19 verses 28 through 40. That's page 878 and 879 in the Pew Bible.
Let me invite you to go ahead and turn there with me.
And before we read this, let me pray for us.
Lord, indeed how great you are.
Lord, we ask now that as we come before you in your word,
that you would display your greatness once again to us.
Jesus, you indeed are the lion and the lamb.
We ask that we'd be able to see you and behold you
in that perfect glory that is yours alone.
Lord, help us as we draw near to you in this text.
Lord, that we would hear these words as not just an ancient and faithful account of events that happened long ago,
but as a living word for us today.
We ask this in Christ's name and by your spirit.
Amen.
Luke 19 verse 28.
And when Jesus had said these things, he went on ahead going up to Jerusalem.
When he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany at the mount that is called Olivet,
he sent two of his disciples saying,
Go into the village in front of you where on entering you will find a colt tied on which no one has ever sat.
Untie it and bring it here.
If anyone asks you why are you untying it, you shall say this,
The Lord has need of it.
So those who were sent went away and found it just as he had told them.
And as they were untying the colt, its owner said to them,
Why are you untying the colt?
And they said, The Lord has need of it.
And they brought it to Jesus and throwing their cloaks on the colt,
they set Jesus on it and as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road.
As he was drawing near, already on the way down the Mount of Olives,
the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice
for all the mighty works that they had seen,
saying, Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord.
Peace in heaven and glory in the highest.
And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him,
Teacher, rebuke your disciples.
He answered, I tell you, if these were silent,
the very stones would cry out.
So, as we've been saying, today is Palm Sunday.
This is the day when we remember Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem nearly 2,000 years ago.
And as John mentioned at the beginning of our service,
this Sunday marks the beginning of what is sometimes called Holy Week.
Traditionally, this week is the high point of the year for Christians
when we remember Jesus' crucifixion on Good Friday
and we celebrate his resurrection on Easter Sunday just one week from today.
And the account of the triumphal entry that we just read is from Luke's gospel.
In fact, this is one of the handful of events that every single gospel writer mentions.
The triumphal entry.
But the way that Luke has structured his gospel here,
his account of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem,
comes at the end of a long middle section of his gospel,
chapters 9 through 19,
where Jesus in that section is concerned above all
to teach his disciples what it means to follow him.
In that middle section, discipleship is the primary focus.
And as a sidebar, to give a little advertisement,
in a couple of weeks,
we're going to be studying that section in the gospel of Luke
in the evening service.
So, if you want to get a first-hand look at what following Jesus is really all about,
then you can come along to the evening service starting April 3rd
and we'll dive into that together.
But, here, in our text, at the end of chapter 19,
now Luke's emphasis shifts.
No longer is he primarily focusing on discipleship,
but now Luke wants to draw our hearts back
to the one who is the center of it all.
He wants to draw us back to the person and work of Jesus himself.
And he's coming back to some of the core questions
that really drove all of the gospel writers, really.
Who is this Jesus?
What did he come to do?
And how are we supposed to respond?
And what we see is that this is a passage filled with all sorts of misunderstanding
in relationship to those questions.
As Jesus rides into Jerusalem, some people seem to get it right,
but maybe not completely right.
And some people certainly get it wrong.
And everyone, it seems, is caught up in their own expectations and desires and wishes,
their own agendas, their own kingdoms.
And we wonder, reading a passage like this
and maybe looking at our own lives today,
does anyone really get it?
Does anyone understand who this Jesus is
and what he's come to do and how we ought to respond?
Now, maybe this isn't your first Palm Sunday.
It comes every year, after all.
Maybe you've sat through a lot of Palm Sunday services.
Maybe you've even been to a Palm Sunday service
where they actually hand out palm branches for you to celebrate with.
That's fun.
You know, sometimes as Protestants,
we can be really sort of hard on those sorts of things.
But you know what's funny?
Every youth ministry seminar I go to,
this is what they tell you.
They say, here's how you reach people in teaching.
Try to appeal to more than one of their senses.
Don't just hit them in the ears.
Hit them with their hands.
Hit them with their nose.
Do whatever you can.
Show them neat pictures on the overhead.
So it seems like the church for many, many ages
has sort of gotten really good teaching methods.
They give you a Palm on Palm Sunday.
And there it is.
You can taste it.
You can look at it.
You can touch it.
Whatever you want to do with it.
Palm Sunday.
But you know, could it be after all these years
that perhaps you and I are missing something critical about Jesus?
Perhaps we've let our own agendas and our own expectations cloud our thinking.
