So just who is Jesus to you? – a sermon on Luke 19:28-40 by Rev. Colin Pretorius.

A hundred-and-twenty five years ago Nicholas II was crowned as the last emperor or Tsar of Russia. The festivities ran for weeks, with thousands upon thousands of people crushed together to catch a glimpse of the royal couple. The entourage arrived by road, with empress Alexandra in a carriage and emperor Nicholas riding on a white horse into the Moscow Kremlin. This sort of display wasn’t something new – for hundreds, no for thousands of years victors or rulers used this symbolism to paint a picture of their power and might. But this is not the sort of picture we see in our text today. Our text tells us about the events on a Palm Sunday some two thousand years ago. It tells us about how Jesus entered Jerusalem to be crowned King of the Jews on a hill outside the city. It tells us about the beginning of the final week of His life on earth. It tells us about who Jesus is. And that’s what we’re going to look at today – at who Jesus is, and once we’ve done that, we’ll ask the question: so just who is Jesus to you?

Before we begin our journey into our text in the gospel of Luke, let me read a few verses from the corresponding passage in Matthew. Matthew writes:

And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?”
And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”

Our text tells about who Jesus is:

• He is prophecy fulfilled (28-35);
• He is King (36-38); and
• He is Lord (39-40).

Jesus is the fulfilment of prophecy, He is King and He is Lord. We’ll look at these in turn and then see what that means for us, as followers of Jesus.

As we look at this text, we should remember that these were the last few days before Passover. It was a time when there would be large crowds of people in Jerusalem. Jesus was on His way there from Jericho. He’d visited the house of the tax collector Zacchaeus, who had gladly received Him into his home. As Jesus draws near to Jerusalem, His earthly journey was drawing near. This wouldn’t be just any Passover though – it would be the true Passover, when the true Passover lamb would be sacrificed for the redemption of God’s people throughout all time.

Against this background let’s look at what our text tells us about Jesus.

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