1 00:00:05,680 --> 00:00:08,560 Happy Palm Sunday. My name is Connor. 2 00:00:08,560 --> 00:00:13,880 I'm the community's pastor here and a couple weeks ago we had 3 00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:16,480 grandparents in town. My wife and I have a nine month 4 00:00:16,480 --> 00:00:19,200 old and as you do with grandparents, you make your way 5 00:00:19,200 --> 00:00:22,800 to the new Barnes and Noble out in Eagle and you spend a few 6 00:00:22,800 --> 00:00:25,840 hours just looking at books. While we were there, I found a 7 00:00:25,840 --> 00:00:30,000 book from author I loved named Mitch Album and his most recent 8 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:33,600 book called Twice, and I began reading this book and it's a 9 00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:38,720 book all about this fascinating idea if you had the chance to go 10 00:00:38,720 --> 00:00:40,840 back to any moment in your life twice. 11 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:44,480 You go back to any moment as much as you want any moment 12 00:00:44,720 --> 00:00:48,680 twice and relive it, redo it, see how it might change. 13 00:00:48,680 --> 00:00:51,960 It's told through the lens of a guy named Alfie Logan. 14 00:00:52,280 --> 00:00:56,720 Alfie gets this power as a boy from his mom and he uses it 15 00:00:56,720 --> 00:00:59,840 throughout his life to fix things that he does to change 16 00:00:59,840 --> 00:01:02,640 circumstances. One particular poignant moment 17 00:01:02,640 --> 00:01:07,000 comes when his father he finds is in the hospital. 18 00:01:07,400 --> 00:01:10,400 He had gone away off he had in his father's car for the day and 19 00:01:10,400 --> 00:01:13,760 because he had his father's car, his dad needed some medicine for 20 00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:15,880 a headache that he had. There's none in the house. 21 00:01:16,200 --> 00:01:19,640 So he made his way by foot to the local store and on his way 22 00:01:19,640 --> 00:01:23,160 he got hit head on by a car. When Alfie finds them, his leg 23 00:01:23,160 --> 00:01:26,280 had already been amputated and the doctors are telling him your 24 00:01:26,280 --> 00:01:28,880 dad is probably not ever going to be the same. 25 00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:32,280 This is going to take a toll on his body and on his psyche. 26 00:01:32,800 --> 00:01:36,600 He may develop depression and get ready to, in the next few 27 00:01:36,600 --> 00:01:38,080 years, probably say your goodbyes. 28 00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:42,120 Alfie that day had borrowed the car to go on a particularly 29 00:01:42,120 --> 00:01:46,560 stellar date with the girl of his dreams, and without second 30 00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:49,960 thought, he taps himself twice and says the word. 31 00:01:50,480 --> 00:01:52,680 And he goes back to that morning's breakfast with his 32 00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:55,760 dad, and he says, dad, I'll no longer need the car today. 33 00:01:55,760 --> 00:02:00,080 I'm going to stay home. Now, my guess is, as we hear at 34 00:02:00,080 --> 00:02:03,840 Alfie's story, there's probably some moments in all of our lives 35 00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:06,440 that if I asked is, would you want to go back and relive it 36 00:02:06,440 --> 00:02:08,680 twice? You probably say, yes. 37 00:02:08,680 --> 00:02:13,800 If I could redo that moment, that decision, that day, that 38 00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:16,320 season of my life, I would redo it. 39 00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:21,880 I'd go back to it in an instant. Now, sadly, we don't get that 40 00:02:21,880 --> 00:02:25,200 opportunity. Many of us would love it, but we 41 00:02:25,200 --> 00:02:28,440 don't get it. But what we can do is learn from 42 00:02:28,440 --> 00:02:32,240 those who have gone before us, those who have lived and have 43 00:02:32,240 --> 00:02:36,840 the opportunity to follow God or not, to see from their lives 44 00:02:37,120 --> 00:02:40,720 what it takes to live our first chance the right way. 45 00:02:41,200 --> 00:02:43,160 Now, there's a lot of things that we probably care about. 46 00:02:43,160 --> 00:02:45,520 We'd like to know the secret to, we'd like to learn about. 47 00:02:45,720 --> 00:02:48,400 But there's one thing in particular that sets up all 48 00:02:48,400 --> 00:02:51,800 things the most important question, the most important 49 00:02:51,800 --> 00:02:55,120 decision, most important moment of our lives. 50 00:02:55,120 --> 00:02:58,920 And it's the moment that we have to know God. 51 00:02:59,440 --> 00:03:02,160 It's when God shows up. He's there to be found, to be 52 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:06,400 seen, to be known, and we have the opportunity to know him and 53 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:11,160 will we choose to know him, to follow him, to say yes to him. 54 00:03:11,160 --> 00:03:14,520 And so we're going to be considering the story of Jesus 55 00:03:14,520 --> 00:03:17,240 life here this Palm Sunday. So go turn with me to Luke 56 00:03:17,240 --> 00:03:21,280 chapter 19. This is five days before his 57 00:03:21,280 --> 00:03:23,840 crucifixion. And this is this. 58 00:03:23,840 --> 00:03:25,520 This is the scene for us this morning. 59 00:03:26,200 --> 00:03:31,000 Jesus is has ascended to the Mount of Olives. 60 00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:35,560 He's overlooking the city of Jerusalem and he is surrounded 61 00:03:35,560 --> 00:03:38,600 by his disciples. And he says to two of them, you 62 00:03:38,600 --> 00:03:42,040 guys go into the city, go into the city and find a colt, a 63 00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:44,120 donkey. He's tied up and you're going to 64 00:03:44,120 --> 00:03:46,400 grab the donkey and bring him back to me. 65 00:03:47,520 --> 00:03:50,240 If they ask you, the owners of this donkey, what you are doing, 66 00:03:50,240 --> 00:03:53,480 just simply reply. The Lord has need of it and 67 00:03:53,480 --> 00:03:57,120 he'll allow you to take it. They'll allow you to have the 68 00:03:57,120 --> 00:03:59,480 donkey. And so they go. 69 00:03:59,480 --> 00:04:02,320 They bring the donkey back. They make their way back to 70 00:04:02,320 --> 00:04:06,200 Jesus, and then he gets on this donkey and the disciples begin 71 00:04:06,200 --> 00:04:07,760 to pick up on what Jesus is doing. 