God Holds to His Word
Luke 19:41–48
And when [Jesus] drew near and saw the city, He wept over it, saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”
And He entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers.”
And He was teaching daily in the temple. The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people were seeking to destroy Him, but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were hanging on His words. (ESV)
Prayer: Cleanse us, O Savior, from everything that would separate us from Your Holy Word and Your kingdom of grace. Amen.
Dear Fellow Redeemed,
When you think of a hero or role model, what characteristics come to mind? We probably think of someone who is a leader, who is strong, compassionate, courageous, and self-less. I read recently, that one of the challenges for young people today is that they don’t have good role models. The people in our lives who are famous, powerful, and influential, are probably not individuals who we would like to have serve as role models for our children. While they are famous—they lack the characteristics of a role model. Someone you would want to look up to. But if we go back fifty years, who was one of the role models for young boys? John Wayne is probably one that comes to mind. When I think about some of the movie characters that John Wayne portrayed, one of the characteristics that stands out—besides being courageous and selfless—was that he was a man of his word. If he said something, he meant it and followed through. This is not a common trait in our society today—but it is one that is laudable. If a man keeps his word, we can trust him. Perhaps, there is no greater superpower or strength—than a person who keeps his word.
All the wonderful character traits and attributes that we admire and respect are dim reflections of our Holy God. God is faithful. When he speaks, it comes to be. When he promises, he follows through. God says what he means, and he means what he says. God does not lie. He is faithful. We can trust him because God holds to his word.
Every one of us has heroes and people we look up to. But you and I both know that the more we get to know our heroes, we will also find character flaws. Even the greatest people we know aren’t perfect. Everyone has their shortcomings—even our heroes. But not God. The more time we spend studying the Scripture, the more time we spend getting to know God, the more we depend on him, the more we will be amazed at his greatness and mercy. The more we learn to know that God holds to his word.
Our lesson for this morning is one that could easily be glanced over, but it shouldn’t be. Maybe surprisingly, this lesson takes place on Palm Sunday as Jesus made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The followers of Jesus were rejoicing! They sang, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!” But as Jesus drew near and saw the city, which brought joy and admiration to every Jew, Jesus wept. What a contrast between Jesus and the crowds. Here, we see Jesus’ humanity. He weeps. Yet, we also see his divinity. The reason Jesus wept was because he knew what would happen in less than a week. The shouts of praise would be turned into shouts for his crucifixion.
Our Lord weeps, but not for the same reason that you and I would. We would weep because we wouldn’t want such a horrible death. Jesus weeps, because he wanted Jerusalem—the people and the religious leaders—to repent and to believe his word. Jesus truly wants all men to be saved. In our Old Testament lesson, we heard the words of the Lord through the Prophet Jeremiah, urging the Israelites to repent and promising his mercy. Yet, much like the prophet Jeremiah, Jesus’ preaching over the past three years had fallen on deaf ears.
So, Jesus exclaims, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace!” How ironic that Jerusalem, which contains “peace” (salem) within its name, does not recognize “Peace” when he comes. Even the blind beggar knew who Jesus was. But Jerusalem, its religious leaders and people, in large part, rejected the preaching of Jesus. They did not want to repent. They were content with their life and their own self-righteousness. They wanted peace, but not the kind the Savior would bring. They only wanted earthly peace. Because of their unbelief and rejection of the Savior, Jesus foretells about how Jerusalem would be destroyed by the Romans in AD 70.
The destruction of Jerusalem serves as a warning to all of us. Jerusalem was the city of David with God’s holy Temple and the descendants of Abraham—God’s chosen people. Yet, due to their unbelief and hardness of heart, they would be judged. If this could happen to God’s chosen people, how much more so should we take God’s warnings to heart. We should be thoughtful about abiding in God’s word and worshiping him with our whole hearts, not just our lips.
