Crowds on Palm Sunday

One way to make Palm Sunday more meaningful and personal is to examine the various groups of individuals who were part of that exciting day 2000 years ago. 

First, let’s look at the setting for that specular event. Historians tell us that on Palm Sunday, which was the beginning of the week of Passover for Jews, thousands and thousands of people would have gathered in Jerusalem. While the celebration of the Passover was certainly high on the mind of everyone, it was also a festival time. Everyone able to attend Passover in Jerusalem found it to be a fun time as well as a spiritual experience. 

That year the celebration had an additional component to it. There was a strong expectation that the Messiah may make His appearance. The people desperately longed for the promised Messiah to set them free from Rome. A man called Jesus just might be that Messiah. Jesus had previously healed the sick and commanded the demons to obey Him. Recently He actually raised someone from the dead, or so it had been reported. Read John 12:9. If Jesus could raise the dead, He certainly had the power to lead a revolt against Rome and set up a Messianic Kingdom. 

With that setting in mind think about those who were in Jerusalem that day, and ask yourself how they might represent people today.

One group that was obviously present that day were the Roman soldiers. We have no idea how many soldiers were stationed in Israel at that time but for the Passover celebration every one of them was on duty in Jerusalem. Over the years Israel had been somewhat of a problem to Rome so to ensure no insurrection occurred, Rome stationed extra soldiers there. With talk of a Messiah on the increase, Roman authorities would have made sure all soldiers were on duty.

I wonder what they thought that day. Most were hoping for a peaceful week. No one wanted violence, although they were prepared for it if it came. I suspect their attitude was, “Let them enjoy the celebration just don’t get too carried away with it.” That is often the attitude today of folks. Let Christians enjoy their celebrations and worship but keep it low keyed and certainly don’t let it flow out into the community in a way that appears to be fanatical. Go about your worship and get excited but don’t go overboard. 

We can only wonder what those Roman soldiers thought when they saw Jesus arrive on a donkey. When a conquering General returned to Rome from battle he was given a parade and rode into Rome on a marvelous stallion draped in gold. Compared to that, the entry of Jesus on a donkey was less than a joke. Their feelings that Jesus could not lead a serious rebellion would get more realistic as the week went on. Before the week was over Jesus was crucified at their hands. That had to have settled it for the soldiers. Of course, that was not the end of the story but for too many in our society that is the end. Without a resurrection they are right. The resurrection changed all as it always does for anyone who truly believes Jesus is alive. If there was no resurrection, then indeed as Paul wrote in I Corinthians 15:12-20, we are most miserable. But He is alive. The soldiers couldn’t have imagined that on Palm Sunday so as far as they were concerned let the people celebrate and let us go back to our barracks.

There were others present that day beside the soldiers. There were lots of religious leaders looking on. Read John 12:19. To appreciate this comment by the Pharisees one has to put himself in their place. They were deeply religious, attending services whenever one was being held. They were committed to living as the Law of God said they should. If there was something else they needed to do to please God, they were more than willing to do it. They were respected and held up as those in authority. They enjoyed the prestige that came with their position. The crowd could be interested in what Jesus might say, but they did not need Him. Beside, the Pharisees had done all they could to keep peace with Rome so the last thing they needed was talk of a Messianic kingdom.

The position of Pharisee no long exists but we all know that their attitude is all around us. There are many today who believe they are good enough to make it and do not personally need Jesus. In their minds they think we are wrong to declare one must actually make a personal commitment to Jesus to be saved. Like the Pharisees of old they believe because they are good, honest and generous they are all set. Why go chasing after Jesus in this post-Christian era? 

Many in our community who, like the Pharisees, ignore Jesus because they believe that in making Him a vital part of their life, they fear their friends will think less of them and they will lose the popularity and façade of respectability they so desperately want. Realistically, the world no longer looks at Christians the way it did a generation ago. If you make Jesus a vital part of your life and the life of your family, you are likely to be made fun of, if not left out of the life of the community. In the long haul many Christians are respected by the community if they are consistently living the way God wants them to but, that is not going to be the case early in one’s walk with Jesus. Christians are depicted as a relic of the past. Like the Pharisees many ignore Jesus to ensure their sense of importance isn’t minimized. 

