statement. He says, I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out. If these people become silent, the stones will cry out. This is unbelievable. Unbelievable. Because you're going to see something that maybe you've never seen before. And you'll leave saying, boy, I'm so glad I came to church today. I learned something I had never known before. Jesus says, if these people become silent, and guess what?

They did. After this day, guess what? They're silent until Friday. And come Friday, the honor and respect is turned to hatred and rejection. Just a few short days. Everything turns. I mean, talk about being able to turn a crowd. And that's what the religious leaders do. They're able to turn the crowd. Of course, it was all under the sovereignty of Almighty God. But they turned a nation. They turned a nation in five days against their Messiah. Two, when you come to Luke chapter 23, this is what it said.

Luke chapter 23, speaking of Pilate, now he was obliged to release to them at the feast one prisoner. But they cried out all together, saying, away with this man and release for us Barabbas. He was one who had been thrown into prison for a certain insurrection made in the city and for murder. Pilate, wanting to release Jesus, addressed them again. But they kept on crying out, saying, crucify, crucify him. And he said to them the third time, why, what evil has this man done?

I have found in him no guilt demanding death. I will therefore punish him and release him. But they were insistent with loud voices, asking that he be crucified. And their voices began to prevail. The praise, the honor and respect on Sunday turned to hatred and rejection on Friday. And they became silent. The praise for the Messiah became silent and listen, has been silent for over 2,000 years. The nation has yet to praise Jesus as their Messiah. In fact, after the resurrection of the Messiah, Jerusalem was still silent.

I mean, there were some believers and there were a few thousand that got saved and they would give praise to God, but the nation as a whole refused to praise him. So persecution would erupt in Jerusalem. And those believers were spread all around the world. So the gospel would get to every corner of this planet. But there has yet to be praise in Jerusalem for Jesus as Messiah. So Jesus says, if these people become silent and they will, and they did for the very next day, they were silent, these stones will cry out.

These stones will scream. How do stones scream? Scream. How can that possibly be? Well, to answer that you must interpret scripture with what? Scripture. Go back, if you would, to the book of Habakkuk. The book of Habakkuk. For no other reason, simply just to know where it is. It's in the Old Testament. Book of Habakkuk. Now remember, Habakkuk is the prophet of God. God tells them that the wicked Chaldeans are going to come and plunder his people Israel. And God, and Habakkuk doesn't understand why God would use the most wicked of all the people to come against God's people, Israel.

So he questions God in chapter one. And God answers him. And the way God answers him gives us insight into Luke chapter 19. For he says, in verse number nine, woe to him who gets evil gain for his house, to put his nest on high, to be delivered from the hand of calamity. You have devised a shameful thing for your house by cutting off many people. So you are standing against yourselves. Surely the stone will cry out, will scream out from the wall and the rafter will answer it from the framework. Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed and founds a town with violence.

In other words, God is saying that when you look at the homes that the Chaldeans would build because of their violence, because of their slaughtering, because of the bloodshed, because of all their abuse, those stones scream out of the guilt of the Chaldeans.

They cry out of the bloodshed that was sown by the Chaldeans. It all screamed against the judgment of God upon the Chaldean people because of their wickedness and corruption. And God uses that as an illustration to show you that those stones become a witness. Those stones become a testimony to the rejection of God. They become a testimony to the corruption and wickedness of man against the holiness of God. Now, listen, this gets really, really good. So hold on to your seats. Because Jesus now comes and uses that same terminology from the book of Habakkuk, by the way, that every Jew should know because they're raised in the synagogue.

They go every day to the synagogue. They read through the Old Testament. The rabbis interpret the Old Testament. You think you know a lot because you come to church on Sunday. They go to the synagogue every day. They're there learning more and more and more, but ever learning, but never coming to the knowledge of the truth, evidently. But they come and they learn, so they should know this stuff. And so Jesus takes them to an Old Testament analogy and tells them that these people, these Jewish people who are praising my name become silent.

The stones will cry out. It has a twofold meaning, which we will let you see in just a moment. So there is a prophecy fulfilled. There is a presentation foretold. There is a praise foreseen. And fourthly, there is a pain foreknown, a pain foreknown. Jesus weeps. He weeps. This is not a tear that trickles down the eye of Jesus as he sits there. Now, you have to understand. You have all these people around. All their garments have been laid down. It says in Matthew, the most laid their garments down.

