Sermon: Blessed Is He Who Comes In The Name Of The Lord, Luke 13:31-35

Old Testament Reading: Psalm 118

“Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever! Let Israel say, ‘His steadfast love endures forever.’ Let the house of Aaron say, ‘His steadfast love endures forever.’ Let those who fear the LORD say, ‘His steadfast love endures forever.’ Out of my distress I called on the LORD; the LORD answered me and set me free. The LORD is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me? The LORD is on my side as my helper; I shall look in triumph on those who hate me. It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes. All nations surrounded me; in the name of the LORD I cut them off! They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side; in the name of the LORD I cut them off! They surrounded me like bees; they went out like a fire among thorns; in the name of the LORD I cut them off! I was pushed hard, so that I was falling, but the LORD helped me. The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. Glad songs of salvation are in the tents of the righteous: ‘The right hand of the LORD does valiantly, the right hand of the LORD exalts, the right hand of the LORD does valiantly!’ I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the LORD. The LORD has disciplined me severely, but he has not given me over to death. Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the LORD. This is the gate of the LORD; the righteous shall enter through it. I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Save us, we pray, O LORD! O LORD, we pray, give us success! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! We bless you from the house of the LORD. The LORD is God, and he has made his light to shine upon us. Bind the festal sacrifice with cords, up to the horns of the altar! You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God; I will extol you. Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!” (Psalm 118, ESV)

New Testament Reading: Luke 13:31-35 

“At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, ‘Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.’ And he said to them, ‘Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course. Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.’ O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’” (Luke 13:31–35, ESV)

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Please excuse any typos and misspellings within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church but without the benefit of proofreading.

Introduction

As we enter into our text for today, it is important to remember the scene. Jesus is now journeying towards Jerusalem. He was determined to go there. And he had made it clear to his disciples that he would suffer and die there. Despite this, great multitudes had flocked to Jesus to hear his teaching and to see the miraculous deeds he performed. This multitude was mixed. Some who followed after Christ were devoted disciples of his. Others wished to be healed by him. Some were curious about him. And some were his enemies. 

Our passage for today begins with these words: “At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, ‘Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.’” The words, “At that very hour” connect this passage with the previous one. If you remember, near the end of the sermon on the previous passage, I attempted to demonstrate that that passage and this one go together thematically. In the previous passage, Christ warned the crowds about waiting too long to enter the narrow door of the kingdom. The narrow door is faith in Christ. That door will close to every individual at death. It will close permanently at the return of Christ. But I also said that there was a sense in which this warning had special relevance to the Jews, covenantally speaking. The kingdom of God was prefigured amongst them on earth from the days of Moses onward. The gospel of salvation through faith in the Messiah was proclaimed and entrusted to them from the days of Abraham onward. But the Scriptures are clear. When the Jews rejected Jesus as the Messiah and crucified him (through their leadership), a partial hardening came upon Israel (see Romans 11:25). The kingdom was taken from them and given to a people producing its fruits (see Matthew 21:43). 

The previous passage has something to do with this great transition from the Old Covenant to the New when the gospel of the kingdom would no longer be largely confined to ethnic Israel but would go to all of the nations of the earth. The previous passage concluded with this warning from Christ to the unbelieving Jew: ​​“In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God. And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last” (Luke 13:28–30, ESV). This same theme continues in the passage that is open before us today. Here Christ speaks condemningly of the earthly city of Jerusalem and declares the temple in Jerusalem to be forsaken. But he spoke this way to draw our attention to the fact that something greater than Jerusalem and the temple is here. We will come to this main point eventually. For now, by way of introduction, I simply wish to remind you of the scene and the connection between the theme of this text and the previous one. 

Let us now work our way through this passage, verse by verse. 

Concerned Pharisees?

In Luke 13:31 we read, “At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, ‘Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.’” Most of the Pharisees were opposed to Jesus, remember? How are we to understand this warning from these Pharisees? Were these Pharisees genuinely concerned for Jesus’ well-being? Were they concerned that Herod, the ruler of the region of Galilee that Christ was in, would do him harm? After all, this was the Herod who had John the Baptist beheaded not long before this. Were these Pharisees genuinely concerned for Jesus? That is the question. Most commentators say, no. Instead, it seems that these Pharisees were attempting to drive Jesus to Jerusalem where they planned to have him killed. They could not drive Jesus by force. The multitudes surrounding him were simply too large. And so they attempted to drive him by fear. 

