Luke 19:28-48

 There are moments of this study, and each study we do, that hang so big and so heavy I find it hard to breathe. This is one of them. As we enter into the narrative of what we call Palm Sunday we encounter Jesus in a very profound way.

 It is funny, because Palm Sunday growing up was met with spring colored dresses, palms handed to us at the door and little crosses made from palm leaves during children's church on the way out. It became festive. We became part of the crowd shouting "Hosanna!" Looking back and looking not too far back it strikes me how although part of this, it misses the mark at times. 

 This very same crowd was the one that would be present at Jesus hearing a week later. The same ones shouting hosanna in one breathe shout crucify him with another. Even the disciples who led Jesus on the colt would flee and deny and betray. 

Yet Jesus, enters, the anointed one. The one set to break the curse. The perfect propitiation of our sins. And as he rides towards Jerusalem we are told a few things. The people praised him for his works, the Pharisees fussed over it, and Jesus wept over Jerusalem. 

When the Pharisees demanded that Jesus silence the people, his response was incredible. He says that the very stones would cry out if the people did not. We are told in Romans 8:22 that all of creation groans waiting for redemption. Jesus is the sustainer of all things. He upholds the universe by the word of his power. He, being Christ. The King had come. 

Jesus then goes into the temple and cleanses it. I find myself reflecting what in my heart and what in my thoughts on worship and what I do at church and for church and within church needs to be cleansed today?

Sinclair Ferguson writes on page 90, "He was the Messiah, the Anointed One. He remains so. As prophet he continues to speak God's word to us through Scripture. As priest he has offered himself as a sacrifice to cleanse us from the guilt of sin and now in our lives. Yes, indeed, "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!"

Amen.

Luke 19:1-10

 In today's passage we encounter Zacchaeus, a man short in stature as we are told, who have an encounter with Christ. 

Zacchaeus climbed a tree...because a wee little man was he... LOL. Sorry the song keeps popping into my head. Seriously though, Zacchaeus heard that Jesus was coming. Longing to see him he climbed up the tree to peer over a crowd. However, the most important part of the story, Jesus sees and calls him. He knew the tax collector was there. The Lord who sustains all things, including that tree growing where it did, the breaths of every man in the crowd, the heart beat of us reading the encounter today; He knew,and He called. 

Unlike the rich young ruler that we read about last week, this tax collector responds differently. Seeing Jesus being with the Christ changed everything. He repented and said he would pay back fourfold anyone who he had unjustly charged and then give away the rest of his wealth to the poor. Zacchaeus had an encounter with Christ and from that moment on nothing mattered more. He became like the man mentioned in Matthew 13:44-46, finding the treasure in the field, and in his joy sells all that he has and buys the field. 

Friend, where does our heart lie? Are we like the rich young ruler or the small tax collector?

Luke 18:18-30

 The young ruler. Shallow in his understanding of who Jesus was, and overconfident in his understanding of the law. He approaches Jesus with false flattery and ascertains his own merits and righteousness. And the Lord, dissolves it one question at a time. He shows the young man where his true riches lie. He uses the law to reveal the need for a Savior, and then promises salvation to those who believe and follow Him.

Sinclair Ferguson ends the chapter with this question, "Is there anything sticking to your soul with super glue? Are you prepared to ask Jesus to release it?"

A provoking question to take into our weekend.

Luke 18:15-17

 In a beautiful moment, Jesus assures that children are welcome. Wise parents came to the Lord seeking his blessing on their children. The disciples tried to send them away and Jesus, himself, rebuked them.

My mind goes this morning to the passage in Judges that I was reading. When Sampson's mother is told she would give birth to a son set aside for the work of the Lord, her and her husband seek God on how to raise him. I had honestly, never noted this detail but it is a worthy one to pause at. Do we seek the Lord on how best to raise our children? Do we teach His goodness to our children? Do we hinder them?

I have to be careful because I can find myself on a soapbox on ways I think the church has removed children from being blessed by the Lord. Rather than bringing them straight to Jesus we keep them away from His word on a typical Sunday morning ( or wait until they are "old enough," to sit through service). We as parents must remember that the Word of God is living and active, it knows no age. 

Luke 17:20-37

 Already, not yet. This has become both a mind-boggling and yet exciting saying to me. The kingdom of God is already, as Christ has come, and not yet; as He will come again.

Because this passage and this thought alone are quite puzzling and profound I have attached several articles to help us go deeper yet into this understanding. 

May we learn to live in this glorious tension.

https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/what-is-kingdom-god

https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/living-in-the-tension

https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/already-not-yet

Luke 17:5-10

 Whenever my studies collide on the same topic the same day, I feel I should be paying extra attention. Today was faith being a gift, given by God in His complete grace to us. Read both in this portion of Luke but then in my quiet time catecism and prayer, a reminder of what faith genuinely is; and a great opportunity to correct any false narratives.

I love reading today in our book, how faith is not a thing. We can not muster up big little faith. Faith in our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, and since it is rooted and grounded in Him, it is always perfect. Faith is a gift given to us. 

In Westminster Larger Catechism Q & A 71 says in part "How is justification an act of God's free grace?" 

A:" Although Christ, by his obedience and death, did make a proper, real and full satisfaction to God's justice in the behalf of them that are justified; yet inasmuch as God accepteth the satisfaction from a surety, which he might have demanded from them, and did provide this surety, his own only Son, imputing His righteousness to them, and requiring nothing of them for their justification but faith, which also is his gift, their justification is to them of free grace." ( I underlined the statement in focus)

God's graces are immeasurable. His goodness is unsearchable. Do we look at faith as a thing to earn, a thing we do, or as a gift of God anchored in Him alone? When our faith is not what we can muster but in who Christ is, in His atoning work and His saving grace, how can we not walk by faith in this gift of God?

Luke 14:25-33

 I think I could spend the rest of our study on this passage alone. So powerful and convicting as I sit and ponder the words of Jesus and then the teaching of Sinclair Ferguson on them. Several points were drawn out that I would love to offer for us today:

"When Jesus calls a man, he bids him to come and die." -Dietrich Bonhoeffer These are not typically words we find scrolled across the front cover of discipleship books. Yet this affirms the words Jesus says to the crowd."Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple." Jesus calls us to follow Him. So often we change this thought, we soften it- "Jesus loves you for you, you are enough, you are God's little princess." Quite the difference of Jesus turning to the crowd (women included) saying unless you are willing to die, unless you love me with a love so radical that your affections towards your family feel like hate- you cannot follow me. 

The only thing that is enough in our life is our sin to convict us and our Lord to save us. 

In what ways have we allowed discipleship to reflect worldly ideologies rather than biblical ones? 

Have you considered the cost?