Triumphal Entry

PRAYER PRACTICE

Lectio – Read today’s passage through once. Then spend some time praying and asking God to show you what you need to pay attention to in the text. Read it again. Now ask God to help you see what this text, and the part that has stood out, may mean for you. Don’t expect to get a clear word every time but always be ready to really hear from God through His Word.

DAILY READING

Luke 19:28-48

DEVOTION / REFLECTION

Embrace Your Emotions

by Judy Webb

The reading from Luke 19 is filled with the human emotions of Jesus and the people. As we prepare to enter Holy Week next week, these emotions are a normal for part of this season. We view the excited and jubilant emotions of the crowds as they watch Jesus, riding on a colt, and entering their city. Palm branches are waving and smiles are evident. They are praising God and shouting, and singing for all the wonderful miracles they had seen. (verse 37)

Next, there is the emotion the Pharisees are exhibiting, their muttering and complaining about all the joyous noise. They didn't like all the goings on and attempted to stifle the moment. They demanded Jesus rebuke his followers. (verse 39) One of my favorite verses of all time comes next. "If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out!" (verse 40) Doesn't that provide a fantastic visual?

The next emotion is a strong one from Jesus. We read, he wept over Jerusalem. "As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. (Luke 19:41-42) Jesus knew their future and he wept for them, for what could have been had they only believed. I believe Jesus still shares this emotion for us, when we miss the mark, when we close our eyes and ears to his Word.

This brings us to the final emotion in these verses, “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be a house of prayer; but you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’ Jesus' anger over the moneychangers, and how they made the temple into something other than the house of prayer it was intended to be, must have caused his disciples to stop in their tracks. 

Every day he was teaching at the temple. But the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill him. Yet they could not find any way to do it, because all the people hung on his words. (Luke 19:47-48) This final emotion seems to be one of love, the people for Jesus. And the pure love of Jesus for the people. They hung on his words; they were mesmerized by his teaching. But soon, He would be hung by the same people who listened and clung to his words.

Dear Jesus, open our eyes to your will and inspire us with your Word. Show us what is right and give us courage to proclaim it, until "even the stones cry out!"

Luke 19:28-48

PRAYER PRACTICE

Spoken Prayer – Out loud, pray for God to speak to you through your reading. Praise God for giving us His word. Ask the Spirit to help you read with faith, and to live out what you hear from God through the passage.

DAILY READING

 Luke 19:28-48

by Nancy Gleeson

As Jesus entered the city, his followers cried out,

“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!

Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”  Luke 19:38

Yet, not everyone saw Jesus as King and the many who did, had the wrong idea about what kind of king He was. Because of this, Jesus wept. You see, His mission would have nothing to do with politics or power. He knew that the people would soon cry out, “Crucify him!”. Jesus wept for a city that could not recognize that it is humility and sacrifice that define the true Christ of God.

Jesus saw the city was obsessed with power and at the center was the temple. Their religious system was being used to distance people from God and it was keeping what would bring them peace hidden from their eyes. The people needed to know that God didn’t require something from them. This House of Prayer needed to be restored so they could receive nourishment for their souls.

The same is true for us. What Jesus brings as king must sit on the throne of our heart. Whatever we put of ultimate importance speaks into our heart and guides us. It is that very thing that determines the course that we walk. When we praise Jesus, we celebrate Him with our life. God is seeking to draw people to Himself while so many in our world wonder and search for meaning. Let others see Jesus in us. Turn our love into action so that the rocks will not be left to cry out.

Prayer:

Holy God,

Help me to be passionate about restoring people to you. Give me eyes to see places in my life that can be a house of prayer rather than a den of robbers. Remove barriers I may have and help me to be a bridge for others to find you. Make me a messenger of your word to awaken people to the life you have for them. Amen