Dear brothers and sisters, it is not good to be driven by fear. From time to time it is right for us to be driven by instinctual fear. If the house is on fire, it is good for the emotion of fear to rise within us to move us to run. But often men and women are driven by unholy fear – a fear concerning the future and the unknown. Some are paralyzed by unholy fear. The fear keeps them from doing what God has called them to do. Others are driven into foolish decisions as they attempt to avoid the things they fear in their minds.       

The Evil One often uses fear to derail or debilitate God’s people, and that is what these Pharisees attempted to do with Jesus. When they spoke to him, saying, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you”, they were attempting to use fear to control Jesus and to drive him in the direction they wanted him to go. But Christ would not be driven by unholy fear. He was resolute in fulfilling God’s purposes for him. He was driven by the fear of God. Those who fear God supremely will not easily succumb to the fear of man. 

Consider Christ’s response. It is found in verses 32 and 33: “And he said to them, ‘Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course. Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.’” (Luke 13:32–33, ESV)

When Christ called Herod a fox he drew attention to the fact that he was a shrewd and cunning ruler. Foxes are cunning creatures. They are not strong like lions. They do not hunt and survive by brute force. Instead, they employ shrewd and cunning tactics. Herod was known for being a cunning ruler and a shrewd politician, and so Christ called him a fox.

When Christ called Herod a fox and told the Pharisees to go deliver a message to him, it also suggests that Herod was behind what the Pharisees said to Jesus. Herod and the Pharisees likely wanted Jesus out of Galilee (Herod’s jurisdiction) and in Jerusalem but for different reasons. The Pharisees wanted Jesus killed. Herod did not want to be troubled politically by Jesus and the great multitude that followed him. 

The important thing to notice is that Jesus would soon leave Galilee and go up to Jerusalem, but Herod or the Pharisees did not drive him there. He would go up to Jerusalem willingly knowing that he would suffer and die there. 

So, Christ responded to the Pharisees saying, “‘Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course.” This must mean that Christ planned to remain in Galillie a bit longer. He would continue his ministry there (without fear) today, tomorrow, and on the day after that, his course – his work or activity – in that region would be finished. And then Christ said, “Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.” 

As I have said, Christ was determined to go to Jerusalem to suffer and die there for he knew it was the will of God for him. Christ went to the cross for you and me and for all of God’s elect willingly. He laid down his life for sinners. His life was not taken from him. Christ spoke of this very directly. In John 10:15-18 we hear Christ say, ​​“I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason, the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge [order; command] I have received from my Father” (John 10:15–18, ESV).

Jerusalem Condemned And The Temple Declaired Forsaken

Now we come to the strong and condemning words that spoke against the city of Jerusalem and his declaration that the temple was forsaken. 

Listen again to verse 33: “Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem” (Luke 13:33, ESV). When Christ said, “it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem”, he drew attention to Israel’s sad history, namely, their propensity to listen to false prophets and to persecute the true prophets sent by God, even to the point of death. 

This sad history is not hidden. It is plainly recorded for us in the Old Testement Scriptures. A good summary is found in Nehemiah 9. There we are told about the people reading God’s law as they celebrated the Feast of Booths after returning to the land after 70 years in exile in Babylon. We are told that they spent a quarter of the day reading God’s law and a quarter of the day confessing their sins corporately. They recounted the history of God’s dealings with them beginning with Abraham and they confessed the sins of their forefathers beginning with the Exodus. When they come to the time after the conquest, the time after Israel was settled in the land that God had promised to give to them, they spoke to God, saying, “Nevertheless, they [their forefathers]  were disobedient and rebelled against you and cast your law behind their back and killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you, and they committed great blasphemies. Therefore you gave them into the hand of their enemies, who made them suffer. And in the time of their suffering they cried out to you and you heard them from heaven, and according to your great mercies you gave them saviors who saved them from the hand of their enemies. But after they had rest they did evil again before you, and you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies, so that they had dominion over them. Yet when they turned and cried to you, you heard from heaven, and many times you delivered them according to your mercies” (Nehemiah 9:26–28, ESV). This is a summary of Israel’s sad history. And if we remember that history, then the words of Christ, “for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem” (Luke 13:33, ESV), will make sense to us. 

In verse 34, Christ mourns over the city of Jerusalem: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” (Luke 13:34, ESV).