The others cut the palm branches down. So everybody was involved in this thing. It wasn't like half the crowd was involved and the other half wasn't. Everybody was involved in this. Everybody was a part of this. And Jesus stops overlooking Jerusalem and begins to sob profusely, not just a little trickle down the eye. He is sobbing profusely as he overlooks the city. Now, can you imagine the people? What's he doing? Are you kidding me? What's he doing? He's going to set up his kingdom, isn't he? He's going to split the amount of olives, isn't he?

This is what the king is going to do. I mean, we're all praising his name. We're all exalting him. Why is he crying? Why is he bawling his eyes out? But he did because it was a pain foreknown. Isaiah 53, verse number three.

He's a man of sorrows acquainted with grief. This pain was foreknown by all who understood what the Bible says.

That's why in Hebrews 5, seven, it says that with great crying and tears, it went before just the garden of Gethsemane. It was here we wet profusely. Why? Why? Because of the superficiality of the people. Think about it. He knows man's hearts. Do you think that when you come on Sunday morning, he doesn't know that when you sit here and you sing rejoice, rejoice, rejoice, rejoice, rejoice, he knows whether or not in your heart you're really rejoicing or not? Do you think you can camouflage that for Jesus?

You can't. He knows your heart. And so he knows the hearts of all those people that are there throwing their garments down, waving the palm branches, singing Hosanna to the son of David, peace in heaven, glory in the highest. He knows of their superficial praise. He understands that. And it causes him to begin to weep because it doesn't come from a heart truly filled with love for the living God. He knows of their hypocrisy. He knows that in just five days, they're going to reject him. He knows that the praise stops now.

It's going to stop. He knows that. If these stop, these people stop, and they will, the stones will cry out. And he knows it's going to happen. So you remember, he knows everything. He knows of his impending or their impending judgment. He knows about the crucifixion. He knows about the cross. He knows about his sacrifice. He knows about their hypocrisy. He knows about their superficiality. He knows everything. It causes him to well up with tears and to begin to cry out loud over the rejection of his people.

He came into his own. His own received him not. I mean, we get a little upset when someone doesn't like us. You know, think about us. We get so upset when someone, oh, I want them to like me. They don't like me. Well, a whole nation turns against their Messiah. A whole nation came to die for the sins, and they rejected him. Amazing. So he sits there outside the eastern gate, overlooking the city, realizing that the city of peace had no peace. It would not be in peace until he comes again. He knows that.

And so his pain is foreknown because their peace was forfeited. That's number five. Their peace was forfeited. He says, if you had known in this day, what day? The 173,880th day, the completion of the 69 weeks of Daniel's prophecy. If you'd known in this day, you didn't know. You missed it. Even you, the things which make for peace. What makes for peace? Repentance? Belief? Forgiveness? Reconciliation? Having been justified by faith, we have what? Peace with God. If you had known, he came preaching a gospel of peace.

Remember way back in Luke chapter two, way back at the birth of Christ, the angel said to them, do not be afraid for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy, which shall be for all the people. For today in the city of David, there has been born for you a Savior who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you. You shall find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. And suddenly there appear with the angel of multitude of heavenly hosts, praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace among men with whom he is pleased.

Glory to God in the highest because there is peace among men with whom he is pleased. The question comes, who is that that pleases God that they might experience peace? Answer Psalm 147 verse number 11 says the Lord takes pleasure has favor on those who fear him, who fear him. Peace comes to those who fear him. Think about the Christmas story. In fact, the major theme of the story of Christmas is all about fear. Zacharias feared as he was offering his priestly duties in the temple and the angel came to him.

Mary was afraid when the angel came to her. The shepherds were afraid when the angel came to them and the glory of the Lord shone all around them. They were told, don't be afraid. Mary said, don't be afraid. The angel said to Zacharias, don't be afraid. Why? Because the theme of Christmas is all about fear. Think about that in your Christmas story, because peace only comes to those who fear him. The favor of God, God takes pleasure in those who fear him, not those who don't. Because the Bible says in Romans chapter three, that is the unbeliever who has no fear of God before his eyes.

So there is no peace for those who do not fear the living God, only for those who do. So Christ comes and says, if only you had known the things which make for peace. You praise me, but you don't fear me. You praise me for my miracles, but you hate me for my message. You don't fear me. You don't understand that I came to offer the gospel of peace. I came to preach a gospel that would allow you to be at peace with God. Instead, you want to forfeit that and you want peace with Rome. You'd rather have peace with Rome than you would with the almighty ruler of the universe.

And Jerusalem was called the city of peace. Yet the people in the city of peace had no peace because they were under Roman authority. If only you had known the things that make for peace. If only you had known about a true repentant heart, a heart that truly cries out over brokenness, over its sin and believes in me and throws itself upon me. You're throwing your garments down, but you're not willing to relinquish your life to me. I know that the throwing the garment thing is supposed to be symbolic of your life, but he knows their hearts.

