Sermon on Luke 13:34 – Does It Make You Want to Cry? Behind the altar in the front of this church, there’s a huge window overlooking the city of . “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen It commemorates the view and the love of our Savior for the people of gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.” Jerusalem. Time and time again he wanted to gather them into his arms. Time and time again he sent prophet after prophet to share his Word with Jerusalem, the apple of the eye for God’s Old Testament people. them. We heard how God’s people rejected the prophets like the prophet Jeremiah in our first lesson today. They stoned and killed those prophets and Of Jerusalem, the psalmist writes, Praise be to the Lord from Zion, to him it wouldn’t be long before they would do the same to him. who dwells in Jerusalem. Praise the Lord. Psalm 135:21 It would lead him to say, “Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, Even while living in captivity in Babylon, of Jerusalem, it was written, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill. May my name of the Lord.’” tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy. Psalm 137: 5,6 Words that would find their fulfillment years after died and rose again when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD. Words that would also find Throughout the Old Testament, we see God’s love for his people, sometimes their fulfillment on Palm Sunday when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a referred to as Jerusalem. Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak donkey. tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the His Palm Sunday ride began at the top of the in a small Lord’s hand double for all her sins. Isaiah 40: 1, 2 village called or . This is the village where Mary and Martha lived. Jerusalem was beautiful to God and beautiful to God’s people because this is where the Temple was located. God was truly with his people! As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives…the crowds that went ahead of him shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of When Solomon had finished building the temple of the Lord and the royal David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the palace, and had achieved all he had desired to do, the Lord appeared to him highest!” Matthew 21:1ff. a second time. The Lord said to him: “I have heard the prayer and plea you have made before me; I have consecrated this temple, which you have built, Here’s a picture of the road that leads down the Mount of Olives into the city by putting my Name there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be of Jerusalem. This gate is known as the East Gate or the Golden Gate. It’s the there.” I Kings 9: 1 – 3 gate many believe that Jesus rode through on Palm Sunday.

Outside the city of Jerusalem, there’s a hill called the Mount of Olives. Today this gate is under Muslim control. To spite the Jews, the gate has been sealed and tombs have been placed in front of it. The Jews are still waiting It was from here that Jesus would ascend into heaven. for the Messiah to come. When he comes, they believe he will pass through this gate into Jerusalem. Little do they believe that the Messiah has already Halfway down the Mount of Olives, you’ll notice a small church called, come and has already passed through this gate. Little do the Muslims know “The Sanctuary of the Dominus Flevit” from the Latin meaning, that in an effort to prevent the Jewish prophecy from being fulfilled, they “The Lord Wept.” have fulfilled a prophecy in a way. A prophecy recorded in the book of Ezekiel, “Then the man brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary, The church was designed in the shape of a teardrop to symbolize the tears the one facing east, and it was shut. The Lord said to me, ‘This gate is to shed by Jesus over the city of Jerusalem. remain shut. It must not be opened; no one may enter through it. It is to remain shut because the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered through it.’” Ezekiel 44: 1, 2 Holy Week begins with Jesus riding into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Pilgrims from around the world come to pray at the stone in front of this church. On Thursday, he sent two disciples to prepare the Passover in a large upper room. “He will show you a large upper room, all furnished. Make In his active obedience, Jesus lived a perfect life according to God’s law. In preparations for us there.” They left and found things just as Jesus had told his passive obedience, he suffered and died for our sins against it. It would them. So they prepared the Passover. Luke 22:12f.f all begin with a kiss. What was supposed to be a sign of friendship became the sign by which Judas betrayed Jesus. In that upper room, Jesus celebrated the Passover with his disciples. In that upper room, he would institute a new meal for to eat and drink. “Those who had arrested Jesus took him to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the teachers of the law and the elders had assembled.” Matthew 26:57. The Lord’s Supper in which he gives us his body and blood in, with and under the bread and the wine for the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. From the Mount of Olives, Jesus was led back to Jerusalem to the house of Jesus invites us to celebrate this meal regularly and often as we look forward Caiaphas the High Priest. The house is no longer there. In its place is a to celebrating it anew with him in heaven. church called St. Peter in Gallicantu. Gallicantu means, “The Rooster’s Crow.” “I tell you the truth, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it anew in the kingdom of God. When they had sung a It was here that the Servant of the Lord was lowered into a pit while his hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.” Mark 14:25,26 sentence was decided by the .

At the base of the Mount of Olives you’ll notice a large grove of olive trees The darkness of this pit is reflected in the words of Psalm 88, the closing and a garden called . reading for our Maundy Thursday service.

