Terms of Peace
Luke 19:41-43

We've been going through the book of Jeremiah. Today we end our series. Right up front we have a problem: Jeremiah doesn't seem to fit very well with Palm Sunday. We covered the three good chapters last time. From here on in, all we get is judgment and more judgment. And it doesn't help to look past Jeremiah either -- the next book is Lamentations. So let's not start with Jeremiah this morning. Let's start with the story of Palm Sunday. You'll find the story in the book of Luke, chapter 19, beginning at verse 28. You know the story well:

For three years Jesus has been preaching, healing, casting out demons and calling people to follow him. He has become more and more popular -- and the opposition against him has grown more and more fierce. Now he is about to enter Jerusalem for the Passover. The tension is extraordinarily high. To the powers that be Jesus is a major threat -- to commoners he is becoming a popular hero.

As Jesus approaches Jerusalem he comes to the Mount of Olives, and there he sends two of his disciples ahead of him. He says to them Go to the village just ahead, you'll find a donkey colt tied there. Untie it and bring it here, and if anyone asks you what you are doing, just tell them, "The Lord needs it." Everything happens just as Jesus told them. They bring the colt back, lay their cloaks on it, and Jesus begins his final ride into Jerusalem.

By this time Jesus disciples know exactly what Jesus is doing -- by riding into the city on a donkey, Jesus is proclaiming that he is the son of David, the Messiah, the rightful King of Israel. There is nothing accidental about what Jesus is doing here. Jesus is carefully and deliberately doing exactly what the Messiah is supposed to do. This is like a play in which everyone knows their part. These people knew the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9.

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem
See, your king comes to you,
righteous and having salvation,
gentle and riding on a donkey.

Jesus is announcing himself as Conquering King and the people of Jerusalem love it. They shout, they sing, they wave palm branches. And Jesus welcomes it.

But then, as he comes closer and looks down on the city, an odd thing happens. Look at 19:41-44.

As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it . . .

As Jesus approaches Jerusalem he cries. When Luke says that he wept he does not mean that he cried silent, noble, kingly tears. It means that he sobbed and wailed. He completely broke down. I want you to fix that picture in your mind: Jesus, sitting on a donkey, at his moment of greatest triumph, with cheering crowds surrounding him -- and he is sobbing, crying out in grief.

It is an amazing and shocking picture: Jesus, the very incarnation of God, the creator of the Universe in flesh, sobbing uncontrollably as he looks down on the city of Jerusalem.

Where do tears like this come from? To try to understand what Jesus might have been feeling I first searched my own experience.

When I was 11 years old my older brother left for College in Chicago. Our whole family went with him to the bus station. We were late so the goodbyes were hurried. We arrived, he ran to the bus, and he was gone. When we were all back in the car, my dad broke down. For minutes he sobbed uncontrollably. I had never seen Dad cry like that. That scene is etched in my memory because it was a shock to me. My Dad, whose strong arms had held me -- and whose strong hand had disciplined me, was suddenly broken and weak. When I think of Jesus crying over Jerusalem, I think of my dad crying over his son who has just left. He can no longer protect him or guide him. He can no longer put his arms around him and comfort him.

A more recent example also came to mind: As many of you know, my Dad preached at my ordination service. He also gave me a pile of books -- some of the most precious items from his theological library. Both should have been cause for rejoicing. But when I came into my office to look through those books a couple of days later, I completely broke down. I could not pick up a book without crying. It was not at all good for productivity -- it took me most of the morning to get the books on the shelf. My tears had nothing to do with the books themselves. These were not tear jerking novels. They were titles like "The Art of Biblical Preaching" and "The Virgin Birth of Christ." So why was I crying? Because the books felt like an early inheritance. They forced me to recognize that the time I have left to enjoy my father's company is short.

My father wept and I wept because we were feeling or anticipating the loss of someone precious to us -- the loss of relationship.

Why does Jesus weep? The reasons are similar. In verses 42 - 44 he says:

"If you, even you, had only known 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."

There are two things that Jesus weeps for:

1. First, he weeps because his people have rejected his offer of peace -- in other words they have rejected him

Imagine a father whose teen-aged son has run away, and is living on the street. So the father goes out looking for him. He searches everywhere, and finally he finds his son, living in squalor in an abandoned warehouse. And surprisingly the son is overjoyed to see is father. He thinks its great that Dad has searched him out. He welcomes him. He introduces him to his friends. He even throws a party for him.

But when the father says, "Let's go home now," the scene changes. He does not want to live under his father's authority. He is happy to accept Dad into his world on his own terms --he'll even throw a party for him. But he will not go back home.

He has rejected the conditions of peace. If there is to be relationship between the father and son, one simple condition has to be met: The son has to accept the father's protection and authority.

Would not that father leave in tears, crying "If only he knew what would bring him happiness." -- If only he knew the terms of peace.

Jesus had made the terms of peace clear. "Come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden and . . . I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls." Luke 13:34 -- "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!"

The conditions of peace had nothing to do with waving Palm Branches, or great worship. Jesus terms of peace was simple surrender to him as King and savior.

2. Second, he weeps for the judgment that is coming

When Jesus looked out over Jerusalem he see's what is coming 40 years later. He sees Roman Armies encircling the city. He sees great siege ramps being raised. He sees the walls being breached and the city being utterly destroyed. And he is overcome with grief.

And suddenly this is all sounding very familiar. Jesus on Palm Sunday sounding an awful lot like Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 15:5-7
Jeremiah 8:21-9:2
The similarity between Jeremiah and Jesus is startling. Both proclaim the destruction of Jerusalem, both cry over the city, both see through the outward religiosity around them.

So Jeremiah and Palm Sunday come together on at least two points:

1. External displays of religion are not enough.

If there is one single message where Jeremiah and Jesus come together it is this: God doesn't want an outward show, he wants surrendered hearts.

In Jeremiah . . .

On Palm Sunday . . .

That means that Holy Week is an enormously dangerous time for us in our spiritual lives. There are few weeks of the year when we feel more pious and religious. We go through a whole range of religious feelings during this week. We celebrate joyfully on Palm Sunday. We feel penitent and somber on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. And then we are up again on Easter Sunday. It's a week full of religious activity and religious mood swings. And it is easy to feel good about ourselves, confident in our piety. But Jesus tears should remind us that what God really wants is simple surrender to his terms of peace.

2. There is another point where Jeremiah and Palm Sunday come together: God reveals is heart-broken when his people reject him. He does not dispense judgment vengefully or indifferently. He cries over his people's rejection of him. He grieves at the suffering they will face.


I encourage you to fix the image of Jesus crying over Jerusalem in your mind. Think of him broken down, sobbing for his people. And let that image work on you in two ways:

1. When you imagine Jesus weeping over Jerusalem, you should allow his tear to first of all break through any outward show of religiosity. If you have not surrendered your life to him, his tears are for you -- for the stubbornness that keeps you from accepting his terms of peace, and for the judgment that will face you if you do not.

2. When you imagine Jesus weeping over Jerusalem, imagine yourself looking over your town or your neighborhood. What do you see? Do you see houses and buildings -- or do you see what Jesus saw when he looked over Jerusalem: People who are rejecting God's offer of peace.

Finally I have a bible memorization challenge for you: I remember in my Sunday School days when we were required to memorize Bible verses I very quickly learned to include John 11:35 on my list of memorized verses. It's the shortest verse in the Bible. Just two words: "Jesus wept." Those two words should constantly amaze us because they reflect the depth of God's love.