Peace with God

He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”

Luke 19:40

When Jesus entered into Jerusalem on a donkey He was riding to His death. He was headed to the cross to offer His life as a ransoming, redeeming, reconciling sacrifice. Christ the sinless one had come to bear the punishment for the sins of His elect and thus to satisfy divine law, divine righteousness, and divine wrath. He came to die and then to rise from the dead, not only conquering sin, but also conquering the grave for all who believe in Him (John 11:25). Jesus had come the first time to die to purchase those for whom He would come the second time to reign with. Before the triumphant entry the Lord had never allowed an open, public declaration that He was the Messiah. In fact, when people sought to do that, He stopped them (Matt. 16:20; John 6:14–15). However, the divinely determined time had come for Him to die, so He accepted the praise poured out to Him. When the Pharisees told Him to rebuke the crowd Jesus refused. He knew that after His triumphant entry there would be no more public praise for Him.

Jesus is quoting Habakkuk 2:11–12, “For the stone will cry out from the wall, and the beam from the woodwork respond. “Woe to him who builds a town with blood and founds a city on iniquity!” The stones will not cry out in joyful praise to God, but in affirmation of God’s judgment on Israel’s wickedness. That filled the Lord with a deep sense of sorrow for the chosen people of God. We see evidence of that as He approached Jerusalem. He saw the city and wept over it. The word translated wept is the strongest word in the Greek language for weeping. It means Jesus’ agonized over their rejection of Him and the unescapable divine wrath that would follow.

The Jews were looking for peace that would come from a Messiah that would have a military victory over there hated oppressors, the Romans. The peace of which the Lord spoke was not political peace with enemies, or social peace in Israel, but peace with God. The things that make for that peace are repentance, faith in Christ, and believing the message of salvation that He had preached throughout His ministry. As you reflect this week on His death, burial, and resurrection, be praying for those that you love and know who do not belong to Him, that they would find peace in the arms of our Savior.

Your Shepherd,

Pastor Mark