72 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:09,600 They recognize what this moment is. 73 00:04:10,160 --> 00:04:13,720 Jesus is about to ride into Jerusalem, the capital city of 74 00:04:13,720 --> 00:04:17,200 Israel, on a donkey with a procession of people. 75 00:04:17,640 --> 00:04:21,160 And so they began to and our narrative and Luke layout cloaks 76 00:04:21,240 --> 00:04:23,880 before them. In other narratives in the 77 00:04:23,880 --> 00:04:25,720 Gospels, they layout palm branches. 78 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:27,160 That's why we call it Palm Sunday. 79 00:04:27,840 --> 00:04:32,360 They begin to layout the cloaks before Jesus, and the people 80 00:04:32,360 --> 00:04:35,200 around the disciples see what's happening. 81 00:04:35,720 --> 00:04:39,160 And as Jesus makes his way down from the mount of all of that to 82 00:04:39,200 --> 00:04:42,440 the city of Jerusalem, he's surrounded by the crowds of 83 00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:43,920 people. And they began to sing from 84 00:04:43,920 --> 00:04:48,160 Psalm 118, this phrase in verse 38 of chapter 19. 85 00:04:48,880 --> 00:04:53,800 Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord, peace in 86 00:04:53,800 --> 00:04:59,520 heaven and glory in the highest. Some who were there, the 87 00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:02,040 Pharisees, they see this and they tell Jesus, make those 88 00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:04,240 people be quiet. They do not know what they're 89 00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:05,520 saying. They should not be saying this 90 00:05:05,520 --> 00:05:08,080 about you. Make them be quiet. 91 00:05:08,080 --> 00:05:10,720 And Jesus tells them, I tell you, if these should keep 92 00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:13,800 silent, the stones would immediately cry out. 93 00:05:13,840 --> 00:05:16,640 Maybe the stones of the temple beforehand were the stones of 94 00:05:16,640 --> 00:05:18,920 the ground. Whichever Jesus is saying, if 95 00:05:18,920 --> 00:05:21,880 these men and these women, these children were to be silent, 96 00:05:22,440 --> 00:05:24,600 creation would begin to sing my praises. 97 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:30,080 Then Jesus makes his way into his room and he makes his way to 98 00:05:30,080 --> 00:05:32,080 the temple. And he goes into the temple and 99 00:05:32,080 --> 00:05:35,440 he sees people selling and making a profit off of the 100 00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:39,640 sacrifices that people were going to make in the coming days 101 00:05:39,640 --> 00:05:42,520 for Passover. People of Israel would come to 102 00:05:42,520 --> 00:05:45,040 the temple. They would buy an animal or two, 103 00:05:45,160 --> 00:05:48,280 whatever they had need of in order to make that animal the 104 00:05:48,280 --> 00:05:51,200 sacrifice for Passover for themselves and their family. 105 00:05:51,560 --> 00:05:54,840 So there's those in the temple selling the animals and Jesus 106 00:05:54,840 --> 00:05:59,080 goes in and he drives them out. He drives them out. 107 00:05:59,080 --> 00:06:03,200 And he says this in verse 46. It's written my house is a House 108 00:06:03,200 --> 00:06:07,960 of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves. 109 00:06:09,320 --> 00:06:12,960 Now, this is the scene that we celebrate every Palm Sunday. 110 00:06:13,360 --> 00:06:16,960 And a lot of times we'll focus on the praise, the joy, the 111 00:06:16,960 --> 00:06:20,320 happiness, and we'll get there. But as you guys know, we've been 112 00:06:20,320 --> 00:06:24,520 in a series talking about the hard sayings, the hard teachings 113 00:06:24,520 --> 00:06:26,800 of Jesus. We've gone through from Luke 114 00:06:26,800 --> 00:06:29,840 Chapter 9 all the way until now looking at what are the hardest 115 00:06:29,840 --> 00:06:33,640 passages from each chapter of Luke and what can we learn from 116 00:06:33,640 --> 00:06:37,120 those hard passages? And I've been super encouraged 117 00:06:37,120 --> 00:06:39,720 and helped by these passages, ones that we don't always look 118 00:06:39,720 --> 00:06:42,280 at the most. And so today we're going to look 119 00:06:42,280 --> 00:06:45,680 at one of the more difficult moments in the Palm Sunday 120 00:06:45,680 --> 00:06:49,160 message before Jesus goes into the temple. 121 00:06:49,160 --> 00:06:52,000 As he's riding on the donkey, the people are singing his 122 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:54,640 praise. There's this moment where he 123 00:06:54,640 --> 00:06:59,560 begins to weep, begins to cry, And then he preaches this 124 00:06:59,560 --> 00:07:04,160 sermon, this little sermon that begins to speak in earshot of 125 00:07:04,160 --> 00:07:06,400 disciples and those who are worshipping him. 126 00:07:07,280 --> 00:07:12,640 And this is what Jesus says. If you had known even you, 127 00:07:12,920 --> 00:07:17,040 especially in this day, your day, the things that make for 128 00:07:17,040 --> 00:07:22,000 your peace, but now they are hidden from your eyes. 129 00:07:22,680 --> 00:07:26,160 For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an 130 00:07:26,160 --> 00:07:30,720 embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every 131 00:07:30,720 --> 00:07:34,800 side, and level you and your children within you to the 132 00:07:34,800 --> 00:07:36,640 ground. And they will not leave in you 133 00:07:36,640 --> 00:07:40,560 one stone upon another. Why? 134 00:07:40,600 --> 00:07:45,520 Because you did not know the time of your visitation. 135 00:07:46,440 --> 00:07:51,440 Jesus is pronouncing judgment on the city of Jerusalem He's 136 00:07:51,440 --> 00:07:53,440 riding in. They're singing his praises, and 137 00:07:53,440 --> 00:07:56,000 he's looking out at the different characters and people 138 00:07:56,000 --> 00:07:59,720 groups around him. And he pronounces this 139 00:07:59,960 --> 00:08:03,040 statement. Statement that's not too fun to 140 00:08:03,040 --> 00:08:06,240 look at, but is important First off, because it is a 141 00:08:06,360 --> 00:08:10,880 historically accurate statement. What's important for us to 142 00:08:10,880 --> 00:08:13,440 understand is when Jesus says this, he's not talking in 143 00:08:13,440 --> 00:08:15,800 hyperbole. In fact, he's understanding 144 00:08:15,800 --> 00:08:18,320 things a little bit. He's not just talking in this 145 00:08:18,320 --> 00:08:22,000 prophetic way that we never see actually come to fruition, but 146 00:08:22,000 --> 00:08:26,400 Jesus is prophesying about an event that would happen about 33 147 00:08:26,400 --> 00:08:30,960 years later during the same feast of Passover when the 148 00:08:30,960 --> 00:08:33,679 Romans would come in and lay siege to Jerusalem. 