Palm Sunday 2018 - Crowds Blinded By The World

In the movie Paul is telling Luke a parable. In the parable he says that this life is like a man going to the ocean scooping up a handful of water. The only problem is that the water runs through your fingers no matter how you try to hold onto it. Soon it is gone.

But, eternity is like the rest of the ocean in comparison.

The problem is that we live for the handful of water and ignore the ocean of eternity.

That is what the crowds of pro-Jesus, anti-Jesus and ignore-Jesus people were doing, they were living for this life, for the little handful of water and ignoring the ocean of eternity.

This is a deadly virus that has infected large portions of the church here in America!

This past week I was at our every other month prayer gathering for area pastors.

At that gathering one of the pastors who is from a church that is fairly liberal in its theology made the statement that he wished that people would take the Bible at least as seriously as they take the US constitution.

The US constitution, the constitution of Zimbabwe, the constitution of Indonesia, the constitution of North Korea and others are all temporal; they all belong to the “handful of water”.

The Bible and the teachings of Christ are all eternal, they belong to the ocean of eternity.

You may think I’m a traitor to the cause of democracy in the US, but this past week I have started something on Face Book. Whenever I see a political post I click on it and check the box that says, “hide all posts from” whatever political or news site is involved.

Does that mean that I am not concerned about our society and about the constitution of the United States? Absolutely not!

What it says is that I want to live in the ocean of eternity starting right now.

The problem is not with the Democrats or the Republicans or the Libertarians or the Socialists; the problem is that too many Christians of every political persuasion are living in the handful of water and ignoring the ocean.

This is EXACTLY the same situation that took place on what we call Palm Sunday 2,000 year ago.

Mark 8:36 NIV

“What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?”

One more thought from the Paul, Apostle of Christ Movie …

Luke was speaking to a group of Christians who would be killed the very next day by being torn about by wild beasts and he says …

“There will be a moment of pain and then you will be in the presence of Jesus.”

That is living in the ocean of eternity …

The Nation of Israel had lived predominately in the “handful of water” for most of their existence. One part of Jesus’ journey into Jerusalem on that day is found in …

Luke 13:34-35 NIV

“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 gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD.’”

Luke 19:41-44 NIV

“As (Jesus) approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it and said, ‘If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace - but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.’”