And maybe we've been missing something crucial all these years.
Now maybe for you, this is your first Palm Sunday.
Maybe you're not sure if you've ever been to a church service on Palm Sunday before.
Maybe Christianity is all quite new to you.
And my guess is that you too have some sort of notion about Jesus.
But this morning, along with Luke, let's focus our gaze back on who Jesus is
and what he's come to do and how we ought to be responding to him once again.
Let's come back to these basic questions
so that we won't settle for vague notions or popular misconceptions.
Because as we'll see, by the time we come to the end of this passage,
this is no question of sort of mere historical interest.
The stakes are high and the claim is great.
Jesus, in essence, will say that our whole life and our whole being
only finds its proper meaning in him.
So let's look at these three questions together then.
Who is Jesus?
What's he come to do?
And how ought we respond?
So first, who is this Jesus?
As Luke sort of directs his camera right on the person of Christ,
he focuses in, in this passage, on something that seems to us
maybe sort of insignificant.
What sort of dominates the opening verses of our paragraph?
This cult, this animal, right?
Right?
Verses 29 through 35 seem to be all about this simple animal.
Did you notice that Luke doesn't mention which disciples Jesus sends?
He could care less about that.
Nor does Luke mention which village they go to.
Is it Bethany?
Is it Bethphage?
We don't really know.
Luke doesn't seem to care.
But rather, this unsuspecting cult seems to take center stage.
Why is this animal so significant?
Well, it's significant for Luke
because as we see here, it's very significant for Jesus.
Jesus commands that it be brought to him.
And the disciples, we find in verse 32,
found it just as he had told them.
And of course, many a reader of the gospel has looked at this
and said, perhaps quite rightly,
that here we see a glimpse of Jesus' divine knowledge of all things.
Perhaps in his divine nature,
Jesus knew that they'd find the cult just as he described,
ready to be borrowed.
And according to the cultural custom of the day,
important dignitaries and even rabbis
could often procure use of property for personal reasons.
This would have been a sort of strange request.
That's why when the disciples come
and say to the owners of this animal,
the Lord has need of it,
they're glad to let him borrow it.
But in fact, surely these owners had heard of Jesus.
So they were more than willing to let him have use of the cult.
But you know, whether this instance is a glimpse
of Jesus' divine foreknowledge
or whether simply Jesus had arranged for the cult ahead of time,
you know, this wasn't the first time
that Jesus had traveled through Bethany and Bethphage after all.
In either case, the important point to see here, I think,
is that Jesus is in complete control of the situation.
He is the one directing all the events here.
Now, why did Jesus take and make such intentional plans for this cult?
Did he think that he'd be tired
after the long journey toward Jerusalem?
It was a pretty steep hill up the Mount of Olives.
Was it a common custom for people to ride into Jerusalem
for the Passover festival?
No, actually.
In fact, from what we can tell historically,
it seems that pilgrims always walked into Jerusalem
as a sign of reverence.
So what does it mean?
Well, for most first century Jews,
the meaning would have been shocking but clear.
By riding the cult into Jerusalem,
Jesus is intentionally making a public,
dramatic demonstration
of his identity as the promised Messiah,
as the long-awaited king.
You see, nearly all of the Hebrew prophets
looked forward to the day of their coming king.
And in one particular book,
the book of Zechariah,
he actually gives a description
of what this arrival would look like.
In Zechariah chapter nine, verse nine,
we find this,
rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion.
Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem.
Behold, your king is coming to you,
righteous and having salvation is he,
humble and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
So it's unmistakable.
Jesus is taking on himself,
Zechariah's prophecy about the coming king.
In fact, that's probably why Jesus emphasizes
the fact in verse 30
that the colt is one on which
no one has ever yet sat,
which is to say that it's a young creature.
It's a foal,
just like Zechariah had foreseen.
So what's going on here
is this unmistakable sign act
on Jesus' part.
By riding the colt,
it's as if Jesus is saying,
the king that you've been waiting for,
I'm the one.
Do you see what an utterly astounding claim that is?
Imagine I showed up where you work,
wearing a nice suit,
maybe driving a nice car,
which I borrowed from somebody.
Parked right in,
and I drove up and I parked right
in the CEO's parking spot,
reserved for such and such.
I parked right there.
And then I confidently marched
right into the building,
went up the elevator,
walked into the corner office,
as if I owned the place,
as if I ran the place.
Well, depending on the level of security
where you work,
that charade is going to last
maybe about three seconds, right?
No one is going to be convinced.
