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
B. God has given you great potential
1. The two saddest words ¡V ¡§if only¡¨
a.) If only ¡V I had finished school
b.) If only - I had married that person
c.) If only ¡V I had taken that job
d.) If only ¡V I had bought that house
e.) If only ¡V I had served Christ more
2. Your potential lies in your future, not in your past
a.) Stop living in the If only mindset. The past cannot be changed but you can change today and all of your tomorrow¡¦s
b.) Jesus has a great plan for your life and he wants you to achieve it
c.) Paul said: Forgetting what is behind and striving toward what is ahead
IV. Jesus wants to give you peace (V. 42)
What would bring you peace
A. Peace is the state of the soul at rest
1. When we are on our own and in our sin we can not have peace
2. Peace comes when we can rest on the merit of Christ
B. Jerusalem literally means city of peace
1. Jerusalem was anything but peaceful
2. Things were going to only get worse. The Romans were going to destroy the city some forty years later
Conclusion
I. Christ is calling you to live your life against the flow
A. When people see you, do they know you are a Christian?
1. How do they know? Do you tell them or do they see it?
2. If you are really living for Christ it should be evident that Christ resides within you
B. How are you living?
1. Do you bring joy to the heart of Christ?
2. Do you bring sorrow to the heart of Christ?
II. The reality of this challenge
A. Jesus sees you as you are
1. Jesus doesn¡¦t care what you¡¦ve done and doesn¡¦t care where you¡¦ve been. He offers forgiveness and love to you as you are right now
2. Jesus is more concerned with you future than He is with your past
B. Jesus sees your pain
1. Jesus knows all of the hurting and pain you have gone through
2. Jesus weeps with you in your pain and He offers comfort and understanding to you because He has been where you are in life
C. Jesus sees your potential
1. Jesus knows what your future can hold and knows what you are capable of in this life
2. Jesus offers a future filled with hope and potential
D. Jesus wants you to have peace
1. Jesus has peace and rest for your soul. Peace I bring you my peace I leave you
2. Jesus offers us peace and rest for your soul. Now is the time to take Him up on His offer
