April 9, 2023
In last week’s sermon, we looked at Luke’s account of the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem as recorded in Luke 19:28-44. There are some things that have been on my mind about this event that didn’t make it into the sermon that I would like to share with you. Before I do, I need to give a shout out to Bronson Morgan who led the devotional at our associational meeting last night. He organized many of the same thoughts I have been pondering all week into last night’s devotional. In Luke 19:41, we see Jesus weeping. Verses 42-46 tell us why He was weeping. The question I have for us is this. Are we weeping over the same things that Jesus was weeping over? First of all, Verses 42-44 tell us that Jesus was weeping over Jerusalem’s “lostness”. As Jesus looked over the city, it broke His heart that for the most part, His own people, the Jews, rejected Him as Messiah and were lost. As we look over Fairview (or wherever you live), do we have the same brokenness over those who are lost, dying, and headed for an eternity separated from God? Then, the next day, in Verses 45-46, Luke tells us that Jesus went into the temple complex , flipped a bunch of tables over and ran the “money-changers” out of the temple. Jesus told them that they had turned God’s house of prayer into a den of robbers. I wonder how many tables Jesus would flip over if He visited our churches today? The religious folk of Jesus’ day had become so comfortable and complacent in their religion, that they left God behind. Have we done the same thing today? Are we, like Jesus, broken over the complacency of the church today? In spite of the brokenness of Jesus, Luke ends this section with a message of hope. In Verses 47-48, Luke tells us that the religious leaders wanted to destroy Jesus, but they weren’t able to so because the people were “very attentive” to the teachings of Jesus. As we celebrate Easter this weekend, let’s remember that we are surrounded by a sea of lost people. They can’t afford to have God’s people enclosing themselves inside their four walls and failing to tell them about the saving grace of Jesus Christ. While we might think no one cares or no one is listening, Jesus reminds us that the harvest is plentiful.
Be blessed and be a blessing . . . Bro. Andy