In addition to soldiers and Pharisees there were thousands and thousands of ordinary individuals present that day. Those individuals made up the majority of the crowd that welcomed Jesus into the city. Some were there just to see this Jesus everyone was talking about. There are those today who worship Jesus so they can participate in the activities and say they were a part of the crowd that went to church. 

Undoubtedly there were some there that day simply for the fun and festivities. They went with their friends and family just to have a good time. There are those today who attend church on Palm Sunday or Easter just because of the atmosphere of the day. Church cannot get much more upbeat than on Easter when we celebrate the resurrection. The hymns, the Scripture and the sermon are all positive. Everyone’s in a great mood. Many dress up especially nice and after church they all go out to eat together. There’s no problem with that if that is not the only reason one wants to be in church. Jesus came to give us an abundant and fun filled life. The message of the Bible is that Jesus wants us to enjoy that life more than simply at an occasional parade but He wants us to make Him the center of every activity all day every day. 

Some in that crowd were there, I’m sure, hoping to see Jesus perform a miracle or do something spectacular. I’ve known individuals who attended church because a loved one was seriously sick and they hope that by showing a little interest in God He would heal that person. I’ve seen the same with individuals who need something like a job. They hoped that if they gave God a little of their time He would reciprocate with a miracle. The problem with that group is that when they don’t get what they want, when they want it, they line up to shout, “Crucify Him.”

There was another group there that day that can too easily be missed in our study of Palm Sunday. Read John 12:20-2. That group was made up of Greeks who wanted to see Jesus. We can all learn from them. They were not the individuals one would have expected to be at a Jewish festival, but they wanted to see Jesus. They were not the individuals one would have expected to be at a Jewish festival or parade, but they wanted one thing above all else, they wanted to see Jesus. What a powerful reason to go to church not only on Palm Sunday and Easter, but every Sunday.

The real issue every week is, “Why do I go to church?” Do I go hoping my presence will encourage God to do something nice for me?  Do I go for the excitement of the day? Or do I go to church so I can see Jesus? That is the real reason we should go to church. Enjoy each worship service but remember church is primarily about seeing Jesus in a fresh and deeper way.

Ephesians 4:1 Live a life worthy of your calling!

Today we begin the second half of Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus. Chapters 1-3 examined the theology of being a Christian. Read Ephesians 2:1; 2:4-5 to see what we were and what we have become in Jesus. Paul presented the glories of our redemption and one might think that was a good place to stop. Paul’s message, however, did not stop there because the message of the New Testament is not just about what God has done for us but includes what God wants us to do in return. Ephesians 3:1 includes the words “then, I urge you.” “Then” is the equilivent of the word “therefore” that we have seen often in Paul’s writing. It is a word that denotes that what is about to be said is based on what has already been presented. If the first 3 chapters detail all God has done for us, Ephesians 4-6 detail what our response to that should be. In a sense this reads, “Now that I have told you all that God has done for you, let me tell you what He expects of you in return.” 

Read Ephesians 3:1. Paul began his appeal by noting that he was “a prisoner for the Lord.” Paul described himself that way in the opening verse of chapter 3. The interesting thing about the way Paul wrote that is that it expressed 2 different ideas, both important to Paul. Paul saw himself as both a prisoner of and a prisoner because of Jesus.

Paul was a prisoner of Jesus because he had totally committed himself to Him as a bond slave or servant so that his whole life was wrapped up in what Jesus wanted him to do. In addition, he was literally a prisoner in Rome because of his outspoken testimony to who Jesus was and what Jesus offers to mankind. It is that second aspect of his self-description that is important to his plea that Christians “live a life worthy of the calling.” Paul did not describe himself as a prisoner in Rome to either brag or gain sympathy but to point out a reality of seeking to “live a life worthy of the calling.” While the Christian life can be characterized asone whereby we enjoy the riches God showers upon us, it is also a demanding life that can bring with it a cost. 

