Luke 19 Palm Sunday, March 20, 2005
If you had only known what would bring you peace
I am most often drawn to the Luke telling of the Palm Sunday Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. The reason why is this juxtaposition that begins at verse 41. All the people are shouting and praising and excited about Jesus riding into the city, and Jesus, the one that the parade is thrown for is crying! It is like the Santa Claus parade and old Saint Nick is there in his sleigh in tears.
He is crying because He knows that in 5 days, the shouts of “Hosanna!” will turn to “Crucify! Crucify!” The amazing thing is that he is not crying for the pain and rejection that he will endure, he is crying because of what the city’s rejection of him will mean to them.
This is what he says:
“If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace–but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. 44They 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.”
This is not the first time that the people of Jerusalem have missed the peace that God wanted to bring to them. In Isaiah 30, Jerusalem was being threatened by Assyria. Many of the small nations around them had made alliances with Egypt to protect them from Assyria, and people in Jerusalem also wanted to put their trust in Egypt for their protection instead of God.
Isaiah writes:
Isaiah 30
15 This is what the Sovereign LORD , the Holy One of Israel, says:
"In repentance and rest is your salvation,
in quietness and trust is your strength,
but you would have none of it.
16 You said, ’No, we will flee on horses.’
Therefore you will flee!
You said, ’We will ride off on swift horses.’
Therefore your pursuers will be swift!
17 A thousand will flee
at the threat of one;
at the threat of five
you will all flee away,
till you are left
like a flagstaff on a mountaintop,
like a banner on a hill."
Jerusalem wanted to trust in Egypt’s horses for their peace – they were the tanks of the day. But God says, it’s only when you trust in me quietly that you will have true peace.
When they got it right, they wrote things like Psalm 20:
6 Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed;
he answers him from his holy heaven
with the saving power of his right hand.
7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
8 They are brought to their knees and fall,
but we rise up and stand firm.
In Jesus’ time the Romans ran Jerusalem, but there was a certain amount of peace – Pax Romana. As long as no one got out of line, the brute force of Rome was not used. It was an uneasy peace – peace without freedom. But it was a certain peace.
While the Pharisees and other leaders stirred up the crowd against Jesus on Friday because of jealousy, they also did it to keep the peace with Rome. If the Romans thought that this Jesus was going to lead the Jewish people in a revolt against Rome, it could lead to a crack-down and they could lose the peace they had. That is one of the reasons that they tell Jesus to silence his disciples when they are shouting “Hosanna!” - What if the Romans hear?
Jesus cries because they are doing it again – God is offering them true peace and they are rejecting it for the peace of a tyrant.
The peace that God is offering is not just a lack of war – “Shalom” is much deeper than that: it is “well-being” in every area of life. Shalom is one of the greatest blessings that we can wish on someone.
PEACE: "shalom" - absence of strife, "well being" completeness, wholeness, harmony, fulfillment.
Safety, Justice, good economics
How do we seek after peace outside of God in our own personal lives? In our culture? Corporately?
A four-year-old and a six-year-old presented their mom with a houseplant.
They had used their own money to buy it and she was thrilled.
The older of them said with a sad face, "There was a bouquet at the flower shop that we wanted to give you. It was real pretty but it was too expensive. It had a ribbon on it that said ‘Rest In Peace,’ and we thought it would be just perfect since you are always asking for a little peace so that you can rest.
The Peace God Offers
Peace with God.
At our core, any lack of peace that we might feel stems from lack of peace with God. We are created to be in communion with our creator, and when that intimate connection was broken, we lost our peace; our sense of well-being.
Without God, nothing works, and all the places that we go looking for peace, sooner or later come up short.
Bryan Adams could have been singing about God when he sings:
baby when you’re gone - i realize i’m in love
the days go on and on - and the nights just seem so long
even food don’t taste that good - drink ain’t doing what it should
things just feel so wrong - baby when you’re gone
Without God nothing works, but with him everything is put into perspective.