While we might be a little astounded that Israel would be so dismissive of God’s preaching and teaching, how often do we dismiss God’s warnings in our own lives? We know what God says in his word and would strongly tell other Christians not to go contrary to it, but then a sin comes up in our own lives which we think will not have any real consequences on our souls. A person in your life comes up in conversation, but instead of defending their reputation, you join in with the crowd and mock them behind their back. You know that you need to hear God’s Word, but often you place non-essential priorities above going to church—and you think, well, it’s only a few Sundays here and there, what is that going to hurt. How often do we think we will have peace, if only the right politician gets elected, or if only our investments continue to grow? When we put our trust in other things, we make them our idols. How foolish our idols look.
We often don’t think that our participation in “pagan temples” will hurt our worship and relationship with the one true God. But God warns us, and he holds to his word—if we do not repent and seek to live as his child, he will have no part with us. He will not be mocked. God will come to judge the living and the dead.
You have sinned. And maybe God’s Law has been working on your heart and you see your sin. You feel shame. You feel guilt. And because you are a Christian you know that when you realize your sin you should confess it and receive God’s forgiveness. But maybe there is small voice in your head that says, “Will God really forgive me?” I’ve messed up so big or so often, that I don’t see how God could forgive me. I am so embarrassed about my sin, I don’t even dare bring it up to God.
The Bible talks about two types of sorrow over sin. When we feel sorrow over our sin but feel as though we have no hope, Paul calls this a sorrow leading to death. Because we see our sin, but despair. But when we recognize our sin—we should never despair, because we have Christ. And he promises forgiveness to all those who come to him. And he means it. Jesus holds to his word.
When our Lord tells us that he forgives us our sins, he means it. There is no sin he did not pay for. And he proves this to be true. Just consider the apostle Peter. I am sure that Peter felt as though Jesus would never forgive him after he had denied him three times. Peter vowed to never abandon Jesus, but he denied him again and again and again. Imagine the guilt that Peter must have had. But how did Jesus respond? Did he abandon Peter and toss him to the curb? No. After his resurrection Jesus restored Peter to himself. He forgave him. He brought him peace. Peter saw the wounds that were proof that his sins were paid for.
Then later, Jesus asked Peter three times, “Do you love me?” And Peter said, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” With these three questions Jesus restored Peter, but even more, Jesus called Peter to share the same forgiveness that he had received with others. Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” Jesus knew that his flock would sin, and they would need the same forgiveness and assurance that Peter received. And Peter preached this message of forgiveness—even later to those who had been part of Jesus’ crucifixion.
Jesus is not a hateful and spiteful God. He is faithful, compassionate, and forgiving. So, to those who have denied him, thought little of his word, and often sinned against him, Jesus says, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). You and I have failed to live the life that God demands, but Jesus did not. And he gives his perfect and holy life to you. He has taken every one of your sins and nailed them to the cross. They are gone!
But you say, “Pastor, Peter had Jesus right in front of him. He had Jesus’ words. I can’t be so sure.” No, you do have Jesus words. When you hear the pastor speak the words of absolution, forgiving your sins, those are the words of Christ spoken through the pastor. But you say, “Pastor, those might be Jesus’ words, but he is not present with us like he was with Peter.” Of course he is! Jesus says, “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20). But that’s not all! When you come before this altar to receive Christ’s body and blood for the forgiveness of sins, the same Christ who broke into human history to save us two thousand years ago, breaks into time, at our church, to a people who have sinned against him, to forgive us and save us. Jesus holds to his word. Your sins are forgiven.
Jesus is a man of his word. God holds to his word! And he wants us to hang on his words—as if they were the only foundation that we could stand on. This is why Jesus drove out the money-changers who robbed the people of the temple’s focus. This is why he seeks to drive away all the man-made idols that vie for our heart’s affections. He exposes our sin so that we repent of it and receive his forgiveness. While there are those who ignore God’s word and think little of it, there are some, who hang on to his words. So may that which has been said about the people who held to Jesus’ word be said about us. “The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people were seeking to destroy Him, but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were hanging on His words.” God holds to his word so hold on to him! Your sins are forgiven. Amen.