Brief Summary:
- Just comes out of nowhere preaching that the Kingdom of God is at hand
- God is keeping the promise he made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
- God is about to reconcile mankind to himself and establish the throne of David forever
Everyone’s excited about this because THEY think the throne of David means that Herod (the Romans) will be taken off THEIR throne.
He rides into town with HUGE crowds adoring him (Palm Sunday) and by Friday those same people are shouting “Crucify Him!”
What HAPPENED??? I think everything changed on that very first day, after Jesus got into town…
[Luke 19:36-42]
“ As he rode along, the crowds spread out their garments on the road ahead of him. When he reached the place where the road started down the Mount of Olives, all of his followers began to shout and sing as they walked along, praising God for all the wonderful miracles they had seen. ‘Blessings on the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in highest heaven!’ But some of the Pharisees among the crowd said, “Teacher, rebuke your followers for saying things like that!” He replied, “If they kept quiet, the stones along the road would burst into cheers!”
[Mark 11:9-10]
“Jesus was in the center of the procession, and the people all around him were shouting, “Praise God! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessings on the coming Kingdom of our ancestor David! Praise God in highest heaven!””
[Luke 19:40-42]
But as he came closer to Jerusalem and saw the city ahead, he began to weep. ‘How I wish today that you of all people would understand the way to peace. But now it is too late, and peace is hidden from your eyes.’”
Why?
- He knew they didn’t get it
- He knew what they wanted wasn’t what he was bringing and he knew the price they would pay for that
- So, out of love, he mourned their rejection of him
But WHY?! How do they go from wanting him to be king on Sunday and wanting him dead on Friday???
- The most broken thing he can fix in your life, is you
- The change in your relationship with God that you need most is in the way you see him, not the way he sees you
JESUS CAME TO FIX THE BROKENNESS IN YOU MORE THAN THE BROKENNESS AROUND YOU
[Luke 19:45-48]
“Then Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people selling animals for sacrifices. He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves.” After that, he taught daily in the Temple, but the leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the other leaders of the people began planning how to kill him. But they could think of nothing, because all the people hung on every word he said.”
[1 Corinthians 6:19]
“Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God.”
God has ALWAYS been more interested in your heart
[Matthew 23:25-2]
“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy – full of greed and self-indulgence! You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean, too.
In the same way, some people come to faith for what they can get out of it but Jesus is more interested in what you become because of it!
We forget that God knows what we don’t. He sees what we can’t.
- The greatest threat to me is not the sin around me but the sin in me
- “We have no peace within us so we can’t generate peace around us. We struggle with envy because we want the life we don’t have. We struggle with greed because we want what we don’t possess. We struggle with insignificance because we have made our value dependent on the opinion of others. We shuffle with identity because we don’t know who we are outside of what we do. We struggle with loneliness because we are searching for love rather than giving it.” – Erwin McManus, Way of the Warrior
- THIS is why you need Jesus
JESUS CAME TO REARRANGE OUR PRIORITIES AND CHANGE THE WAY WE LIVE
[Luke 20:9-18]
“ Now Jesus turned to the people again and told them this story: “A man planted a vineyard, leased it to tenant farmers, and moved to another country to live for several years. At the time of the grape harvest, he sent one of his servants to collect his share of the crop. But the farmers attacked the servant, beat him up, and sent him back empty-handed. So the owner sent another servant, but they also insulted him, beat him up, and sent him away empty-handed. A third man was sent, and they wounded him and chased him away. “‘What will I do?’ the owner asked himself. ‘I know! I’ll send my cherished son. Surely they will respect him.’ “But when the tenant farmers saw his son, they said to each other, ‘Here comes the heir to this estate. Let’s kill him and get the estate for ourselves!’ So they dragged him out of the vineyard and murdered him. “What do you suppose the owner of the vineyard will do to them?” Jesus asked.
“I’ll tell you—he will come and kill those farmers and lease the vineyard to others.” “How terrible that such a thing should ever happen,” his listeners protested. Jesus looked at them and said, “Then what does this Scripture mean? ‘The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.’ Everyone who stumbles over that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone it falls on.””
THIS is why Jesus weeps on Palm Sunday. This is why he weeps when he sees us today. The message hasn’t changed.
- We don’t want God to change our hearts. We want him to change our circumstances
- We want God to recognize our autonomy FROM him rather than rearrange our lives AROUND him
[Matthew 7:13-14]
“ You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.”
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