And certainly the people who know me well
will be the first ones to say,
not a chance.
And yet for Jesus,
it's very different.
He makes this utterly stunning,
bold, public proclamation
of his kingship.
And those who know him best
think it's completely appropriate.
In verse 37,
we're told that they praise God
with a loud voice
for all the mighty works
they had seen.
And what were those mighty works?
Well, Luke's gospel
has been recounting them
again and again and again.
Here was the one
that they had seen
heal the sick
and cure the lepers.
Here was the one
who restored sight
to the blind
and drove out demons
from the oppressed.
Here was the one
they had seen
take a handful of loaves
and a couple of fish
and feed thousands
in one sitting.
Here was the one
they had seen
speak to a raging storm
and immediately
it became calm.
Here was the one
they had seen
speak into a dead man's tomb
and the man
came to life again.
When the Christ appears
some had said
will he do more signs
than this man has done?
Go get the cult
Jesus says.
The time is now.
And they found it
just as he had told them.
Friends,
I wonder if you're starting
to get a glimpse
of this king.
How utterly in control
he is.
How fearless.
How unrelenting.
How bold.
At this point in the story
the authorities
are already seeking
his life.
The opposition
is already mounting.
But,
he gets the cult.
He declares
his true identity.
He rides into Jerusalem.
Fearless,
powerful,
bold.
And yet,
at one and the same time,
in the exact moment
that Jesus demonstrates
his authority
and power,
he also displays
his humility.
Humble and mounted
on a donkey,
Zacharias says.
Not a war horse,
not a chariot,
but a cult
the foal
of a donkey.
Can you imagine
the Roman soldiers
who occupied Jerusalem
looking out
at this band
of pilgrims
coming down
the Mount of Olives
like so many
groups of pilgrims
had come down
the Mount of Olives
coming towards the city?
And this one's
shouting
and waving
and throwing
their cloaks
in the road
which was a sign
of homage.
and at the center
of this
excitement
is a man
riding
on a donkey.
What a ridiculous sight
it must have seemed
to the Roman authorities.
Some king
they must have mocked.
Which is probably
why the Roman authorities
didn't march right out there
and squelch it
to begin with.
What was the threat?
A man riding
a donkey
followed by a band
of disciples
throwing their clothing
in the road?
And yet,
friends,
Jesus is no ordinary king.
I don't need to tell you
that many of the rulers
of this world
are intoxicated
with brute power,
with control,
and with utter subjugation.
And yet,
here is a king,
indeed the true king,
with all the authority
of God himself
because he is God himself
and he's exercising
that power
in humility
and in gentleness
and in service.
Here's the one
who not only
calmed the raging sea
but who welcomed
children to his side
and blessed them
as we saw last week.
Here's the one
who not only called
Lazarus forth from the grave
with a loud voice
but raised
Jairus' daughter
back to life
with gentle words
saying,
in essence,
little girl,
it's time to get up.
Here's the one
who said,
all authority
in heaven
and on earth
is given to me.
But who also said,
come to me
all who labor
and are heavy laden
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you
and learn from me
for I am gentle
and lowly in heart
and you will find rest
for your souls.
Who else
is like this king?
Show me someone
who is as fearless
and yet as kind,
as authoritative
and yet as humble,
a calmer of storms
and yet a friend of sinners.
Friend,
you might not think
you want a king.
You probably don't think
you need a king.
But don't you want
someone like that?
Unfathomable glory
and perfect humility.
Infinite justice
and infinite grace.
You see this unfold.
You see his character unfold
in the rest of Luke 19.
If you just scan your eyes
over the rest of the chapter,
if you were to read further,
then you would see Jesus weep
broken hearted
over hard hearted Jerusalem,
rejecting their king.
And in the next moment,
you'd see Christ's zeal
as he cleanses the temple.
Fury
and tears.
Lion
and lamb.
The king mounted
on a donkey.
You know,
from one angle,
you can read the entire story
of the Old Testament
as a story
of waiting
for the rightful king
to come.
In the book of Judges,
a refrain goes up
again and again.
In those days,
there was no king in Israel
and everyone did
what was right
in their own eyes
and the nation unravels
socially,
spiritually,
morally,
politically.
And then when Israel
finally gets a king
in the opening chapters
of 1 Samuel,
he sort of looks the part.
Saul is tall and strong,
but ultimately he fails.
And then David,
with David,
Israel gets as close
as they ever do
to having their ideal king.
He's a man after God's own heart
and even David fails
and falls short
as we've been seeing
in the evening service
these many weeks.