Here Christ mourns over Jerusalem. He cried out, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem…” I do believe it is right for us to hear sincere grief in the voice of Christ concerning Jerusalem. Jesus the Messiah, the eternal Son of God incarnate, mourned over Jerusalem. This anticipates what we will encounter in Luke 19:41. When Christ finally enters Jerusalem, Luke tells us that he wept over the city and the people within. 

Some of you may know that those opposed to the doctrines of predestination, effectual calling, and limited atonement will sometimes try to use the words of Christ, “How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!”, to say, see! Jesus desired that all of Israel would be saved. He wanted to gather them. But they were unwilling to come.  He attempted to call them, but the call was not effective. The people resisted the will of Christ. 

Please allow me to say a few things about this. 

One, this text is not about the predestinating purposes of God or the doctrine of effectual calling. It is, however, about the earthly ministry of Jesus the Messiah. Jesus preached the gospel of the kingdom freely to all Israel. Like every prophet and every preacher, Christ called men and women to repentance and faith externally. Some believed in him. They ran to him like baby chicks run to a hen to take refuge under his wings. If we wish to speak in terms of predestination and effectual calling, those who came to Jesus were God’s elect. These were called, not only in an external way by the word of Christ but inwardly and effectually by the working of the Holy Spirit.  When Christ said, “How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings”, he was speaking of his preaching ministry wherein he delivered an external call to faith and repentence to all who would hear.

Two, it is important to note that Christ did not say, how often would I have gathered you together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing, but rather “How often would I have gathered your children… and you were not willing!” When Christ said, “How often would I have gathered your children” he was referring to the common people. When he said, “and you were not willing” he was speaking of the leaders of Israel – the Pharisees and others. This comports with the reality of the situation. The vast majority of those who followed Christ were from amongst the common people. Very few of the leaders within Israel followed after him.  

Three, when Christ confronted the leaders of Isarel for their unbelief, saying, “and you were not willing”, this in no way contradicts the doctrine of effectual calling. I find that people are often confused about this. We who are Calvinists agree that men and women have free will, that is to say, they make real and free choices. The problem is not that men and women lack free will. The problem is that our wills are by nature fallen and in bondage to sin. When a sinner hears the gospel of Jesus Christ, he or she will always be unwilling to turn from their sins and to trust in him, that is, unless the Spirit works upon them inwardly to make them willing and able to believe.    

The point that I am making is that the words of Christ, “How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!”, in no way contradict the doctrines of predestination, effectual calling, or limited atonement as some Arminians claim. Here we find Christ speaking as the Messiah, the God-man, concerning his public preaching ministry. And what he says agrees with the reality of the situation. Christ preached the gospel of the kingdom freely to all. As the great prophet of God, he was faithful to callen men and women to repentance and faith in himself. This was an external call – the kind that every preacher of the gospel delivers. Some from amongst the common people did believe, but the vast majority of the leaders of Israel persisted in unbelief, for they were unwilling to follow after him. 

What Christ said next would have shocked many. He spoke of the temple in Jerusalem when he said, “Behold, your house is forsaken.”  To forsake is to leave. To forsake a house is to abandon it and leave it empty. Under the Old Mosaic Covenant, the temple was God’s house. As you may know, after the tabernacle and temple were built, those structures were filled with the glory of God. Concerning the Tabernacle, the last verse of the book of Exodus says, “For the cloud of the LORD was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys” (Exodus 40:38, ESV). Concerning the temple, 2 Chronicles 7:1-3 says, “As soon as Solomon finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple. And the priests could not enter the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD filled the LORD’s house. When all the people of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the LORD on the temple, they bowed down with their faces to the ground on the pavement and worshiped and gave thanks to the LORD, saying, ‘For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever’” (2 Chronicles 7:1–3, ESV). The temple was built as a house for God. Of course, God is omnipresent. Heaven and earth cannot contain him. But under the Old Mosaic Covenant, God showed that he was in the midst of Israel by manifesting his glory in the temple. 

When Christ said, “Behold, your house is forsaken”, he meant, it is abandoned by God. And how could God abandon the house he commanded Moses and later Solomon to build? How could he abandon Jerusalem as the place of his habitation and worship? He abandoned Jerusalem and the temple because he did not design them to be his permanent residence. A man who buys a piece of land may build a small dwelling to live in while he constructs his permanent residence. But what will he do when his home is finished? He will abandon the small dwelling to take up residence in his new home. And so it was with the temple in Jerusalem. It functioned as God’s home on earth for a time. But it was not designed to be his permanent dwelling. 