Paul was expressing the idea that following Jesus, while leading to an eternity of blessings, is at the same time demanding. For Paul 2000 years ago the challenge was and always will be to, as Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:1, “live a life worthy of the calling.”  Paul knew that following Jesus can and probably always will be costly, but it is the life God wants us to live. 

Notice that Paul did not suggest that as Christians we “live a life worthy of the calling” but he urged us to. Paul was literally begging his readers to live what they believe. The word and tense he used for urge implies intense feeling or a strong desire. Paul was about to set forth God’s standard of living. He was not giving us the option of take it or leave it but was insisting it was the standard expected of everyone who calls him or herself a Christian. 

The responsibility of every believer is to challenge one another and certainly the challenge of every parent and grandparent to challenge their children. That challenge needs to go forth in a loving way, but it must be continually stressed. 

The phrase “live a life” speaks for itself. Many translations use the word “walk” which in the New Testament always meant one’s daily life. In Ephesians Paul used the same word or “live” twice and in so doing noted the options we have. In Ephesians 2:2 he described our lives before we became believers and the way we “used to live when you followed the ways of this world.” Here in Ephesians 4 Paul used the word “live” to describe the way we are to behave as believers.

Think about what makes up life. Life is made up of a wide variety of parts ranging from our relationships to our work. Life is certainly what we do on Sunday morning, but it is also what we do on Saturday night. Life includes what we do for work, but it also includes how we interact with those we work with. Life consists of going out to eat but, life also consists of how we treat the waitress who serves us. Life includes how we relax, but it also includes what we watch and read. Life includes the opinions and commitments we have but life also includes how we treat those who differ with us. Life is made up of every detail of our daily existence. Life is action and attitude and even inactivity.  Every part of every day is life. 

Some parts of life are exciting, some of it mundane. Some of life is filled with blessings and some of life consists of hard times and losses. It is all life and every part of it should be lived in a way that is worthy of our relationship with Jesus. 

When Paul wrote that we should seek to live a life worthy of our calling he used a word that seems to have lost its original meaning. The word Paul used was commonly used to describe scales that were used to weighed something out. These days we seldom use scales in everyday life, depending instead on everything being properly weighed out in advance with the weight properly listed on the product. In Paul’s day everyone had some sort of home scale used all the time to measure things. The weight on one side was to balance the product on the other side. Paul was urging the Christians to be sure their practice balanced their theology. 

Of course, God doesn’t determine our eternal destiny by how our good balances out against our sins. God tipped the scales when He took all our sins and balanced them out with His death on the Cross so when we accept Jesus as Savior we are seen as redeemed.

As wrong as we know the thinking of our good balancing our wrong, we often fall for the lie that somehow that is how it works. Satan loves to tell us that is the way God views us. Satan says, “Ok, maybe you shouldn’t be doing that but, overall, you are trying and doing just fine. Most of the time you are kind to people so blowing up once in a while is understandable.” Know what that is? That’s suggesting that scales are important so what you put on one side is not important so long as the other side balances properly. 

The picture Paul presents here is that there is a scale identified as “living worthy” but what we are to put on one side is all God has done for us, what he referred to as “the calling you have received.” On the other side we are to put the way we live “life.”  Obviously, we can never equal or balance out the blessings we have received from God by the things we do, which is why Paul stresses the importance of grace. Our inability to balance out the life we live, and the blessings of God, does not negate our responsibility to recognize our responsibility to do all we can to balance them as closely as possible.

We are to do that because of “the calling you have received.” The word “calling” is in the passive tense in Greek, which simply means that we had nothing to do with it. Our “calling” was all God’s work, a truth we have noted several times already in this letter. Since God has called us unto Himself, He has the right to determine how we should live. 

Paul’s letter to the Ephesians begins with the note that we have been called to be holy (1:1), truth repeated 3 more times in that 1^st chapter (4, 12, 14). We have been called to be set aside as different for God and chapters 4-6 detail what that holy life should look like. 