And Solomon,
David's son,
likewise,
turns out not to be the king
that Israel or the world
really needs.
After Solomon's death,
the narrative of 1 and 2 Samuel
sort of functions
like a spotlight,
just going back and forth again
from north to south
and back again,
seeing whether one of these kings
will bring righteousness
and stability
and hope.
And of course,
if you've read those stories,
you know that none of them do.
But the great prophets
foresee a day
when God's promise
to his people
will be fulfilled.
That one day,
one of David's offspring
will sit on the throne
forever and ever.
And this king,
Isaiah tells us,
will be called
nothing less than
wonderful counselor,
mighty God,
everlasting father,
prince of peace.
Of the increase
of his government
and of peace,
there will be no end.
He will sit on the throne
of David
and over his kingdom
to establish it
and to uphold it
with justice
and with righteousness
from this time forth
and forevermore.
And you see,
the unrelenting witness
of the New Testament
is that in Jesus,
this king has at last come.
That in Jesus,
indeed,
God has come
to shepherd
and to rule his people
and to renew all things.
So friends,
let me ask,
if this is who Jesus is,
the lion and the lamb,
the one with all authority
and all humility,
the calmer of storms
and the friend of sinners,
what is it that keeps you
from entrusting your life to him?
what is there
that you desire
in a savior,
in a king,
in a God
that is not
in the Lord Jesus Christ?
And maybe you're asking yourself,
well,
what did it look like?
What if I actually took
Christ as my king?
As crazy as that sounds,
what if I were to center
my life on him?
What would I expect?
What kind of relationship
would that be?
In the 18th century,
a pastor and theologian
named Jonathan Edwards
put it this way.
He said,
Christ will give himself
to you
with all those
various excellencies
that meet,
that come together in him
to your full
and everlasting
enjoyment.
He will ever after
treat you
as his dear friend
and you shall
ere long
be where he is
and shall behold
his glory
and dwell with him
in the most free
and intimate
communion
and enjoyment.
Luke is writing
his gospel
because he wants us
to know Christ
like that.
he wants us
to really see
who he is
and to know him.
But it's not just
who Christ is
that's on display here.
We're actually also shown
a glimpse
of what he's come to do.
And that's the second point
I want us to look at.
What's Jesus come to do?
Now the disciples,
again as we mentioned
a little early in the service,
are most certainly
expecting Jesus
to do one thing.
Come in
and topple the Romans.
It is Passover
after all
at this point.
in the year.
It's the national festival
celebrating
Israel's liberation
when God extended
his mighty right arm
and completely unraveled
the nation of Egypt
with plagues
and set the people free.
And that's what
the disciples think
Jesus has come to do.
Military victory.
Political liberation
from their Roman overlords.
In fact,
in the first century
waving palm branches,
which as it turns out
Luke doesn't mention
in his account
of the triumphal entry
but the other gospel writers do,
this idea of waving
palm branches
was actually a symbol
of Jewish nationalism
and military victory.
It wasn't sort of
a cute thing
that they did
in the synagogues
once a year.
And as they would have
waved those palm branches,
they would have been
hailing Jesus as king
and expecting
a great victory
over political oppression.
And yet this isn't
what Jesus does.
If you read Luke's gospel,
you'll find that
Jerusalem is mentioned
a number of times
in chapters 9 through 19.
And as that narrative progresses,
the momentum builds
and builds
as Jesus gets closer
and closer to the city.
But at the beginning
of that section
in chapter 9,
in Luke's account
of the transfiguration,
we're told there
that Moses and Elijah
come and speak to Jesus
about what?
About his departure
that he was about
to accomplish in Jerusalem.
And very interestingly,
that word departure there
is literally
his exodus.
That's chapter 9,
verse 31.
So when Luke says
in verse 28
in our text here
that Jesus
went on ahead
going up to Jerusalem,
finally the story
is starting to reach
its peak.
Jerusalem,
this city
that we've been anticipating
as we followed
Luke's gospel
along the way.
And it's weighted,
it's freighted
with all sorts of meaning
at this point.
In particular,
it means that Jesus
is now finally
going to accomplish
his exodus,
whatever that means.
A whole new Passover
is going to be achieved.
But it wouldn't be
what anyone expected.
But you know,
knowing what we know now,
can't you almost see it
in this scene
as the one
who tamed the raging seas
and rose the dead to life?
God's true king
as he comes riding in
on a lowly donkey.
There he is!
Humble.
Almost foolish.
Perhaps even to some
a scandal.