149 00:08:34,360 --> 00:08:35,480 It's a kind of here's how it goes. 150 00:08:35,480 --> 00:08:37,480 Just to give you the back story. If you don't know, this is a 151 00:08:37,480 --> 00:08:41,000 real event that happens a few decades after Jesus life. 152 00:08:41,919 --> 00:08:44,000 Jesus ascends to the right hand of the Father. 153 00:08:44,000 --> 00:08:47,840 He tells his disciples, wait. And when I send my spirit, then 154 00:08:47,840 --> 00:08:50,520 go out. And then we see in Pentecost the 155 00:08:50,520 --> 00:08:54,200 Holy Spirit descend and flames of fire like on their heads. 156 00:08:54,400 --> 00:08:57,240 And then many Christians in Jerusalem begin to go out to the 157 00:08:57,240 --> 00:09:00,920 nations to preach the gospel. And as they're doing that, as we 158 00:09:00,920 --> 00:09:05,040 read the book of Acts, the nation of Israel, in particular 159 00:09:05,040 --> 00:09:08,840 the city of Jerusalem, is going through political revolution. 160 00:09:09,880 --> 00:09:13,480 As we read the book of Acts, there's this man named Flores. 161 00:09:13,480 --> 00:09:16,400 He's a leader of the Roman people. 162 00:09:16,920 --> 00:09:19,480 He's the leader of Rome in Israel. 163 00:09:20,040 --> 00:09:23,520 And Flores hates the Israelites, can't stand them. 164 00:09:24,560 --> 00:09:27,560 When debates come to him with his Gentile versus an Israelite, 165 00:09:27,560 --> 00:09:31,680 he always chooses the Gentile. And at one point he decides to 166 00:09:31,680 --> 00:09:35,520 go into the temple and to take out 17 talents to take out a 167 00:09:35,520 --> 00:09:37,760 large sum of money from the temple treasury. 168 00:09:38,080 --> 00:09:40,920 Something that was not only right, wrong to do because it's 169 00:09:40,920 --> 00:09:45,520 stealing, but the people of Israel saw this as profaning the 170 00:09:45,520 --> 00:09:50,600 temple, to take the money offered to God in his temple and 171 00:09:50,600 --> 00:09:54,120 then to take it for government use, for the government of Rome. 172 00:09:55,120 --> 00:09:57,560 How could you? And so there's a couple of 173 00:09:57,560 --> 00:10:00,640 revolutionary men in the city, and they band together and they 174 00:10:00,640 --> 00:10:04,560 decide to poke fun at Flores, is that they grab some empty, empty 175 00:10:04,560 --> 00:10:07,640 baskets and begin to go around to the poor of the city. 176 00:10:07,640 --> 00:10:10,960 And they ask the poor, hey, the emperor is poor. 177 00:10:11,120 --> 00:10:13,720 This man Flores, who's our leader, he's poor. 178 00:10:14,080 --> 00:10:18,640 Would you mind donating a few little bits of change for him? 179 00:10:19,400 --> 00:10:21,920 Flores gets word of the way these men are mocking him. 180 00:10:22,600 --> 00:10:25,080 And he asks the Israelite leaders, the Sanhedrin, to hand 181 00:10:25,080 --> 00:10:28,520 them over. The Sanhedrin decides not to. 182 00:10:28,880 --> 00:10:33,200 So Flores decides that he will lay waste to that part of the 183 00:10:33,200 --> 00:10:37,360 city, and he destroys it. He destroys the southwest corner 184 00:10:37,360 --> 00:10:40,960 of the city, and he massacres anybody who's to be found there. 185 00:10:41,720 --> 00:10:44,800 Now, this rightfully stirs up the people of Israel. 186 00:10:45,320 --> 00:10:46,960 This is not how we are to be treated. 187 00:10:47,200 --> 00:10:50,800 This is not how we are to live. And some of the Christians in 188 00:10:50,800 --> 00:10:54,880 the city in this year 66, they see all this happening and they 189 00:10:54,880 --> 00:10:57,960 remember Jesus's words and history tells us that some of 190 00:10:57,960 --> 00:11:00,920 them decide to leave Jerusalem they hadn't already and to flee 191 00:11:00,920 --> 00:11:03,080 to the hills, to flee to surrounding cities. 192 00:11:03,560 --> 00:11:07,240 But for those who stayed, there's a man named of Aspasian, 193 00:11:07,360 --> 00:11:12,280 one of a new leader of Rome. He comes in to do a florist 194 00:11:12,280 --> 00:11:16,360 couldn't to end the political violence and wildness that was 195 00:11:16,360 --> 00:11:19,520 happening in the city. He begins to take different 196 00:11:19,520 --> 00:11:23,800 cities around Judah. He basically takes Jericho in a 197 00:11:23,800 --> 00:11:27,680 couple other places and he has control now of the whole region 198 00:11:27,680 --> 00:11:32,040 and begins to set up to take over the city of Jerusalem, the 199 00:11:32,040 --> 00:11:35,000 capital. Now he gets held up for a few 200 00:11:35,000 --> 00:11:37,960 years because the emperor named Nero commits suicide. 201 00:11:38,360 --> 00:11:42,520 So the Spacian gets recalled back to Rome, and while there he 202 00:11:42,520 --> 00:11:45,600 gets named the new emperor and he names his son. 203 00:11:45,600 --> 00:11:51,000 Titus sends him to go and finish the job in Israel. 204 00:11:52,280 --> 00:11:55,840 OK, we're following so far. Titus is going to Israel to lay 205 00:11:55,840 --> 00:12:00,640 siege to them. And in the year 70, Titus shows 206 00:12:00,640 --> 00:12:04,560 up at the city and he does exactly what Jesus describes 207 00:12:04,760 --> 00:12:07,920 here. He begins to set up siege ramps 208 00:12:07,920 --> 00:12:11,680 and battling Rams, and over the course of several months breaks 209 00:12:11,680 --> 00:12:15,800 down two of the city walls. And after months of famine for 210 00:12:15,800 --> 00:12:19,200 the people of Israel, including all those who had come to 211 00:12:19,200 --> 00:12:24,160 Jerusalem for Passover, he breaks through and begins to go 212 00:12:24,160 --> 00:12:29,040 through the city and massacre anybody insight without regard 213 00:12:29,040 --> 00:12:34,920 to age, gender, rank, ethnicity, he begins to just destroy and 214 00:12:34,920 --> 00:12:39,640 kill the entire city. The accounts that we have 215 00:12:39,640 --> 00:12:43,520 described the the city as a city with streets flowing with blood, 216 00:12:44,120 --> 00:12:50,600 and it's estimated that 97,000 people were taken as prisoners 217 00:12:50,600 --> 00:12:54,320 of war and 1,000,000 people died during the siege. 218 00:12:54,320 --> 00:12:57,520 Now, maybe that's a little bit of hyperbole in history, but a 219 00:12:57,520 --> 00:13:01,240 lot of people die and a lot of people are taking captive back 220 00:13:01,280 --> 00:13:03,840 to Rome. And you can still see evidence 221 00:13:03,840 --> 00:13:06,960 of this a few years ago. And my wife and I were on a trip 222 00:13:06,960 --> 00:13:10,400 to visit the heralds who were praying for this week in Italy, 223 00:13:10,400 --> 00:13:13,960 and they took us into Rome and we got to see the Arch of Titus. 