The tabernacle and temple of the Old Mosaic Covenant foreshadowed greater things to come. And the Prophets of Old spoke of greater things to come. Ezekiel was shown a vision of a temple of ginormous proportions (see Ezekiel 40). Isaiah spoke of a new heavens and earth (see Isaiah 65). These prophesies find their fulfilment in the temple of the New Covenant, which is not made of stone, but of living stones, that is to say, of God’s people, and in the temple of God’s new creation. Again, there will be no temple of stone in the new hevens and earth. All will be the temple of the living God, for God will dwell in the midst of us and his glory will illuminate all like the light of the sun. 

When Christ spoke to the unbeliving Jew’s saying, “Behold, your house is forsaken”, he was indicating that the temple and the city of Jeruslaem had served their purpose in God’s plan of redemption. To state things very simply, the tabernacle and later the temple, had served their purpose under Old Covenant order. But now that the Christ has come, and now that the New Covenant has been instituted, the temple, the city of Jerusalem, and the nation Israel are no longer central. This is what Christ meant when he said, “Behold, your house is forsaken.” 

Blessed Is He Who Comes In The Name Of The Lord

Jesus then concluded with these words, “And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’” (Luke 13:35, ESV). This is an interesting statement. At first, it might seem as if it does not fit the context, but it certainly does. 

To understand the meaning, we must look forward in Luke’s gospel. Jesus would minister for a bit longer in Galilee and then he would go up to Jerusalem. Luke tells us about what happened when Jesus entered the city. In Luke 19:37 we read,  “As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that 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 crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, rebuke your disciples.’ He answered, ‘I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out’” (Luke 19:37–40, ESV). So then, the words of Christ, “And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’”, pointed to the future. . 

But they also pointed to the past. The phrase, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” comes from a very important Psalm – Psalm 118. That Psalm is glorious. It celebrates God’s covenant faithfulness. Interstingly, it urges men and women to take refuge in the LORD. This agrees with what Christ has just said about desiring to gather the children of Isarel as a mother hen gathers her chicks under her wings.  In this Psalm, the Psalmist cries out to God for salvation. “Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the LORD. This is the gate of the LORD; the righteous shall enter through it” (Psalm 118:19–20, ESV). This should remind us of what Christ has just said about entering through the narrow gate before it is too late. In verse 21, the Psalmist gives thanks to the LORD for the salvation he has provided: “I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation” (Psalm 118:21, ESV). 

As it pertains to our passage in Luke, things get really interesting starting in verse 21. There we read, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone” (Psalm 118:22, ESV). You will likely recognize this verse. It is cited or alluded to often in the New Testament (see Matthew  21:42, Mark 12:10-11, Luke 20:17, Acts 4:11, Ephesians 2:20, and 1 Peter 2:4–7). Who is this cornerstone? Jesus is the cornerstone. And what is he the cornerstone of? He is the cornerstone of the foundation of the New Covenant and the New Creation temple of God.  Paul the Apostles picks up this theme in his letter to the Ephesians. Most of them were not Jews but Gentiles. And so he wrote to them, saying, “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord” (Ephesians 2:19–21, ESV). And what does it mean that “the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone”. Who are the builders? The builders represent the leaders of the Jews. They rejected Jesus as the Messiah. They crucified him! But this rejected stone became the cornerstone in the foundation of God’s eternal temple. Are you beginning to see why Jesus cited Psalm 118 immediately after saying, “Behold, your house is forsaken.”

Let’s go on. In Psalm 118:23 we read, “This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.” (Psalm 118:23, ESV). So then, this rejection of the cornerstone by the builders was according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God (see Acts 2:23). 

I’ll pick up the pace substantially now in our reading of Psalm 118. But as I read, be sure to think of Jesus Christ on his way to Jerusalem to be crucified. “This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Save us, we pray, O LORD! O LORD, we pray, give us success! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! We bless you from the house of the LORD. The LORD is God, and he has made his light to shine upon us. Bind the festal sacrifice with cords, up to the horns of the altar! You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God; I will extol you. Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!” (Psalm 118:24–29, ESV).

When Christ cited Psalm 118:26 he was not only anticipating the reception he would recieve in Jerusalem, he was also claiming to be the fulfillment of all that Psalm 118 says. He is the Savior God has provided. He is the door of rightousness. He is the rejected stone that became the cornerstone. He is the festal sacrifice offered upon the horns of the altar. All of this is the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. And so, we “give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!” (Psalm 118:29, ESV).

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