Finding Peace
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Palm Sunday is when we begin to reflect and remember the last week of Jesus’ life on Earth, before his death, burial and resurrection.
Palm Sunday is a day of celebration. But what are we celebrating?
As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples,
saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here.
If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’ ”
They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it,
some people standing there asked, “What are you doing, untying that colt?”
They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go.
When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it.
Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields.
Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!” “Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
“Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’ ”
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”
“I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it
and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes.
The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side.
They 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.”
When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”
The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves.
“It is written,” he said to them, “ ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’”
The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them.
But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant.
“Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him. “Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read, “ ‘From the lips of children and infants you, Lord, have called forth your praise’?”
And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.
One thing that struck me this week as I meditated on the accounts of Jesus’ triumphal entry, and his last week, was that he book-ended the events of this last week from the Triumphal Entry through his last conversation with his disciples before the Betrayal with ‘Peace’.
The people sang of peace as Jesus came riding to Jerusalem on a donkey.
“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
In his last conversation before the betrayal, Jesus told his disciples in John 14.27, and John 16.33 that he was leaving them with peace.
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Peace. What everyone wants, but so few truly find and have. And about the time we think we have peace, here comes the next thing to rob us of peace.
How is it that we are constantly seeking, and yet not having peace?
Jesus’ words as he was about to enter Jerusalem are as true of us today as it was of the people of Jerusalem then...
As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it
and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes.
Peace, what do we think brings it?
Peace, what do we think brings it?
Peace, where does it come from?
Peace, where does it come from?
Peace Comes from... God
Peace Comes from... God
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
But what I found as I looked into the words of Jesus during this last week, from the Triumphal Entry, up to the Betrayal is that he spoke of a couple things more than any other.
Love - 33 times
Believe/Faith - 31 times
Peace Comes from Trusting God
Peace Comes from Trusting God
Jesus wept because the people were looking for peace in the wrong places, in the wrong ways.
So, part of his week was rebuking those who refused to believe in him.
“Which of the two did what his father wanted?” “The first,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.
For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.
We do not have peace because we are unrighteous and separated from God, our Creator.
So, Christ spent his final week striving to get people to believe, for believing God and His provision is the only way we can be saved from the sin that separates us from Him.
When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment:
about sin, because people do not believe in me;
Gospel
Passover example
Serpent in the Wilderness example
Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,
that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.
You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.
Peace Comes from Trusting God...
Peace Comes from Obeying His Commands
Peace Comes from Obeying His Commands
We are robbed of peace because of our sin which separates us from God.
We are also robbed of peace because of the fallenness of this world.
There is a lack of peace because of all of the fighting and bitterness we have for one another.
This is addressed by the other most commonly used word of Jesus in this final week.
Love.
When we trust God and find Peace in Him, we should respond in love. In fact, it is because God loved us and brought us peace through Jesus that we do love him.
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
During his last week on earth, Jesus spoke often of love with his disciples.
For example,
“If you love me, keep my commands.
Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.
Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
What is his command?
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
This is my command: Love each other.
One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
This is the first and greatest commandment.
And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
Faith and Love bring Peace
Faith and Love bring Peace
and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes.
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.