In Ephesians 1:18 we are told that we have been called to a “hope,” a hope described in that same verse as knowing “the riches of his glorious inheritance.” In Ephesians 2:20 we are told that we have been called to be “fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household.” Because we know the one in whom we believe and because we know He has redeemed us to spend eternity with Him, we have an assurance and peace the world can never know. Because we know we belong to a new family and a new community of believers we should want to behave in so far as possible the way that honors both being in the family of God and members of His church.

That’s Paul’s challenge to each of us as believers.

Ephesians 3:17-19 Love

Ephesians 3:14-21 records Paul’s second prayer for the Christians in Ephesus and by extension for us. This is a prayer that they might be strengthened spiritually. Paul prayed that they would be strengthened so they could know more of the great riches that God has designed for all who belong to Him. Paul also prayed that they would be strengthened spiritually so as to be able to live as Christians, a lifestyle Paul will describe in the chapters that follow.  

At the core of our spiritual growth is a deeper awareness of God’s love for us. The New Testament pictures God as being “love,” which is a very general description of God. In this prayer we find Paul asked God that we would know what that truth should mean to each of us. Paul was not praying we would love God more deeply, but we would understand more fully His love for us. Read Ephesians 3:17-19. 

Ephesians 3:19 records that that Paul wants us, “to know this love that surpasses knowledge.” A quick readingcould lead to the conclusion that Paul was suggesting that we know what cannot be known. Paul, however, was simply noting that just as God is ultimately beyond our ability to fully understand Him, so too is His love for us. His love is so great that for all eternity we will undoubtedly continue to grow in our understanding of it. Each of us should make a lifelong commitment to continuing to grow in our understanding of God’s love for us. Paul prayed that as Christians we would be “rooted and established in love” and then that we would be able to grasp the dimensions of God’s love.

Paul introduced this aspect of his prayer by praying we would be rooted and established in love. Paul pulled into the discussion two very important but different illustrations. Rooted is an illustration from agriculture while established is actually an illustration from architecture that was used to describe a building with a firm foundation. Paul understood that coming to grips even in part with the love of God necessitated 2 things.

First, we need to be rooted in love. The roots of a plant are essential to its growth and ability to bear fruit. For a plant to grow it must send its roots into the soil and draw from that soil nourishment. Our lives should constantly draw strength from the soil of God’s love for us. Read Jeremiah 17:7-8. If the roots are shallow, the plant cannot grow. If the roots fail to draw the necessary nourishment the plant will not only not grow, it will ultimately die. So, it is with our Christian growth. Unless we extend the roots of our understanding deep into the soil of God’s love and draw from that love the essential nourishment, we will neither grow spiritually nor be able to grasp the fullness of the riches that are ours in Jesus. 

Second, just as every building needs to be constructed on a firm foundation if it is to survive the storms that inevitably come its way, so too the Christian life needs to be built upon an awareness of God’s love for us. Read Matthew 7:15-29.  Here, Paul was looking specifically at building a relationship with God that is secure on the foundation of His love for us. If we have that secure foundation, we will be able to stand when things don’t go right and will find encouragement to live as we should.

Inevitably life will throw tough things at us when things are not going as we wish they would. Satan then whispers in our ear that we are all alone in life, that no one cares about us. A strong foundation of God’s love and constantly drawing nourishment from the awareness of His love assures us we are not alone and that His love will see us through. 

In a similar way, Satan will throw all sorts of temptations our way. Those temptations will always come with the thought that no one really cares, and it will not, in the long run make any difference. The foundation of God’s love reminds us that it does matter because sin hurts God who loves us beyond measure. Paul was praying that as Christians we would know God loves us so much that when tempted to sin, we would remember that in the end it will hurt the One we love and who loves us in return. 

Paul moved on to describe the nature of the love he wants us to draw nourishment from and build our lives on by praying that we would be able “to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.” Paul did not explain any of the dimensions, perhaps because they are as all-encompassing as His love for us is and in the final analysis, beyond our ability to fully describe or grasp them.