224 00:13:14,200 --> 00:13:17,720 The Arch of Titus is this arch that Titus, the man from the 225 00:13:18,120 --> 00:13:22,040 year 70 who destroyed Israel, his brother set this up in honor 226 00:13:22,040 --> 00:13:24,240 of all that he did. And if you take a look at the 227 00:13:24,240 --> 00:13:30,040 inside of the arch, you can see the scene of Israel in 70 AD. 228 00:13:30,040 --> 00:13:33,760 You might recognize the menorah and the people of Israel being 229 00:13:33,760 --> 00:13:38,280 LED out back to Rome as prisoners of war, the Temple 230 00:13:38,280 --> 00:13:43,240 gold and all of the treasure being taken to Rome a few years 231 00:13:43,240 --> 00:13:46,960 later. The Spacian uses this money and 232 00:13:46,960 --> 00:13:52,120 these slaves to build the Colosseum, to earn favor with 233 00:13:52,120 --> 00:13:55,280 the people of Rome, to earn favor with the people he was 234 00:13:55,280 --> 00:13:58,000 leading. And so this is what Jesus is 235 00:13:58,000 --> 00:14:01,600 speaking into. He's speaking in these few lines 236 00:14:01,600 --> 00:14:05,320 in the sermon, in some ways not even doing justice to the whole 237 00:14:05,320 --> 00:14:09,000 of the violence and bloodshed that would take Jerusalem in 238 00:14:09,000 --> 00:14:14,520 just a few short decades. The Jewish historian Josephus 239 00:14:14,520 --> 00:14:18,200 says this. And so ended the first Jewish 240 00:14:18,200 --> 00:14:21,920 revolt against Rome. Wonder if God would say it this 241 00:14:21,920 --> 00:14:25,120 way. And so ended the judgment on 242 00:14:25,120 --> 00:14:31,720 Israel prophesied by Jesus. Happy Palm Sunday right now. 243 00:14:31,720 --> 00:14:34,480 Have you started this series? And you were someone who would 244 00:14:34,480 --> 00:14:38,480 have said, you know, I love Jesus as a great teacher. 245 00:14:38,640 --> 00:14:40,720 We could just take his teachings, forget about all of 246 00:14:40,720 --> 00:14:43,280 the the other stuff. How are you doing? 247 00:14:43,840 --> 00:14:47,120 Because this is one of the teachings of Jesus is one that 248 00:14:47,120 --> 00:14:51,000 we have to grapple with and understand and begin to make 249 00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:56,640 decisions about for ourselves. Now we don't know when the day 250 00:14:56,640 --> 00:15:00,120 will come right for each of us, but what we do know is this, 251 00:15:00,120 --> 00:15:04,960 that there was for the people of Israel a day of the Lord, a day 252 00:15:04,960 --> 00:15:08,760 when God's judgment showed up and they had no more second 253 00:15:08,760 --> 00:15:10,240 chances. They couldn't go back. 254 00:15:10,480 --> 00:15:13,640 The day had arrived, Rome was at the door, and if they hadn't 255 00:15:13,640 --> 00:15:17,480 left, judgment was coming. And ultimately there will be a 256 00:15:17,480 --> 00:15:22,280 day of the Lord for all of creation when God returns and 257 00:15:22,280 --> 00:15:25,240 Jesus is seated on the throne forever and the new heavens and 258 00:15:25,240 --> 00:15:28,920 the new earth endure. And there also be for each of 259 00:15:28,920 --> 00:15:33,840 us, whether it's then or by ourselves, alone, personally, a 260 00:15:33,880 --> 00:15:38,760 day of the Lord, a day that we do not know when it is coming, A 261 00:15:38,760 --> 00:15:40,640 day that will come like a thief in the night. 262 00:15:40,640 --> 00:15:44,320 A day that we won't get a second chance on to go back to that 263 00:15:44,320 --> 00:15:48,480 morning's breakfast and redo the decision to follow Jesus or not. 264 00:15:49,040 --> 00:15:53,000 And since we won't get to go back twice and redo the things 265 00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:56,280 that maybe we wish we would have, we're going to learn 266 00:15:56,280 --> 00:15:59,360 today, hopefully from a few of the key groups, the key 267 00:15:59,360 --> 00:16:04,800 characters in today's story. What kept them from seeing Jesus 268 00:16:04,800 --> 00:16:08,600 when Jesus was there face to face with them, teaching and 269 00:16:08,600 --> 00:16:12,240 living in their midst to see how what we can learn to be the 270 00:16:12,240 --> 00:16:15,720 Church of Jesus, the church Jesus desires us to be. 271 00:16:16,480 --> 00:16:18,240 So here's the question we're going to try to answer with 272 00:16:18,240 --> 00:16:19,360 three different groups of people. 273 00:16:19,840 --> 00:16:23,160 How did they miss what Jesus was up to? 274 00:16:23,680 --> 00:16:27,520 How did they not see him? Now before we get into the, the, 275 00:16:27,560 --> 00:16:30,960 the few reasons that we have from them, there's one reason 276 00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:33,840 that we might be tempted to believe that it's just not true. 277 00:16:34,960 --> 00:16:37,840 It's not true that they did not desire to know God. 278 00:16:37,840 --> 00:16:41,720 They did not desire to see God. In fact, the last 100 years for 279 00:16:41,720 --> 00:16:45,840 Israel at this point is one of Rome being in the city, being in 280 00:16:45,840 --> 00:16:47,800 their place, and they're calling out to God. 281 00:16:47,800 --> 00:16:50,840 And they all have their ways of desiring God and seeking God and 282 00:16:50,840 --> 00:16:53,680 hoping that God returns. And so it's not that they don't 283 00:16:53,680 --> 00:16:57,160 desire God or want to see him or hope that he shows up. 284 00:16:57,160 --> 00:17:01,400 It's that their motives for wanting God to show up are 285 00:17:01,400 --> 00:17:05,240 mixed, and it's to those motives, those competing desires 286 00:17:05,240 --> 00:17:08,240 that we will look in. The first group we're going to 287 00:17:08,240 --> 00:17:12,560 look at is maybe the most unlikely group to learn about 288 00:17:12,560 --> 00:17:14,880 not seeing God from. Because in the story we just 289 00:17:14,880 --> 00:17:18,319 read today, it sure looks like they are recognizing what's 290 00:17:18,319 --> 00:17:20,400 happening. And that's the group of people 291 00:17:20,560 --> 00:17:24,520 who are singing Psalm 118 over Jesus as he rides into 292 00:17:24,520 --> 00:17:27,480 Jerusalem. In the story today, it seems 293 00:17:27,480 --> 00:17:30,720 like these people will get it. This is your king, Israel. 294 00:17:31,400 --> 00:17:34,000 He has shown up and you are worshipping him and you're 295 00:17:34,000 --> 00:17:38,760 following him into the city. Now here's here's the problem. 