Is Jesus Still Weeping?

Is Jesus still weeping?

Luke 19:41-44

April 8, 2001

Palm Sunday

This message was based on an outline in Roger Capbell’s book Preach for A Year # 1 Palm Sunday Tears pages 61 and 62, published by Kregel.

Introduction

I. New Pastor¡¦s Appointment

Finding his newly-appointed pastor standing at his study window in the church weeping as he looked over the inner city¡¦s tragic conditions, a layman sought to console him: "Don¡¦t worry. After you¡¦ve been here a while, you¡¦ll get used to it." Responded the minister, "Yes, I know. That¡¦s why I am crying."

II. The things that we get used to in life

A. We get used to the routine of life

1. We set ourselves on a schedule of daily activities

2. We set ourselves for something that is comfortable

B. We adjust our life with the world around us

1. We are forced to adjust our schedule to the world around us

2. We make concessions to fit the world

Q- Is it any wonder why the world is in the shape that it is in?

C. Jesus wept over the state of Jerusalem.

1. Palm Sunday

a.) The use of the Palm branches to welcome Jesus into Jerusalem

b.) The triumphal entry into Jerusalem

c.) This event is recorded in each of the gospels

2. Setting

a.) This is about five days before the Passover. Jesus and His disciples are entering Jerusalem for the feast from Bethany

b.) Passover was the most important of the Jewish feasts. It is estimated that they were approximately 300,00 people attending the Passover

3. Jesus weeps before He enters the city

a.) Jesus was so moved by the brokenness of the city that He openly wept

b.) The question remains ¡V Is Jesus still weeping?

„h Is He still weeping over the state of this community?

„h Is He still weeping over the state of this church?

„h Is He still weeping over the state of your life?

Read text

Body

I. Jesus sees beyond the pleasantries (V. 41)

As Jesus approached Jerusalem and saw the city,

A. There is a great deal of superficial in this world

1. We are surrounded by the ¡§stuff¡¨ of this world. Anything that does not last after we go on to be with Jesus is nothing but stuff

2. We are obsessed by what we possess

3. Jesus sets for us a different standard

a.) Jerusalem must have been beautiful and indeed spectacular. It would have been in it¡¦s glory

b.) Jesus had just been welcomed into the city as King and savior. Hosanna means ¡§save us now¡¨ Yet before He enters the city He was weeping

B. Jesus sees things as they really are, not as they appear

1. The things that make Jesus weep

a.) The lack of commitment by His people

b.) The loss of spiritual passion

c.) The loss of your first love

2. Is Jesus broken hearted when He looks into your life?

C. Jesus sees into the fabric of our lives

1. Jesus knows every one of your failures. He sees each of your sins

a.) He still loves you in spite of your sins

b.) He wants to give the forgiveness that you need

c.) He longs to have a relationship with you

2. He knows each person inside out

a.) Jesus is not fooled by the mere appearances

b.) He looks to the heart

II. Jesus cares about your pain (V. 41)

He wept over it.

A. Jesus sees the pain of Jerusalem

1. They were deeply divided

a.) Political ¡V Jerusalem was under Roman occupation and created strong division

b.) Social ¡V Jerusalem was a city of great social diversity from the highly educated to the uneducated, the wealthy to the homeless poor and from community leader to community outcast

c.) Religious ¡V Jerusalem had members from four different sects of the Jewish faith and all were in conflict with one another

2. They were deeply distressed

a.) The people were divided and they were sinful. Their sin held them in bondage

b.) The reality is that sin carries a cost with it

B. The majority of our pain is caused by sin

1. Sin is your #1 problem in life

a.) Sin will separate you from God

b.) Sin will separate you from others

c.) Sin will separate you from yourself

2. Sin does nothing except cause pain

a.) Every Christian sins but knows the avenue of forgiveness

b.) No saint is without a past and no sinner without a future

III. Jesus knows your potential (V. 42)

If you, even you, had only known

A. The lost potential of Jerusalem

1. Jerusalem was meant to be a city where God¡¦s blessing flowed to His people

2. Jerusalem had become a place of war and strife ¡V As it is to this day