Sixth Sunday In Lent - Palm Sunday
Good Good Father
Verse 1
I've heard a thousand stories
Of what they think You’re like
But I've heard the tender whisper
Of love in the dead of night
You tell me that You’re pleased
And that I'm never alone
Chorus
You're a Good Good Father
It's who You are
It's who You are
It's who You are
And I'm loved by You
It's who I am
It's who I am
It's who I am
Verse 2
I've seen many searching for answers
Far and wide
But I know we're all searching for answers
Only You provide
Because You know just what we need
Before we say a word
Bridge
You are perfect in all of Your ways
You are perfect in all of Your ways
You are perfect in all of Your ways to us
Verse 3
Love so undeniable I can hardly speak
Peace so unexplainable I can hardly think
As You call me deeper still
As You call me deeper still
As You call me deeper still
Into love love love
CCLI Song # 7036612
Anthony Brown | Pat Barrett
Lenten Practices...
- perhaps there is some connection between discomfort and humility or a correlation between comfort and arrogance, but prayer requires a spirit of humility
- Grace is more than a matter of being relieved of the punishment for sins.
- sometimes it may seem that death has a tight grip on our world...death does not have the final word. Life does...Jesus has the final word!
- Jesus is the bread of life...our daily bread.
- Love Embodied in compassionate service to those around us is our true act of worship...
Luke 9:51 NRSV
When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.
Luke 13:34 NRSV
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!
Luke 19:41-48 NRSV
Jesus Weeps over Jerusalem
41 As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42 saying, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 Indeed, the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you, and hem you in on every side. 44 They will crush you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another; because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.”
Jesus Cleanses the Temple
45 Then he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling things there; 46 and he said, “It is written,
‘My house shall be a house of prayer’;
but you have made it a den of robbers.”
47 Every day he was teaching in the temple. The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people kept looking for a way to kill him; 48 but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were spellbound by what they heard.
Triumphal Entry
Jesus’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem was unique...
- Jesus weeps over the city
- Lament - Can we be sad, feeling the weight of things and rejoice with hope simultaneously?
- Jeremiah & OT Prophets
- Jesus doesn't make the customary sacrifice
- Jesus turns the tables - exploitation of the poor
- Jesus cleanses the temple - no more making it hard for people to "get to God"
- House of Prayer vs Den of thieves (Isaiah 56:7 & Jeremiah 7:11)
- Jesus ultimately came to...
- Jesus loves God and the Temple
- First he cleanses Then he ministers (Malachi 3:1-3)
- Jesus ultimately came to bring peace
Malachi 3:1-3 NRSV
1 ... the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger of the covenant, whom you look for so eagerly, is surely coming,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
2 “But who will be able to endure it when he comes? Who will be able to stand and face him when he appears? For he will be like a blazing fire that refines metal, or like a strong soap that bleaches clothes.
3 ...He will purify the Levites, refining them like gold and silver, so that they may once again offer acceptable sacrifices to the Lord.
CONCLUSION
In the midst of our “hosannas” and songs of praise,
we don’t want to forget the humble King Jesus,
who came with humility instead of military power.
Who came with a message of peace, grace, and love for us and for the world.
He came to turn over the tables of those who excluded,
and he wept over those who continued to not understand him.
He had difficult, prophetic words for those who
continued to repeat the mistakes of their ancestors and refused to repent.
We do want to learn, and not repeat these same mistakes.
We must allow Christ to clean out the temples of our lives and our hearts as well,
as we seek to follow after this new way,
this new kingdom—a kingdom so different from the kingdoms of the world;
a kingdom of peace and love.
So, as we sit in this tension between praise and sacrifice,
between palm branches and a cross,
may we learn to seek after the kingdom of God and follow after the Prince of peace.
Questions to Consider:
1. If you were one of those expecting the Messiah to come as a military or political leader, how do you
think you would feel if the person you thought was the Messiah came a different way? Have there been
times in your life when you’ve looked to Christ to be on your side instead of seeking out the sometimes
unusual or unexpected ways God might be at work?
2. Why do you think the Jews continued to repeat the mistakes of their ancestors? Do we continue to sin
in the same ways now? How do we make the same mistakes?
3. What do you think Jesus was trying to illustrate with the way he entered the city?
What kind of kingdom did Jesus want to usher in?
4. How does it make you feel to think of the people in Jerusalem celebrating Jesus one day and shouting
to have him crucified soon after? Do you see yourself in this text? What does this look like in our lives?
5. What is it like to love something that is broken or imperfect?
Do you find a correlation between peace and hope?
Where does Joy fit into this equation?