296 00:17:38,960 --> 00:17:42,840 If we Fast forward just a little bit to four or five days later, 297 00:17:44,040 --> 00:17:49,920 as they are seeing Jesus be arrested and then tried, this 298 00:17:49,920 --> 00:17:54,120 crowd, the verbatim crowd, goes from worshipping Jesus on Sunday 299 00:17:54,360 --> 00:17:57,320 to chanting crucify him on Friday. 300 00:17:57,960 --> 00:18:00,840 Now certainly there was probably some that remained faithful to 301 00:18:00,840 --> 00:18:05,840 God and weren't in the crossover, but the crowd in the 302 00:18:05,840 --> 00:18:09,160 Gospel of Luke goes from worshipping to ridiculing. 303 00:18:09,480 --> 00:18:13,000 How did they get there? I think as you read the story, 304 00:18:13,000 --> 00:18:17,760 you begin to see that they had in their minds a different idea 305 00:18:17,760 --> 00:18:20,440 of what Jesus would do when he entered Jerusalem. 306 00:18:20,800 --> 00:18:24,520 Their minds were mistaken. Imagine being an Israelite in 307 00:18:24,520 --> 00:18:27,280 this day, living in the city of Jerusalem, and you hear about 308 00:18:27,280 --> 00:18:31,240 this man named Jesus. And Jesus is said to be the 309 00:18:31,240 --> 00:18:33,320 Messiah. He's going to be the one to 310 00:18:33,320 --> 00:18:36,960 bring peace, to bring joy, to bring hope to the nation. 311 00:18:38,160 --> 00:18:42,800 And you know, the main reason you don't have hope or joy or 312 00:18:42,800 --> 00:18:46,320 peace is because of the Roman army that's taking up residence 313 00:18:46,320 --> 00:18:50,200 in your city, the Roman army that's just marched in a bunch 314 00:18:50,200 --> 00:18:53,520 more troops to make sure that nothing happens over Passover. 315 00:18:54,160 --> 00:18:57,280 And so when you hear that Jesus is coming down from the Mount of 316 00:18:57,280 --> 00:19:01,320 Olives on a donkey with the procession, you think this is 317 00:19:01,320 --> 00:19:05,320 the time Jesus is going to bring in the Kingdom of Israel. 318 00:19:05,600 --> 00:19:09,280 And it is going to be beautiful. And so you join in the crowds 319 00:19:09,640 --> 00:19:12,440 and then you wake up on Monday morning hoping that you're going 320 00:19:12,440 --> 00:19:16,080 to read in the headlines of the Jerusalem Times that Jesus has 321 00:19:16,080 --> 00:19:19,200 LED a revolt. You're sleeping with maybe your 322 00:19:19,200 --> 00:19:22,560 sword or some whatever weapon you could find your plowshare by 323 00:19:22,560 --> 00:19:26,000 your bed, knowing that you might be called upon to fight in this 324 00:19:26,000 --> 00:19:29,800 battle against the Romans. You go to bed Monday night still 325 00:19:29,800 --> 00:19:31,800 wondering. And Jesus did say some things in 326 00:19:31,800 --> 00:19:33,960 the temple. He did throw out some people. 327 00:19:33,960 --> 00:19:37,720 Maybe Tuesday's the day. And then Tuesday comes and goes, 328 00:19:38,480 --> 00:19:40,880 and this Messiah, the Savior who's supposed to throw out the 329 00:19:40,880 --> 00:19:44,080 Romans, he's not doing a whole lot to do that. 330 00:19:44,640 --> 00:19:50,120 Wednesday comes, you're waiting, you're looking as you're 331 00:19:50,120 --> 00:19:52,720 working, you're peeking out the window wondering, is it 332 00:19:52,720 --> 00:19:56,800 happening yet? And then Thursday and Friday 333 00:19:56,800 --> 00:20:01,040 come and you hear that Jesus, the supposed king of the Jewish 334 00:20:01,040 --> 00:20:04,760 people, the supposed person who has followers and 335 00:20:04,760 --> 00:20:10,960 revolutionaries behind him, he's been arrested and he didn't even 336 00:20:10,960 --> 00:20:13,800 really put up a fight. In fact, the little fight that 337 00:20:13,800 --> 00:20:16,840 did happen, he put an end to and then healed the person who was 338 00:20:16,840 --> 00:20:18,880 injured. What is this Jesus doing? 339 00:20:18,880 --> 00:20:23,240 He must not be the Messiah. He's not doing the things that 340 00:20:23,240 --> 00:20:26,800 we thought he would do. He's weak, he's miserable. 341 00:20:27,360 --> 00:20:30,400 We might as well just kill him and hope for a new one. 342 00:20:31,640 --> 00:20:34,880 Now, ask us this because I bring this up because maybe we don't 343 00:20:34,880 --> 00:20:37,400 have that mistake and desire about Jesus, but I think we 344 00:20:37,400 --> 00:20:41,640 might have some similar ones. One commentator says this. 345 00:20:41,640 --> 00:20:44,600 We arrive at Jerusalem. He's talking about these people, 346 00:20:45,000 --> 00:20:47,440 the crowds. We arrive at Jerusalem with 347 00:20:47,600 --> 00:20:49,600 Jesus. And the question that presses 348 00:20:49,600 --> 00:20:53,200 upon us is this. Are we going along for the trip 349 00:20:53,840 --> 00:20:58,440 in the hope that Jesus will fulfill some of our hopes and 350 00:20:58,440 --> 00:21:01,840 some of our desires? Yeah, I hope Jesus does some 351 00:21:01,840 --> 00:21:04,240 cool things for God. But really, I just want my 352 00:21:04,240 --> 00:21:07,320 desires to be met. Want the Romans to be kicked 353 00:21:07,320 --> 00:21:10,280 out. I want the taxes to be lowered. 354 00:21:10,280 --> 00:21:13,560 I want to have a bit more freedom, a bit more peace. 355 00:21:14,840 --> 00:21:17,320 So here's the question for us. I'm asked one question for each 356 00:21:17,320 --> 00:21:18,800 of these people for us to ponder. 357 00:21:19,880 --> 00:21:25,880 Are you someone who can put the ways of the Kingdom of God above 358 00:21:25,880 --> 00:21:31,200 what your flesh or our culture says makes for peace? 359 00:21:32,520 --> 00:21:37,400 Are you able to put God's desires above your own? 360 00:21:38,840 --> 00:21:41,600 Or when you think about what it would mean for Jesus to show up, 361 00:21:41,880 --> 00:21:47,240 it includes some personal desires, some personal wishes, 362 00:21:47,760 --> 00:21:50,440 some personal little blessings here or there. 363 00:21:53,880 --> 00:21:56,320 The next group we turn our attention to is the Pharisees. 364 00:21:56,320 --> 00:22:00,080 Now the Pharisees are an obvious one because throughout Jesus 365 00:22:00,080 --> 00:22:04,400 ministry, you know, they are the group that got most of Jesus's 366 00:22:04,600 --> 00:22:08,360 ridicule and witty statements. They're the group that most 367 00:22:08,360 --> 00:22:11,880 often we point to as the group we do not want to be. 368 00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:17,920 Yet the Pharisees are people who we are often most like. 369 00:22:18,320 --> 00:22:21,200 They were religious. They believed that the King of 370 00:22:21,200 --> 00:22:24,520 God was going to come because of ritual purity, that they were 371 00:22:24,520 --> 00:22:28,680 going to be so pure and so sinless and so God like that God 372 00:22:28,680 --> 00:22:31,400 was going to have no choice but to return and to rescue his 373 00:22:31,400 --> 00:22:35,800 righteous and holy people. But the problem, one of the 374 00:22:35,800 --> 00:22:38,080 problems for the Pharisees is that they spent their whole 375 00:22:38,080 --> 00:22:43,200 careers being respected and revered by the masses. 