Gethsemane means “oil press.” John tells us that Judas knew the place, “For my soul is full of trouble and my life draws near the grave. I am because Jesus often met there with his disciples. counted among those who go down to the pit…you have put me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths…you have taken my companions and loved ones In the Garden of Gethsemane, you’ll find the Church of All Nations, also from me; the darkness is my closest friend.” Selected verses from Psalm 88 known as The Basilica of the Agony. Meanwhile, above and outside, Peter’s feet were held to the fire as he Above the entrance to the church are written the words, “Sustinete hic et warmed himself by a fire. vigilate mecum” which means, “stay here and keep watch with me.” “You also were with Jesus of …This fellow was with Jesus of Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and said to …surely you are one of them, for your accent gives you away.” them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray…my soul is overwhelmed with Then he began to call down curses on himself and swore to them, “I don’t sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” Matthew know the man!” Immediately a rooster crowed. Matthew 26:69,71,73, 74. 26:36ff A statue of Peter with the words, “I don’t know the man” written below. Inside the church it’s very dark to symbolize the darkness Jesus and his disciples experienced on that “dark and doleful night” as a hymn puts it. A statue of a rooster to commemorate the predicted crow. “Go to dark Gethsemane” as another hymn puts it. Back and forth to Pilate and Herod, we’re told that they became friends at the Falling to his knees in prayer, Jesus asked his Heavenly Father to take the expense of Jesus. cup from him if possible, “yet not my will, but yours be done.”

“When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s A Mosaic in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher captures the events of that seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (Greek - Lithostrotos), which in first Good Friday. His dead body taken down from the cross, anointed and is Gabbatha.” John 19:13. wrapped, and placed in a tomb.

On a Stone Pavement like this, Jesus was handed over to be crucified. The women weren’t able to finish the burial process that day because of the “After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes Sabbath. Early Sunday morning, they went back to the tomb to finish the job. on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.” Matthew 27:31. Little did they know that their work would be unnecessary because Jesus had risen, just like he said. Today the place is marked with an arch called the “ Arch,” meaning “Behold the man.” In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the angels said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. not here; he has risen!” Luke 24:5ff. And Pilate saith unto them, “Behold the man.” John 19:5 ( KJV ) Go through the door to the tomb in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and The arch is the first stop on the famous road known as the , you’ll notice it’s empty inside. There’s a banner that reads in the Greek, meaning “The Way of Sorrows.” On this road you’ll find the “Stations of the “Christos Anesthe,” which means, “Christ is Risen!” Cross,” many of which are not recorded in Scripture. Jesus died and rose again to forgive our sins and give us the gift of heaven. It’s unfortunate that many people worship the road itself rather than the Savior who once walked it. He did this for all people and yet so many people in this world do not know and believe in Jesus as their Savior. Nowadays pilgrims from around the world carry crosses down this road to commemorate his solemn journey. Jesus tells us that the fields are ripe and the harvest is waiting, who will go and work today? May God lead us to use our time, talents, and treasures to At the end of the Via Dolorosa, you come to the Church of the Holy share the good news of Jesus with all people. Sepulcher. Jesus still longs to gather all people into his arms and hold them close to his Many believe this church houses the original Golgotha and Garden Tomb. heart as little lambs.

Go inside and you can see what many believe to be the rock called Golgotha, Which brings us back to Jerusalem. Sad to say, in the city where Jesus died also known as the Place of the Skull, also known as , where our and rose again, less than 2% of the people living there believe it. Less than Savior was crucified. 2% of all the people living in Jerusalem are Christians.

When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he Does it make you want to cry? bowed his head and gave up his spirit. John 19:30. I. People rejecting what Jesus has done for them. II. Jesus wanting to make all people his own. If you want to get a better picture of what Golgotha and the Garden Tomb may have looked like, you can go to Gordon’s Calvary just outside of As Jesus wept over Jerusalem, he saw the places where he would suffer, die, Jerusalem. Notice the shape of a skull in the rock. and rise again for us. It began with his Last Supper in the Upper Room. After this, they crossed the Kidron Valley and went to the Garden of Nearby you’ll find the Garden Tomb much like the one in which Jesus would Gethsemane. Betrayed and arrested, he was led back to Jerusalem to the have been laid. house of Caiaphas the High Priest. Back and forth to Pilate and Herod, his final steps would be from Pilate’s palace to the place of the cross. Without food, without sleep. Mocked and beaten, and forced to carry his own cross, you can understand why he was unable to carry it the whole way. A man by the name of Simon from Cyrene would carry it the rest of the way. Far greater than the physical pain and suffering would be the spiritual and emotional suffering Jesus would experience as the wrath of God was poured out on him for your sins and mine and the sins of the world. May this Lenten season once again be a season of repentance, realizing why it was necessary. May it also be a season of rejoicing, realizing that through his perfect life, his innocent death, and his glorious resurrection, Jesus has forgiven all of our sins and given us the gift of heaven.

Heaven is a place sometimes referred to as the Heavenly Jerusalem, or Jerusalem the Golden. Heaven is ours by the grace of God through faith worked and strengthened by the Holy Spirit working through Word and Sacrament. As Paul told us in our second lesson for today, “our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.”

The Lord Jesus Christ who tells us in the book of Revelation, “I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Rev. 3: 11 – 13

Jerusalem the golden, With milk and honey blest—The sight of it refreshes The weary and oppressed. I know not, oh, I know not What joys await us there, What radiancy of glory, What bliss beyond compare. Amen.