“Jerusalem: City of Peace” (Luke 19:37-44) - Life of Jesus -

Stuck in the Mud

It was last Sunday afternoon after funeral service that my car got stuck in the mud in the Hodgdon church parking lot. At first, I didn’t think it seriously. I thought I could take care of it for myself. But the harder I tried to get out, the more my car got deeply stuck in the mud. After making several unsuccessful “self-help” attempts, I had to admit that I just can’t do it. I had to ask for help. So one of the church members brought his truck and rescued me out of the mud.

Hosanna! Save Us Now!

In today’s scripture Jesus was about to enter Jerusalem. All of sudden, Jesus sent off two of the disciples to borrow a colt. So far, he always walked. He had just walked the ninety miles all the way from Galilee to Jerusalem. But now, half a mile from the Temple, he asked for a donkey. Why? Jesus was doing this to fulfill the prophet Zechariah’s promise: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey” (9:9). Here Jesus was clearly revealing himself and proclaiming himself as the long-awaited Messiah promised by the prophets.

On the face of it, people seemed to recognize their Messiah. They gave a grand welcome to him as Jesus was making his way to the city of Jerusalem. They threw their coats on the street and praised God out loud, saying, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” The entire city was filled with joy and excitement. But strangely enough, as Jesus approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you had recognized this day – the day of God’s coming to you (v. 44), if you had only known what would bring you peace! But now it is hidden from your eyes.” (v. 42)

What’s the Problem?

The whole crowd of disciples believed what they needed a little bit of help here, and a little bit of help there, then, they would be ok. They thought the problems of the world had to do with politics, governments, leaders, laws, and social systems. So they believed that when the Messiah comes with great power and miracles, he would overturn the Roman regime and reform their society. Then, they would be ok. That was their concept of the Messiah.

But in today’s scripture Jesus made it clear that he was not that kind of king. He was saying that the heart of the problem is not social reform (though it’s important). Rather, it’s sin problem. Since Adam and Eve’s rebellion, the image of God in humanity was damaged, and our relationship with God and with others was broken. To transform the world, the image of God in us must be restored, or to put it another way, a heart change is necessary. That can only be done by one person. So now Jesus was heading toward Jerusalem to deal with the sin problem.

In Jerusalem, for thousands of years, the people offered animal sacrifices to cleanse their sins, because that was a covenant between God and Israel, called the Law of Moses. Hebrews 9:22 says, “The law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” But animal blood was still not a permanent solution. Those animal sacrifices were just a shadow of the real solution. Then, what is God’s real, perfect solution to the sin problem? Jesus Christ our Savior!

Cleansing of the Temple

After entering Jerusalem, Jesus went up to the temple, and he began to cleanse the temple, driving out those who were selling, scattering the coins of the money changers, overturning their tables. This was also a very spiritually symbolic act – the cleansing the sanctuary of the heart, the cleansing of sin. Of course, the Jews were upset and asked, “Who gave you this authority to do all this?” Jesus replied, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days” (John 2:19). But they didn’t understand it. But here Jesus was talking about his body as the Temple. In a few days Jesus would destroy sin permanently by shedding his blood. “By one sacrifice he [Jesus] has made perfect forever those who are being made holy” (Heb 10:14).

The sacrifice of Jesus is God’s permanent solution to the sin problem. But we have the choice to receive his solution. Jesus wept over Jerusalem, because the people did not receive him. Though they welcomed him, paid homage to him, praised him, they missed the boat. All they did was use him to make themselves important.

Then, how can we receive God’s solution, God’s personal visit (v. 44)? The first step is to admit that we are lost, we are helpless. G. K. Chesterton rightly said, “The answer to the question “What is wrong [with the world]?” is, or should be, “I am wrong.”” In other words, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner!” That’s repentance – turning to Jesus with open arms. That’s how we receive God’s coming to us. That’s how God brings peace to us through Christ Jesus.

My Heart Christ’s Home

Receiving Jesus is a process. Receiving Jesus means to give him control and full access to all the rooms of our heart. That’s a second step. For many, it takes time. It’s a process. During the final week of his life in Jerusalem Jesus spent much time with religious leaders (as well as his disciples) and exposed their hypocrisy (cf. Matt 23) and incongruency. But sadly, they didn’t open up to their Messiah and give him access to their heart. Rather, they took offense at him and tried to kill him. That still happens today.

In his classical story, My Heart Christ’s Home, Robert Munger tells us how he invited Jesus Christ into his heart. He gave Jesus access to the rooms of his hearts – one room at a time – the library, dining room, living room, workroom, rec room, etc., but not the hall closet. In the closet there were some dead things – the things that he did not want anyone to know about, the things left over from the old life. Jesus wanted to open it. Robert was angry and said to himself, “This is too much. I am not going to give Him the key.” He struggled. But he didn’t want to be estranged from Jesus. So he said to Jesus, “I’ll give You the key, but You’ll have to open the closet and clean it out. I haven’t the strength to do it.” Jesus said, “I know. Just authorize me to take care of that closet and I will.” Then, Robert shares what happened next this way:

So with trembling fingers I passed the key to Him. He took it from my hand, walked over to the door, opened it, entered it, took out all the putrefying stuff that was rotting there, and threw it away. Then He cleaned the closet and painted it, fixed it up, doing it all in a moment's time. Oh, what victory and release to have that dead thing out of my life!

For me personally, I am still in the process of opening all the rooms of my heart to Christ. Managing money, a “finance room,” is one of them. Recently, I received a tax return. I had promised to God that I would set aside a certain portion for mission offerings as well as my tithing when I receive income. But I actually received my tax return, I grudged. My other competing needs came to my mind – my retirement investments, children’s education funds, parents and family funds, etc. I struggled. It took a while until I opened up my heart to Jesus and honestly talked to him about it. Then, I was able to let go of my greed for money. I gave Jesus the key for my finance room. And I rejoiced.

Some of you may have noticed that Joyce became a happier person after coming back from the recent conference. She was struggling with certain relationships. She had a hard time to forgive someone who hurt her badly. While she was attending the conference, she opened up her heart and let Jesus come in and take care of it. It was such a painful process, but it was a necessarily healing process. After the conference, she made the first move and made things right with that person, writing a heartfelt letter and asking for forgiveness. Joyce gave Jesus the key for her social/relationship room. And she felt much more freedom.

Journey through Holy Week

In today’s scripture Jesus said to the cheering crowd, “You did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you” (v. 44, NIV). “You didn’t recognize and welcome God’s personal visit” (MSG). Jesus entered Jerusalem two thousand years ago. But, Jesus still comes to us today. Time is now. This is the day that the Lord is doing the great work of salvation among us. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. My prayer is that as we follow the footsteps of Jesus through Holy Week, we may be freed, cleansed, transformed, at peace with God, others, and ourselves. Amen.