While we cannot know exactly what Paul meant by each of the dimensions, let me share what has been the most common thinking from the early church on. Tt the same time let me relate those dimensions to what Paul wrote to the Christians in Ephesus.

In regard to the width of God’s love, one thing we know for sure is that it is wide enough to encompass all of humanity. In the context of this letter, it would be sufficiently wide to encompass both the Jewish and Gentile worlds (Ephesians 2:11-18). In the context of the Bible overall, it wide enough that Jesus said, according to John 3:16, “God so loved the world.” God declared on a Cross 2000 years ago that to Him, all lives matter. Because of that love He sent His Son to provide redemption for the whole world. 

God’s love is so wide that “whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Redemption is available to all because God’s wide love includes His love for each individual. God’s love is so wide that it includes each of us. While we were sinners and totally undeserving of any provision, His wide love made salvation possible. God’s love is so wide that it includes those loved ones that we pray for daily. God’s love is wide enough to include those who have committed the most horrible sins you can imagine. He pours out His love on all.

How long is the love of God? God’s love spans eternity. God’s love for us began when He determined to create us in His image and will continue to display itself for all of eternity. Read what Paul wrote earlier in this letter in Ephesians 1:4-5.  His love for us began before we were even created. 

In addition, God’s love for us is so long that it will last forever. Read Romans 8:35-39 to see how long God’s love for us is.

How high is the love of God? The answer most often given is that His love is high enough to transport everyone who believes into His presence in heaven. Read in Ephesians 1:3 what Paul wrote earlier in this letter. Then read what Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:6. God’s love is high enough to ensure that He has prepared a place for us so we can spend the rest of eternity with Him and it is so high that He welcomes us now into His home. God’s love is so high that He raises us up to the place in which He can shower His love upon us.

How deep is God’s love for us? It is deep enough to, as Paul put it in Ephesians 2:1-3, to reach down into our depravity or sinfulness and lift us out of our trespasses and sin and give us life. His love is so deep that it reached down to us even when “we were by nature deserving of wrath.”

Before Paul closed out his prayer with a benediction found in verses 20-21, he noted in verse 19 that his desire was that every Christian might “know this love that surpasses knowledge.” The Greek word Paul used for “know” is not the one that meant to know something intellectually but the one that specifically meant to “know by experience” or to know in an “intimate way.” The love of God is so wide, so long, so high, and so deep that we could contemplate it in our minds forever and still not completely understand it or be able to describe it. The real issue, however, is not being able to adequately put the truth of God’s love into words but to experience God’s love more intimately or personally each day. Paul wants us to experience God’s love for us more intimately or personally each day so when the going gets tough we won’t simply get going but we get going knowing our structure is secure. 

Contemplate often how marvelous God’s love is and you will be overwhelmed by praise, confidence, and thanksgiving. 

Ephesians 3:14-17 

In Ephesians 3:14-19 Paul was praying for the Christians in Ephesus, asking God to empower them in a way that would enable them grow in their walk with Him. Paul had been reviewing with them some of the key doctrines of their faith as a reminder of all God had redeemed them out of and into. He was about to move from doctrine to practice, noting that while correct doctrine is vital, it means little if it does not lead to correct behavior or living. In his doctrinal section Paul referred to the spiritual wealth that belongs to the Christian, a spiritual wealth that flows from God’s riches in glory. Paul’s prayer here is that Christians will have the spiritual strength to live lives that reflect that wealth.

In verses 16-19 we read that Paul prayed they would be “strengthened,” and “rooted and grounded in love.” He went on to pray that in the process of being rooted and ground in love they would be able to “to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. Finally, he prayed that they would be “filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” 

Read Ephesians 3:16. The first part ofPaul’s request was that they would be strengthened. That was first because it is essential to being able to appropriate the riches that God has for us.For that to happen believers would need to allow the Holy Spirit to control their lives because, as Paul wrote in verse 17, “Christ must dwell in our hearts through faith.” Just so there is no confusion, when Paul talked of God’s Spirit and Christ indwelling us, he was talking about God’s presence with us. Paul never made a distinction between the second and third members of the trinity so to have the Spirit and Christ within is identical.