But you see, friends,
this greater exodus
would be won
through an even
greater humility
and through
an even greater scandal.
The king would enter
on a donkey,
but the king
would win his victory
going even lower still.
Mounting a cross
and being crucified.
Again and again,
Jesus told his disciples
what will happen
when they reach Jerusalem.
He'll be handed over
to the authorities
and crucified,
but in three days
he will rise.
The king is entering Zion
to win a great battle,
yes,
but this even greater exodus,
this even greater liberation
is going to be won
through a cross
and through a resurrection.
The people wanted a victor
who would eliminate
their political enemies,
but Jesus comes
and does one better.
He has a greater enemy
in view
and he's come to liberate us
from our greatest enemy
and our greatest fear,
the enemy of sin
and the fear of death.
And in praising Jesus
in this moment,
as the disciples sort of
take up these verses
from this psalm
that had been sung
so many times,
in taking up these words,
the disciples speak
better than they knew.
What do they say here?
Almost unconsciously
echoing the angels
at Jesus' birth.
Peace in heaven!
They exclaim.
And friends,
isn't that exactly
what the king
has accomplished?
Peace
in heaven.
Jesus would be
the true Passover lamb
dying in the place
of his sinful people
so that the rightful wrath
of God
could pass over our sins
and we could be saved.
Friend,
do you know peace
this morning?
Not the peace
of having a good-paying job,
although that is a good thing.
Not the peace
of having a healthy family,
although that is something
to be thankful for.
Not the peace
of having little
or no conflicts
with your coworkers
and neighbors,
although that is good too.
I'm talking about
the kind of peace
that even if all
those things
were stripped away,
your work,
your health,
your family,
your friends,
even if all those things
were stripped away,
you could still
wake up in the morning
and know joy.
That's the kind of peace
Jesus has come
to win for you.
Peace
with
God.
So you see,
when Jesus told
his disciples
to get the cult,
he knew exactly
where it was all
going to end up.
He would ride
into Jerusalem,
he would be betrayed,
arrested,
condemned
at the hands
of his own friends
and his own people,
and at the hand
of the Romans,
the Romans,
everyone thought
he was coming
to overthrow.
Jesus himself
would be overthrown.
But three days later,
he would rise.
So don't you see,
his decision
to mount
the cult
was his decision
to mount the cross.
And he knew exactly
where it all would lead.
And in so doing,
he would fulfill
even more words
of the prophets.
Like these from Isaiah,
he was wounded
for our transgressions.
He was crushed
for our iniquities.
Upon him
was the chastisement
that brought us
peace.
There it is again.
Peace.
Friend,
you can know
peace this morning.
The ultimate peace
of having your sins
forgiven.
You have a victor
who humbled himself
and conquered sin
and death for you.
And that's what
Holy Week is all about.
That in Jesus'
death and resurrection,
all who turn
and believe in him
are liberated
from the guilt
and penalty of sin,
from the curse
of the law,
from the fear
of death
and they have
peace with God.
Friend,
I wonder if we've
forgotten what
great news this is.
I wonder if we're
still trying to squeeze
Jesus down
into the mold
of our expectations
and our desires
and our petty
little kingdoms
when he's opened up
the kingdom of God
for us.
Well, this brings us
to our third
and final point
briefly.
In our text today,
we see the division
that Jesus inevitably
causes.
Look at the end,
those last few verses.
The disciples hail
Jesus as the king
with those words
from Psalm 118,
blessed is the one
who comes in the name
of the Lord.
But the Pharisees
say to Jesus,
teacher,
rebuke your disciples.
And don't those
two responses
represent two of
the most fundamental
ways that we can
still respond
to him today.
On the one hand,
we can consider
Jesus a mere teacher,
a teacher whose
disciples probably
got a little
out of hand,
a teacher whose
disciples started
making claims of
Jesus that he
himself would
never have supported.
Of course,
our text this
morning shows that
Jesus was making
those claims.
Jesus' identity
wasn't something
that was fabricated
by the disciples
as they played
whisper down the
alley in the
decades after
his death.
But we can see
him as a mere
teacher,
or on the other
hand,
we can rejoice
before Jesus
and praise him
as the king
who comes in
the name of
the Lord.
And between
these two
options,
what does
Jesus himself
say?
What's his
verdict on
these two
responses to
his identity,
to his
person,
to his
work?
Verse 40,
I tell you,
Jesus says,
if these were
silent,
the very stones
would cry out.
Well,
that's about as
definitive as you
could make it,
isn't it?