He knows how superficial they are. He knows how hypocritical they are. He knows those things. And by the way, he knows your heart today too. You might come thinking you're fooling your wife or your husband or your kids, but you're not fooling God because he knows your heart. He knows whether or not you really truly fear him or not. Their peace simply forfeited. They would not accept the things that make for peace. The truth is they rejected Christ. He says, but now they have been hidden from your eyes.

Wow. Wow. Because there was a volitional rejection, there now is a judicial rejection. Because they would not receive the things that make for peace, because they chose to reject him in his message, now there becomes a judicial rejection. That is, God says, it will be impossible for you to see, because you would not see, you can't see.

I'm cutting you off. Now we know that one day he will open their eyes again and they will look on the one whom they pierced, Zachariah chapter 12, verse number 10. And they will mourn for him as one mourns for his only son. And there will be salvation in the land of Israel. But there is now a judicial rejection by the Lord God, because they would not believe. It began back in Luke chapter 13. Remember Luke chapter 13? Luke chapter 13, verse number 34. Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones, oh, send to her how often I wanted to gather your children together, just as the hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not have it.

Behold, your house has left you desolate. And I say to you, you shall not see me until the time comes when you say, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. You will not see me. You cannot see me until there's coming a day where you will. But until that day happens, you are blinded. Wow, what a rejection. And Jesus is saying this. And remember, around him is all of this praise, all of this glory, all this exaltation, this celebration. He begins to weep and he begins to speak, not about a coronation, but about their condemnation.

The king rejects their praise. Why? Because it doesn't come from a heart that believes in him. It doesn't come from a heart that has received him. It doesn't come from a heart that's broken over its sin. It doesn't come from a heart that's truly contrite. It doesn't come from a heart that fears God. And so instead of a coronation, there is a condemnation upon the nation because of their rejection, which culminates with a crucifixion, then a resurrection, then an ascension, and then a return again.

But he says, for the day shall come upon you. Wow. The day shall come upon you when your enemies will throw up a bank before you and surround you and hem you in on every side and will level you to the ground and your children within you. And they will not leave in you one stone upon another. The blessing of the king is about prophecy fulfilled. The blessing of a king is about a presentation foretold, a praise foreseen. It's about paying for no peace, forfeited, and punishment forecast. Punishment forecast.

He says simply, the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a bank before you. He gives it in a way that depicts for them exactly what's going to happen. Your enemies will surround you. It's going to come a day. The days come upon you. Isaiah 39, Amos 4, Hosea 9 all speak of a phrase describing coming judgment. It's an Old Testament expression. The days will come upon you. Your enemies will surround you. They're going to build a barricade. That's what they did in those days. They would come to your city and they would build a barricade around you.

That's exactly what happened in 70 AD. In 66 AD, the Jews revolted against Rome. In 70 AD, Titus Vaspian came, surrounded the city, and the Jews burned the wall that surrounded the city. So he built a barricade around the wall. So he did. And the reason they did that is because when they built a barricade around the city, you could not exit nor could anyone enter. So what happened? You would starve to death. They would wait. No food, no food. You become very, very weak. When you were weak, they would bombard the city.

You could not defend yourself and you would die. So they would build a barricade around the cities. If you read Josephus in the Jewish War, he depicts and describes what took place in 70 AD. That great Jewish historian who tells us about the plundering of the city Jerusalem. They built the barricade. Titus built that barricade around. It was built out of wood at first and the Jews burned it down.

So they built a stronger barricade and then the people surrounded it so that no one could get in and no one could get out. It's going to hem you in on all sides and we're going to level you to the ground. And that's exactly what happened. Josephus tells us that when Titus was done with Jerusalem, no one could believe that the city had ever been inhabited. That's how much it was plundered. That's an utter destruction. That's a total devastation. Can you imagine that? Your city being destroyed so badly that no one could ever believe it had ever been inhabited by a living soul.

That's how angry Rome was with the Jewish nation. And Jesus would forecast their punishment. He would tell them this is what's going to happen and it did. Some 37 years later it happened exactly as Jesus said 70 AD. It was completely destroyed. And the cause says because you did not recognize the time of your visitation. The time of your visitation is an expression given in the Bible that speaks of when the supernatural invades the natural for one of two purposes. Deliverance or destruction. And because they did not recognize the time of their visitation, in fact Zacharias speaks of it in his song.