The difficulty is that we can get really used to the lack of peace in our world and ignore the longing for something better – like people living in a war zone who sooner or later just get on with their life, learning to run between buildings, to not get rattled by the sound of gunfire, to live with constant threat of quick or slow death.
Many of the people in my small group at God at the Pub mentioned that they had drifted away from faith, but lately they have noticed that there is something missing in their life – their soul is no longer at peace. It is like the population of a war torn city waking up and saying “what is going on here, this is just not right! And there are times for us when we wake up and say “I’m tired of fighting with God! I want peace!
Jesus puts us back into right relationship with the Father – he gives us peace.
Ephesians 2:1-5
Made Alive in Christ
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions–it is by grace you have been saved.
Jesus brings us into peace by bringing us from the enemy’s side, on to the side of God.
Mark Winter writes: “In the NT, the word for peace means “to reconcile or join.” Some missionary Bible translators were working very hard to find a word for peace in a particular tribal language. At last, a native who was working with them found a combination of words that captured the concept—“a heart that sits down.” When the heart sits down with Jesus—when we join with God through his Son—there is peace.”
What Peace with God gives us.
Peace within
One person wrote…
”My therapist told me the way to achieve true inner peace is to finish what I start.
So far today, I have finished 2 bags of chips and a chocolate cake.
I feel better already.”
Phil 4
4Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Doesn’t say that he will rescue us from all trouble, but he does promise us a peace that transcends all understanding while we go through those times. Graham Cooke says that when God really wants to teach us about peace, he takes us out into the storm.
Peace is a fruit of the Spirit, and as we allow the Spirit to plant seeds in us, and as we are filled daily with the Spirit, and keep in step with Him, we are able to have that peace that passes all understanding. So our friends can say to us “I just don’t understand how you can have peace when so much is going on!
Peace with others
Through Jesus example of forgiveness, and our awareness of his forgiveness toward us, and through the power of the Spirit, we are able to practice forgiveness and live at peace with those around us
This is not an instant peace – but it is something that we work at, in partnership with God. We need to work at it especially within the church.
Ephesians 4
Unity in the Body of Christ
1As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4There is one body and one Spirit–just as you were called to one hope when you were called– 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
Peace with creation
This is area that we are just rediscovering. But creation is a part of the curse in Gen. 3, so it is also a part of the blessing of the Kingdom under Christ. Healing is a part of this blessing, as is learning to care for creation
When we start to follow God’s ways, and give up greed and selfish ambition, it clears the way for us to live in peace with our environment as well. In stead of warring against the rest of creation, we can care for it in partnership with the creator.
The terms of peace
There is one other place in the New Testament where the phrase “The things that make for peace” it is in Luke 14 where Jesus is telling a parable:
Luke 14:31,32: “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.
"Terms of peace" is the same phrase translated "things that make for peace" in Luke 19:42.
Jesus is saying if you only knew the terms of peace that the king is offering. The terms on peace Jesus gives are found in 14:33 – give up everything.
Give up everything that you are relying on to give you peace – give it over to the King, and he will give you true peace. Give over to him the ways that you try to create your own security – this doesn’t mean that you stop locking you door at night, or that you give up a regular pay check – but give these things over to the king, and lean on him alone for you peace.
Surrender
I’m giving you my heart, and all that is within
I lay it all down for the sake of you my King
I’m giving you my dreams, I’m laying down my rights
I’m giving up my pride for the promise of new life
And I surrender all to you, all to you
And I surrender all to you, all to you
I’m singing You this song, I’m waiting at the cross
And all the world holds dear, I count it all as loss
For the sake of knowing You for the glory of Your name
To know the lasting joy, even sharing in Your pain
©2000 Vineyard Songs (UK/Eire)
Words and Music by Marc James
Is God visiting you today? Is he calling you to peace – give up the things you are holding on to and come to him for true peace!
