Palm Sunday

Happy Sunday, happy Palm Sunday. If you are in the Atlanta area, I'll be preaching the sunrise service Easter Sunday morning next week at Arlington Cemetery, 6 30 a.m. I'd love to see you there.

You likely know that there was a school shooting in Nashville last week at a Christian Elementary School. I have grandchildren in elementary school in Nashville. I was sick about the whole mess. There's chaos everywhere, it seems. I have friends in Mississippi dealing with the aftermath of the tornado that killed dozens of people. Chaos once again.

Let's look back 2 000 years to that first Palm Sunday. Jerusalem was filled with people; perhaps as many as 2 million were in town, crowding the streets. Luke tells us that as Jesus came into the city, that he wept. He wept over what he saw. Luke's 1941 says, "But as he came closer to Jerusalem and saw the city ahead, he began to weep."

There were many reasons to weep. The temple was there in Jerusalem, and it was crooked. Listen to what Mark tells us, and Mark 11 15 and 16: "When they arrived back in Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple and began to drive out the people buying and selling animals for sacrifices. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves, and he stopped everyone from using the temple as a Marketplace for" bad religion had become so corrupt. Instead of helping the chaos of the world, it added to it.

Jesus said this about the temple in verse 17 of Mark 11. "He said to them, the scriptures declare by Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations, but you, you have turned it into a den of Thieves." And that's the way it was as Jesus was coming to town. Luke says that Jesus said said this, and I'm reading from Luke 19 42. "Jesus said, have a wish today that you of all people would understand the way to peace, but now it's too late, and peace is hidden from your eyes."

Jesus was sick of the chaos, the unnecessary chaos. Let me give you a little history reminder. It all started in the Garden of Eden. All was well, and then sin, unnecessary sin, and it led to chaos. Paradise was lost.

The Old Testament tells the story of animal sacrifices, and it gets confusing. The Book of Leviticus is a difficult read. After the fall of Man, we see this in Genesis 3 21: "The Lord God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and for his wife." You remember that, don't you? Adam and Eve were hiding from God because they were aware of their nakedness. So what does God do? He provides clothes for them. An animal died for those clothes, for the sins of man, and this was the first of many sacrifices.

So now, as Jesus enters Jerusalem, you could smell the sacrifices. You could hear the innocent animals being slaughtered. The blood must have been everywhere. Many crooked priests were getting rich; most didn't care for the people. The world was a disaster; the religious world was a disaster.

And Jesus came to Jerusalem that day, that Palm Sunday, to put an end to the chaos, to be the final sacrifice. Let's fast forward 2 000 years. Do you think that Jesus looks at our world at times and weeps over what we have become? Chaos and War and turmoil everywhere.

Today I have great news: Jesus offers peace amid the chaos. All of us have seen our share of chaos, and here comes Jesus. He offers us peace in the midst of it all. Jesus said this about himself to the disciples before that first Easter. In John 14 27, Jesus said, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid."

This Holy Week is a week when chaos is conquered. Next Sunday morning we will celebrate an end to chaos, Victory even over the grave and over death. "Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid." Jesus came into Jerusalem that day to change the world, and he offers today to come into your life, into my life, to change our world. Let's let him.

Pray with me. Father, in all of the turmoil and all of the craziness, Here Comes Jesus, and it's up to us to let him in. We pray for Revival in this world, in this land, and our states and our cities and our houses. Father, help us to accept you, to take the peace that you offer amidst all of the craziness.

Father, thank you for coming, and we celebrate this week, and we so look forward to Easter. We need it. In Jesus name, amen. God bless, thanks for joining me.