In this moment,
Jesus says,
I have to be
praised.
And if human
beings aren't
going to do it,
then the
inanimate creation
itself is going
to break forth
in song and
hail me as the
king.
That's what
humans were
meant to do,
by the way,
created in the
image of God,
to take the
full praises of
creation and
reflect them
back to its
rightful king
and creator.
And Jesus
says,
here,
look,
if you're
not going
to do it,
then the
praises of
creation will
crash over
your heads
and keep
coming,
whether you
come or not.
Even the
stones will cry
out.
Teacher,
the Pharisees
called him.
Teacher?
What Jesus is
saying here is
that the
universe exists
for his
praise.
Everything,
every rock,
every star,
every molecule
in your body
was fashioned
by him and
through him
and for him,
as Paul later
says in
Colossians 1.
And do you
see what that
means?
That here is
the one
who can make
your whole
life sing.
every stitch
and every
fabric within
you was
made to
praise this
king.
To not
acknowledge him
as such
is to live
at a joint
with your
very essence.
Some of you
are here this
morning and
you're wondering
why life
just doesn't
seem to be
adding up.
Why on the
surface,
everything in
your life
seems to be
pretty good,
pretty right,
pretty commendable.
But inside,
there seems to be
nothing but chaos.
friends,
have you ever
asked and
have you ever
thought that
maybe you're
praising the
wrong thing?
Maybe you're
centering your
life on
something that
just can't
hold.
I often think
of our lives
like a wheel
on the spokes
of the various
parts of our
life.
And in
themselves,
oftentimes these
spokes seem to
be okay.
Our work,
our family,
our relationships,
they seem to
be fine.
And yet,
no matter what
we put in
the hub,
no matter what
we put in
the center,
nothing keeps
them together
and they're
always flying
apart and
they're always
crashing into
each other.
But friend,
if there's a
God who made
you and who
took on flesh
to redeem you
because he
loves you,
then surely
he must be
the rightful
center.
Surely he must
be the one
around whom
everything else
must and
can spin.
Surely he must
be the one
you've got to
praise above
all else.
And that's the
call of the
gospel,
to hail Jesus
not just as a
teacher but as
a king,
as the king,
and to take up
your cross and
follow him,
and in so doing
to find peace and
joy and true
freedom.
But there's
more in this
little comment
about the
stones,
isn't there?
Because it
points ahead to
Jesus' second
coming.
When the
resurrected Jesus
returns to
bring his
kingdom to
completion and
fullness,
when he does
that he's going
to renew all
things,
friends,
and then at
that moment
it's not just
going to be the
rocks that are
crying out,
but it's going
to be the
entire creation
that will rejoice
in that moment.
Here's how
Psalm 96 put
it.
Psalm 96
says,
let the heavens
be glad and
let the earth
rejoice,
let the sea roar
and all that
fills it,
let the field
exult and
everything in
it.
Then all the
trees of the
forest sing for
joy before the
Lord for he
comes,
for he comes to
judge the earth,
he will judge the
world in
righteousness and
the peoples in
faithfulness.
And we see it
again in Isaiah
55,
for you shall go
out in joy and
be led forth in
peace and the
mountains and the
hills before you
shall break forth
into singing and
all the trees of
the field shall
clap their
hands.
And friends,
if the trees are
going to clap
their hands in
that moment,
what's going to be
true of us?
One day Jesus is
going to make the
earth resound with
joy at his coming
through the victory
he won through his
death and resurrection
and even creation
itself is going to be
set free from its
bondage to decay,
Paul says.
And friends,
if one day he
will do that,
and he will,
then surely today
he can take your
heart of stone
and make it cry
with life again
and with joy
and with peace.
That's what Holy
Week is all about.
How will you
respond to Jesus?
Will you keep him
at arm's length
as just another
teacher?
Or will you
praise him as
your rightful king?
Let's pray.
Father,
indeed,
we ask for
your Holy Spirit
to come
and to make us
willing and able
to receive Jesus
as our Lord
and King.
God,
our own flesh
pushes against
that idea
with almost
everything within
it.
We don't want
a king.
We don't want
someone to rule
over our lives.
We'd rather
try to just
have a teacher
who can give us
advice and then
we can stay in
control and we
can try to work
things out our
own way.
Oh,
Lord,
would you give us
your spirit
to overcome
our self-control
and our self-love
and pull us
out of ourselves
into where real
life is found
in the glad
embrace
of this great
king.
Lord,
make it so,
we pray.
In Jesus' name,
amen.