376 00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:47,680 And it's a problem for them when Jesus shows up, because this 377 00:22:47,720 --> 00:22:53,080 Jesus of Nazareth, the no way little village, the Jesus of 378 00:22:53,080 --> 00:22:57,840 Nazareth, this no name little rabbi begins to pick up a large 379 00:22:57,840 --> 00:23:00,800 following of people who don't even deserve to be his 380 00:23:00,800 --> 00:23:04,560 followers, don't even deserve to be students under a rabbi, 381 00:23:04,560 --> 00:23:07,720 fisherman and tax collectors, zealots. 382 00:23:09,080 --> 00:23:12,160 And now this man is riding into Jerusalem receiving. 383 00:23:12,160 --> 00:23:16,200 If you were a Pharisee, what you might believe is your rightful 384 00:23:16,200 --> 00:23:19,920 praise and renown. And maybe you don't want people 385 00:23:19,920 --> 00:23:25,120 to worship you like that, but you do enjoy the respectful nods 386 00:23:25,120 --> 00:23:29,160 that you get in the marketplace. You do enjoy the greetings that 387 00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:33,080 people greet you with. You enjoy the awe that people 388 00:23:33,080 --> 00:23:35,440 look at you with from across the street. 389 00:23:36,880 --> 00:23:38,720 And the Pharisees say this to Jesus. 390 00:23:38,720 --> 00:23:44,040 They say, Teacher, rebuke your disciples. 391 00:23:44,920 --> 00:23:49,080 In other words, Jesus tell them to stop praising you. 392 00:23:50,160 --> 00:23:52,840 And when they see that they stopped praising you because of 393 00:23:52,840 --> 00:23:55,960 what we said to you, they'll see that we really are the superiors 394 00:23:55,960 --> 00:23:58,600 here. Here's our question for the 395 00:23:58,600 --> 00:24:03,240 Pharisees. Are you someone who is truly OK 396 00:24:03,240 --> 00:24:06,960 with God receiving praise and not you? 397 00:24:08,280 --> 00:24:11,160 Now I'd venture to guess that most of us wouldn't want Psalm 398 00:24:11,160 --> 00:24:15,760 118 sung over us. But if you're if our church 399 00:24:15,760 --> 00:24:19,800 worked out like if, if revival happened in our city and it 400 00:24:19,800 --> 00:24:23,080 happened in our church, would we be people who really actually 401 00:24:23,080 --> 00:24:27,080 wanted God to get the praise for that or will be people who say, 402 00:24:27,080 --> 00:24:29,120 you know what, I just I'm so happy that I go to that church 403 00:24:29,120 --> 00:24:31,520 that that had that that God thing happened there. 404 00:24:32,240 --> 00:24:34,720 Recently heard of a pastor. He was talking about how for 405 00:24:34,720 --> 00:24:38,120 years he would pray for revival in his city and he always would 406 00:24:38,120 --> 00:24:40,960 pray that it would come through his church and then eventually 407 00:24:40,960 --> 00:24:43,000 got to the place. It's I can say this now after 408 00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:47,680 about two or three decades of ministry, that I want God to 409 00:24:47,680 --> 00:24:50,680 show up so bad that if he showed up in the church down the 410 00:24:50,680 --> 00:24:54,480 street, I would be just as happy as if revival happened in my 411 00:24:54,480 --> 00:24:58,400 church. Now that's incredible. 412 00:24:58,400 --> 00:25:01,080 Could we say that? Can we say that about our 413 00:25:01,080 --> 00:25:05,680 families? That man God, I pray that my 414 00:25:05,680 --> 00:25:09,800 family is blessed to pray that my kids grow up well and I'm OK 415 00:25:09,800 --> 00:25:12,800 if they grew up well. And it's in spite of everything 416 00:25:12,800 --> 00:25:16,280 that I did, not because of it. And they tell the story of why 417 00:25:16,280 --> 00:25:19,040 their life turned out so well because of someone they met in 418 00:25:19,040 --> 00:25:22,000 college or a church they went to after they left home. 419 00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:26,040 Are we OK with not receiving the praise for raising disciples 420 00:25:26,800 --> 00:25:31,000 from our homes? Are we OK to do work in the 421 00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:36,000 workplace unto God for His glory and to not receive for it, not 422 00:25:36,000 --> 00:25:39,440 even desire for it a raise, a promotion, but that God would 423 00:25:39,440 --> 00:25:44,880 just simply receive the glory? Finally, we turn our attention 424 00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:49,880 to the last group, the group that was in the temple, the 425 00:25:49,880 --> 00:25:53,080 group whose hands were eager for unjust prophet. 426 00:25:53,880 --> 00:25:58,200 Verse 46, Jesus walks into the temple and he says, it's 427 00:25:58,200 --> 00:26:02,800 written, my house is made a House of prayer, but you have 428 00:26:02,800 --> 00:26:06,880 made it a den of thieves. And we often villainize these 429 00:26:06,880 --> 00:26:10,280 men who were in the temple making a prophet. 430 00:26:10,480 --> 00:26:13,200 How could you ever get there selling stuff in the House of 431 00:26:13,200 --> 00:26:16,600 God? Here's the question I think for 432 00:26:16,600 --> 00:26:21,520 us Are you someone who's able to live your life without taking 433 00:26:21,520 --> 00:26:27,360 advantage of people or even God to get ahead? 434 00:26:28,560 --> 00:26:31,120 Now imagine you are one of these people. 435 00:26:31,120 --> 00:26:34,800 Selling sheep in the temple might have started out as a good 436 00:26:34,800 --> 00:26:37,400 idea. People are wandering from far 437 00:26:37,400 --> 00:26:41,880 away and they need a certified unblemished offering that's 438 00:26:41,880 --> 00:26:44,680 really hard to get here. So I'm going to sell them some 439 00:26:44,680 --> 00:26:48,200 for my from my flock. And of course, I probably should 440 00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:50,840 make a little bit of money to cover my cost, but that'll be 441 00:26:50,840 --> 00:26:53,200 it. And then year every year, you 442 00:26:53,480 --> 00:26:56,360 start to think, man, maybe if I just made a bit more, I mean, 443 00:26:56,360 --> 00:26:59,400 I'm providing a really good service here for people is 444 00:26:59,400 --> 00:27:01,600 really helpful. And so, yeah, if I take a little 445 00:27:01,600 --> 00:27:03,160 bit, add a little bit, it's fine. 446 00:27:04,040 --> 00:27:07,920 Over the course of time, what becomes maybe let's start it as 447 00:27:07,920 --> 00:27:12,680 maybe a nice kind of thing to do becomes exploitation, becomes 448 00:27:12,680 --> 00:27:17,680 thievery. And I wonder in our lives, in my 449 00:27:17,680 --> 00:27:22,280 life, in yours, how often the blessings of God start out as a 450 00:27:22,280 --> 00:27:24,720 really strong desire, really pure desire. 