Page 3 - Palm Sunday and Jerusalem (April 1st - 2012)
You see, either Jesus is Who He says He is or He’s a deceiver. It’s really that simple.
And just like Palm Sunday was truly a sad day to both the Father and the Son, so is every day that men and women and children choose to ignore the Only One Who can bring them life and forgiveness and hope and assurance of heaven and peace.
Now, it’s true that everyone has their right to choose who and what they will believe. But consider an illustration dealing with your health.
Suppose you had a serious medical condition and that you were very ill. And suppose there was a simple life style change; let’s say to stop eating potato chips and drinking soda. And suppose your doctor gave you plenty of supporting evidence to support his advice. Yet you still choose day after day to enjoy your chips and soda. And all the while you continued to further damage your health.
No doubt we’d all feel sorry for you. And we would all wish we could do something more for you. And yet there is far more at stake when it comes to spiritual life and spiritual truth.
Spiritual decisions and choices are the most important ones in life. And the choice is ours to make. This is what occurred on that first Palm Sunday with the Jewish hierarchy. And this is what so deeply affected Jesus to the point of His bursting into tears.
But this is not the first time we find the LORD so deeply concerned for the spiritual needs of these Jewish leaders. Here’s another word from Jesus just weeks earlier, possibly to this very same crowd. Luke 13:34 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!
(35) Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.”
The LORD’s heart, as you can see, was continually towards the Jews. His desire was that they receive Him and believe Him and believe on Him. Yet, they would not.
First, He was saddened by their ignorance.
Second, they refused to believe that He was the One Who could bring them peace.
Here’s what the LORD said to them that day. (41) “And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, (42) Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace!...”
You see, the LORD wanted more than anything that these men and their families experience true and lasting peace. Yet, as we know, they would not.
Jesus is so ready to bring peace to the hearts of men and women and children. Yet that peace is so often unnecessarily refused. They, like so many today, simply don’t believe that peace can be found in Jesus Christ.
Here is the LORD’s humble and persistent offer to mankind. John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
All over the world there are constant offers of peace, only they are false offers. Just consider the explosion of religions offering peace in this world in the past 40 plus years. Did you know that since 1970, just over the past 43 years, we’ve added no less than 55 new religions? The religious choices are staggering.
Yet, here is God the Son, the humble King riding on a donkey into Jerusalem offering to everyone the opportunity to experience true peace. And the things which belong to their peace was scorned and scoffed at.
And here is a word from the Apostle Paul on this same subject. Ephesians 2:13 “But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. (14) For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;…”
And just like Palm Sunday was truly a sad day to both the Father and the Son, so is every day that men and women and children choose to ignore the Only One Who can bring them life and forgiveness and hope and assurance of heaven and peace.
Now, it’s true that everyone has their right to choose who and what they will believe. But consider an illustration dealing with your health.
Suppose you had a serious medical condition and that you were very ill. And suppose there was a simple life style change; let’s say to stop eating potato chips and drinking soda. And suppose your doctor gave you plenty of supporting evidence to support his advice. Yet you still choose day after day to enjoy your chips and soda. And all the while you continued to further damage your health.
No doubt we’d all feel sorry for you. And we would all wish we could do something more for you. And yet there is far more at stake when it comes to spiritual life and spiritual truth.
Spiritual decisions and choices are the most important ones in life. And the choice is ours to make. This is what occurred on that first Palm Sunday with the Jewish hierarchy. And this is what so deeply affected Jesus to the point of His bursting into tears.
But this is not the first time we find the LORD so deeply concerned for the spiritual needs of these Jewish leaders. Here’s another word from Jesus just weeks earlier, possibly to this very same crowd. Luke 13:34 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!
(35) Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.”
The LORD’s heart, as you can see, was continually towards the Jews. His desire was that they receive Him and believe Him and believe on Him. Yet, they would not.
First, He was saddened by their ignorance.
Second, they refused to believe that He was the One Who could bring them peace.
Here’s what the LORD said to them that day. (41) “And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, (42) Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace!...”
You see, the LORD wanted more than anything that these men and their families experience true and lasting peace. Yet, as we know, they would not.
Jesus is so ready to bring peace to the hearts of men and women and children. Yet that peace is so often unnecessarily refused. They, like so many today, simply don’t believe that peace can be found in Jesus Christ.
Here is the LORD’s humble and persistent offer to mankind. John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
All over the world there are constant offers of peace, only they are false offers. Just consider the explosion of religions offering peace in this world in the past 40 plus years. Did you know that since 1970, just over the past 43 years, we’ve added no less than 55 new religions? The religious choices are staggering.
Yet, here is God the Son, the humble King riding on a donkey into Jerusalem offering to everyone the opportunity to experience true peace. And the things which belong to their peace was scorned and scoffed at.
And here is a word from the Apostle Paul on this same subject. Ephesians 2:13 “But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. (14) For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;…”