Luke chapter one, Zacharias the father of John the Baptist said, blessed be the Lord God of Israel, verse 68, for he has visited us and accomplished redemption for his people. And then it says down in verse number 78, because the tender mercy of our God with which the sunrise from on high shall visit us. The day of visitation, Zacharias said, is here. The sunrise from on high is visiting us to deliver us from iniquity. The sunrise from on high has come to deliver us from our sin that we might fully be redeemed.

And Jesus says in Luke chapter 19, because you didn't recognize your redemption, because you didn't recognize the day of your visitation, because you did not recognize the day of your salvation, your city will be plundered.

It will be destroyed. He prophesied everything that was going to happen. Now listen carefully. Through all the excavations of Israel, what you find as you make your journey up to the temple mount to the right side of the ramp that moves up to the temple mount is a bucket load of stones, all that have been excavated, all that have been plundered. And the Jewish people don't remove those stones because to them, it's a reminder that they had a temple on the temple mount and that's their land. So they're not going to move them.

But those are the stones that scream. Those are the stones that are a testimony, that are a witness to the wickedness and the corruption of a nation that turned and rejected their Messiah. And they scream out and have been screaming for 2,000 years that they have rejected their King. It's a testimony to their bloodshed on the Messiah. Oh yes, it's a testimony that there was a temple on the temple mount. Yes, the Jews had a temple, but it goes way beyond that. It's a fulfillment of prophecy that if these people become silent, and they did, the stones will scream, and they did.

The stones screamed of the wickedness and the corruption of a nation against the rejection of the Messiah and scream to this very day of their rejection. That's one interpretation of Luke 9. The other is this, that when you go down the Mount of Olives and descend, before you get to the Kidron Valley or the Valley of Jehoshaphat and make your way back up to the city, the Eastern Gate, to your left, okay, or to the south of you, is a cemetery that's been there for over 2,000 years. It's huge. Thousands upon thousands upon thousands of people are buried there.

It's a Jewish cemetery. You ever been to a Jewish cemetery? They don't bring flowers to a Jewish cemetery, do they? There's a reason they don't do that. They don't bring flowers because flowers die, and they believe the soul lives forever. They're right. That's unmistakable according to Scripture. But there's a superstition behind that, and they say they bring the stones because the stones keep the soul down until Messiah comes. That's superstitious. But in all reality, they bring stones, and they place them on the tombs and the graves of their descendants as a memorial, as a way of building an altar in memory of their name, all the while understanding it's those stones that cry out and scream because they did not recognize the day of their visitation.

You see, those stones cry and scream. They're a testimony to a nation's rejection of Messiah. And those stones on top of all those tombs are screaming as to the rejection of Christ as King. And wow, when you read the story and you realize everything about it is absolutely phenomenal when it comes to God and His purposes of sovereignty as He would actually explain not only what was prophesied and it happening, but what will happen just a few short years from that point. And it did exactly as it said.

They built the wall. They hemmed them in. They surrounded the city, and they plundered. They killed every child. They killed every woman. They only kept out the young strong men which would have taken slaves. There were 1.1 million Jews crucified. There was so much wood used to crucify the Jewish nation that there was no more wood left to crucify any other Jew. That's how bad it was. And Jesus told them, you did not recognize the day of your visitation. Which helps us understand this. I wonder if you recognize the day of your visitation.

I wonder if you recognize a time when God the King has offered and presented the glorious gospel to you. I wonder if you know the things that make for peace or not. Of what it means to have peace with the living God. Folks, this is just a message for today. It's not a story about what took place and what was prophesied. It's a message for today. Because we need to understand the things that make for peace. We need to be reconciled to God because we are the enemies of God until salvation takes up its residence in our hearts.

And that we become the friends of God and we can praise his name. On top of that, pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Psalm 122.6, you who love the Lord, pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Because in praying for that peace, you pray for the coming of the King that's going to grant them peace. One day they'll see their King. One day there'll be a day of visitation where they will rejoice at his presence and they'll mourn for him. They'll recognize that they pierced their Messiah. There'll be a true biblical repentance in the life of the nation itself.

And all Israel, according to the book of Romans, will be saved. But they've been blinded and the stones continually scream of the wickedness and the corruption and the rejection. They scream of their guilt. Because they're guilty. They're guilty. Because they did not recognize the day of their visitation. Listen, don't let that be you. Don't let that be you. Recognize the day today. Today is the day of salvation, not tomorrow. Today. Give your life to Jesus today. Let's pray. Father, we thank you, Lord, for your word, the greatness of it, the opportunity we have to study it.

We pray, Lord, that our hearts would be changed in light of it for the glory of Christ. In Jesus' name, amen.