451 00:27:25,920 --> 00:27:28,880 God, I want to be blessed for your glory, for the good of 452 00:27:28,880 --> 00:27:32,440 those around me. And that slowly and suddenly 453 00:27:32,440 --> 00:27:37,360 begins to shift and people and God himself become means to 454 00:27:37,360 --> 00:27:42,080 profit, to gain, to blessing, and not the other way around. 455 00:27:44,320 --> 00:27:47,080 Now these are questions for us to wrestle with in a culture 456 00:27:47,400 --> 00:27:53,960 that tells us that our future safety and prosperity depend on 457 00:27:54,120 --> 00:27:58,560 our group, our side of the political aisle, our 458 00:27:58,560 --> 00:28:01,720 denomination, our friend group getting their way. 459 00:28:02,320 --> 00:28:05,320 That we deserve to be revered, served, loved. 460 00:28:05,360 --> 00:28:10,520 You do you, whatever it is, and that a successful life is always 461 00:28:10,520 --> 00:28:15,880 up to up and the right up and to the right, putting the pressure 462 00:28:15,880 --> 00:28:17,760 on us to take advantage of others. 463 00:28:17,800 --> 00:28:21,120 We always believe that to be successful is to make more, to 464 00:28:21,120 --> 00:28:24,000 do more, to have more. And if I can't do that, then I 465 00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:27,200 need to pray more to God to receive unjust blessing and 466 00:28:27,200 --> 00:28:31,840 abuse people to get my game. Now thankfully, we're not 1st 467 00:28:31,840 --> 00:28:35,160 century Jewish people in the city of Jerusalem hearing this, 468 00:28:35,160 --> 00:28:39,120 with only a little time to make our decision and maybe with the 469 00:28:39,120 --> 00:28:42,480 window already closing, we have some time. 470 00:28:42,760 --> 00:28:46,560 You have time this morning. What can we learn from Jesus, 471 00:28:47,520 --> 00:28:51,240 what we learn from these people that our lives and our hearts 472 00:28:51,240 --> 00:28:54,000 and our minds will become alive to what he is doing. 473 00:28:55,480 --> 00:28:58,600 Now, there's one detail in this story that we kind of skimmed 474 00:28:58,600 --> 00:29:01,680 over and it's a detail that changes. 475 00:29:01,680 --> 00:29:04,920 I think that the, the meaning of this message for us today, 476 00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:09,080 because in one sense, reading the words of Jesus sounds really 477 00:29:09,320 --> 00:29:12,120 harsh, Am I right? It's kind of hard to read these. 478 00:29:12,120 --> 00:29:15,360 We probably struggle to pray this or say this over any 479 00:29:15,440 --> 00:29:19,040 anybody or anywhere. But as you guys know, 480 00:29:19,040 --> 00:29:24,000 communication, right is not just verbal, it's also non verbal and 481 00:29:24,000 --> 00:29:26,720 the fact it's probably over 90% non verbal. 482 00:29:27,200 --> 00:29:30,360 And so let's ask the question, how does Jesus say what he says? 483 00:29:31,240 --> 00:29:35,920 Is he walking in, riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, saying 484 00:29:35,920 --> 00:29:39,920 what he says here with victory in his eyes, his hands 485 00:29:39,920 --> 00:29:42,000 outstretched? You are getting what you 486 00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:44,280 deserve. I am victorious. 487 00:29:44,280 --> 00:29:47,000 I'm here to be worshipped. You will be destroyed and 488 00:29:47,000 --> 00:29:50,200 vanquished. Is he coming into Jerusalem with 489 00:29:50,200 --> 00:29:54,200 anger? You guys are evil and I am. 490 00:29:54,200 --> 00:29:57,960 I'm righteous and you are about to get your just dessert and I 491 00:29:57,960 --> 00:30:01,400 cannot wait for the day because I am a God of justice. 492 00:30:02,640 --> 00:30:07,040 No, he's riding into Jerusalem and as he looks out with people 493 00:30:07,040 --> 00:30:13,120 praising his name, singing Psalm 118 over him, he's weeping. 494 00:30:15,320 --> 00:30:20,720 Every sentence that he utters, every syllable is through a tear 495 00:30:20,720 --> 00:30:24,840 soaked SOB. He looks at the city, the city 496 00:30:24,840 --> 00:30:31,400 of Jerusalem, the people God has been wooing for all of the Old 497 00:30:31,400 --> 00:30:36,760 Testament to know him, to follow him, to accept His Son. 498 00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:45,400 And as Jesus speaks these harsh words, his heart is moved to 499 00:30:45,400 --> 00:30:48,520 love. When author puts it this way, 500 00:30:48,520 --> 00:30:51,680 the terrible judgment that's been pronounced and will shortly 501 00:30:51,680 --> 00:30:55,920 be, yes, be executed, proceeds not from a stern and cold 502 00:30:55,920 --> 00:31:01,840 justice, but from a heart of love that wants the best for and 503 00:31:01,840 --> 00:31:06,680 from the people. These tears are not just the 504 00:31:06,680 --> 00:31:10,240 human reaction to a sad and frustrating situation. 505 00:31:11,120 --> 00:31:14,360 They are the tears of a God of love. 506 00:31:15,000 --> 00:31:20,680 They are the tears of the God of love who Jesus says wants peace. 507 00:31:21,120 --> 00:31:24,240 If you would have known what made for peace. 508 00:31:25,880 --> 00:31:29,080 Now for some of us in the room today, when you hear that word 509 00:31:29,080 --> 00:31:32,320 peace, you think I know what makes for peace because I have 510 00:31:32,320 --> 00:31:35,640 it, I got it. My life is wonderful. 511 00:31:36,360 --> 00:31:41,840 I live the epitome of a peaceful life here in kind and outdoorsy 512 00:31:41,840 --> 00:31:44,240 Boise, ID. And the truth of the matter is 513 00:31:45,200 --> 00:31:48,600 that our peace is actually just comfort. 514 00:31:49,080 --> 00:31:52,120 Your life is comfortable. It's not peace with God and man. 515 00:31:53,080 --> 00:31:56,200 There's others of us here who when I say that Jesus wants to 516 00:31:56,200 --> 00:31:59,840 offer peace, your hand wants to shoot up because that's what 517 00:31:59,840 --> 00:32:02,320 you've been longing for. Peace in your marriage, peace 518 00:32:03,080 --> 00:32:07,080 with your children, peace just in your mind and in your body as 519 00:32:07,080 --> 00:32:11,680 you try to live day by day. And here is the truth that we 520 00:32:11,680 --> 00:32:17,000 see in these words of Jesus, that peace will only come on the 521 00:32:17,040 --> 00:32:21,200 other side of peace with God. Peace in this life, peace in our 522 00:32:21,200 --> 00:32:24,880 hearts and our minds and our bodies will only come through 523 00:32:24,880 --> 00:32:29,560 peace with God. But that window, opportunity to 524 00:32:29,560 --> 00:32:33,840 see God, to know God, to follow him, is closing just as the 525 00:32:33,840 --> 00:32:36,240 window is closing for the people in Jerusalem. 526 00:32:36,240 --> 00:32:40,680 It's closing for every one of us to accept the peace of God or to 527 00:32:40,680 --> 00:32:44,080 go on living our lives in comfort, to accept the peace of 528 00:32:44,080 --> 00:32:47,080 God or to go on just trying to do things in our own strength, 529 00:32:47,080 --> 00:32:49,680 knowing that and accepting that we'll probably never receive 530 00:32:49,680 --> 00:32:52,520 peace. So here's the question for us 531 00:32:52,960 --> 00:32:56,680 today, but also this week as we celebrate Holy Week in the lead 532 00:32:56,680 --> 00:32:59,680 up to Easter. Are we willing to surrender our 533 00:32:59,680 --> 00:33:04,200 lives fully to God as He really is? 534 00:33:05,080 --> 00:33:09,600 To lay down our ambitions, our goals, our desire to be praised, 535 00:33:10,760 --> 00:33:14,960 to do His will while there's still time, while there's still 536 00:33:14,960 --> 00:33:18,880 time for us, before the window closes because we won't get to 537 00:33:18,880 --> 00:33:23,440 go back twice and redo it. And so in response to this, this 538 00:33:23,440 --> 00:33:27,880 joyful message that Jesus has peace on offer for any of those 539 00:33:27,880 --> 00:33:31,040 who would accept it, I'm reminded of the words in Isaiah 540 00:33:31,040 --> 00:33:33,080 55. I read them this week in my 541 00:33:33,080 --> 00:33:34,200 quiet time. It says this. 542 00:33:34,520 --> 00:33:36,800 Seek the Lord while he may be found. 543 00:33:38,720 --> 00:33:43,560 Call upon him while he is near. The Apostle Paul says that this 544 00:33:43,560 --> 00:33:46,320 way. For you yourselves know 545 00:33:46,320 --> 00:33:49,480 perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the 546 00:33:49,480 --> 00:33:52,880 night. For when they say peace and 547 00:33:52,880 --> 00:33:57,560 safety, then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains 548 00:33:57,560 --> 00:34:00,480 upon a pregnant woman, and they shall not escape. 549 00:34:01,160 --> 00:34:04,640 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this day 550 00:34:04,640 --> 00:34:10,480 should overtake you as a thief. You, brethren, are all sons of 551 00:34:10,560 --> 00:34:14,880 light and sons of the day. We are not of the light nor of 552 00:34:14,880 --> 00:34:18,360 the darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep as 553 00:34:18,360 --> 00:34:22,480 others do, but let us watch and be sober. 554 00:34:23,199 --> 00:34:26,199 And so this week, as Tucker mentioned, we're taking time as 555 00:34:26,199 --> 00:34:32,199 a church to seek God while he can be found, to seek his joy, 556 00:34:32,199 --> 00:34:35,280 to seek his peace, to seek his face. 557 00:34:36,280 --> 00:34:39,120 And we're going to be doing that through a week of prayer and 558 00:34:39,120 --> 00:34:43,080 fasting is we like to invite each and every one of us to join 559 00:34:43,080 --> 00:34:45,639 in. This, however, is possible for 560 00:34:45,639 --> 00:34:48,440 you. Now, as I mentioned, prayer, we 561 00:34:48,440 --> 00:34:50,400 were praying together. It's a week of prayer. 562 00:34:50,400 --> 00:34:52,320 It's not just a few times of prayer. 563 00:34:53,400 --> 00:34:56,080 And so if you can't make it to the the sessions, feel free to 564 00:34:56,080 --> 00:34:59,720 pray on your own. And it's also a week of fasting 565 00:34:59,720 --> 00:35:01,360 a week where we're staying to ourselves. 566 00:35:01,560 --> 00:35:06,240 We're going to go without starve our flesh to feed our spirits to 567 00:35:06,240 --> 00:35:09,720 seek God. Fasting is helpful for us 568 00:35:09,720 --> 00:35:14,760 because it helps us to re engage our minds, transform them to the 569 00:35:14,760 --> 00:35:18,840 way of Jesus That does something to our hearts to help our hearts 570 00:35:18,840 --> 00:35:22,320 be aligned with gods. And it of course does something 571 00:35:22,320 --> 00:35:27,760 to our bodies to call our bodies to loving justice and goodness 572 00:35:27,760 --> 00:35:31,840 in the Kingdom of Christ. And so we're going to be doing a 573 00:35:31,840 --> 00:35:35,280 week of prayer and fasting. And one pastor says it this way, 574 00:35:35,760 --> 00:35:38,560 that prayer is powerful on its own and fasting is powerful on 575 00:35:38,560 --> 00:35:40,200 its own. But when you combine the two, 576 00:35:40,200 --> 00:35:43,240 it's like a chemical. A reaction occurs as we offer 577 00:35:43,240 --> 00:35:46,720 ourselves to God. And so is our prayer and our 578 00:35:46,720 --> 00:35:49,680 hope that God would do something, that we would see him 579 00:35:49,680 --> 00:35:52,920 together this week. And so maybe for you, it looks 580 00:35:52,920 --> 00:35:55,880 like if you think you could do it and say, if you think you can 581 00:35:55,880 --> 00:35:59,680 possibly do it, go for it. You can fast from tonight 582 00:35:59,760 --> 00:36:02,720 through Thursday night and seeking God do it. 583 00:36:03,480 --> 00:36:06,360 That's a bit daunting to you. You might choose to just do a 584 00:36:06,360 --> 00:36:12,040 fast of a meal or two a day, maybe eating dinner or luncheon 585 00:36:12,040 --> 00:36:15,160 dinner. Maybe because you have your life 586 00:36:15,160 --> 00:36:19,680 stage or the way that your body is fasting isn't for you. 587 00:36:19,680 --> 00:36:24,200 But you can go without something else like digital media or your 588 00:36:24,200 --> 00:36:28,680 car or something to remind yourself that your life is not 589 00:36:28,680 --> 00:36:32,080 your own. And so we do not want to miss 590 00:36:32,080 --> 00:36:34,600 this opportunity to seek God in the lead up to Eastern. 591 00:36:34,600 --> 00:36:38,520 So our invitation is for all of us wherever we're at, however we 592 00:36:38,520 --> 00:36:42,800 can this week to pay extra mind to Jesus. 593 00:36:44,240 --> 00:36:47,000 Thanks for joining us today. If you would like to watch the 594 00:36:47,000 --> 00:36:49,520 full service, check out the link in the description. 595 00:36:49,880 --> 00:36:53,760 For next steps and to learn more, visit calvaryboise.com.