According to verse 16 God wants to strengthen us so we can be all He created and then redeemed us to be and He has the riches to ensure that will happen when we allow Him to. 

Paul wrote that God wanted to strengthen our “inner being.” Whenhe wasreferring our inner being, he was referring to that part of us that will continue to exist forever, sometimes called the soul and sometimes called our spirit. Read II Corinthians 4:16. There is a physical part of us that realistically is in the process of decay but there is also a part of us that will exist forever, either with God or separated from Him. The “inner being” of that verse corresponds to the “new being” of 2:15. Read Ephesians 4:24. It is that “new being” or “new self” that needs strengthening if we are to enjoy the fulness of benefits provided in redemption. God’s strengthening is essential to living the life expected of us.

The moment one invites Jesus to be his Savior he is born again, and the Holy Spirit takes up residence in him. The presence of the Holy Spirit within a believer is, in part, God’s down payment on all He is going to do for him. The Holy Spirit enables a believer to become all He redeemed us for. Becoming a Christian is not a simple matter of changing our religious affiliation on Facebook from “none” to “Christian.” Becoming a Christian is being adopted into very family of God. Becoming a Christian is not covering over the old life with a facade of right living, but a transformation wrought in our very being by God Himself who then instills in us the Fruit of the Spirit as described in Galatians 5. 

In this Greek sentence the words “dwell” and “strength” are in a parallel structure, showing they are inseparably connected. Unless the Holy Spirit is allowed to dwell in us, we will never be spiritually strengthened. 

There are two key Greek words for dwell, each denoting a difference aspect of one dwelling somewhere. One word was used to describe someone who was living in a place as a stranger. In Ephesians 2:19, Paul used that word to describe those who were “foreigners or aliens.”  

The second Greek word and the one Paul used here, described someone who had settled down somewhere and made it his permanent home. It would be used to describe one who lived in his own house as compared to a stranger he might invite to visit with him. The difference is between a visitor who comes from time to time and has no real say in how the residence is run and the owner who resides all the time and controls every aspect of the house.

Ephesians was addressed to the Christians, so Paul was not writing about Jesus coming to dwell in our hearts after a faith commitment. The idea was controlling the life of the individual after the salvation commitment by being really at home in the individual.

Paul was praying that God, in the form of the Holy Spirit, would control our lives not as a visitor but as the owner of the residence. 

One of the interesting pictures we have of Jesus is found in Revelation 3:14-21. Read Revelation 3:20. That verse is a call to open the door of one’s heart and invite Jesus to be one’s Savior. There are plenty of verses that picture that, but Revelation 3:20 was written, according to Revelation 3:14, “To the angel of the church in Laodicea.” The New Testament letters addressed to churches were really addressed to the Christians in those churches. Read Revelation 3:15. Jesus went on in that letter to note that they had become self-satisfied in their Christian faith. Jesus urged them to return to Him and find in Him their real source of provision and strength. In verse 19 we read that Jesus wrote to them as “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline.” The Bible never talks of disciplining those who do not belong to Him. In the Old Testament God disciplined Israel because they were His people. In the New Testament God disciplines believers because they are His family. God has promised to judge those who do not belong to Him, but discipline is a term used for those in His family.

All of that is to show that this letter addressed to the church was addressed to Christians in Laodicea. That means, therefore, that it was to Christians that Jesus said “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock.” That declaration is followed by, “If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” In the culture of the day in which that promise was given, the meal referred to here was a leisurely family affair in which there was a level of intimacy and interaction too often missing today. In other words, Jesus said that if the Christians in Laodicea would welcome Him into their lives as more than a casual visitor, He would be more than willing to spend significant, quality time with them.

That is not exactly what Paul was referring to in Ephesians when he wrote that God wants to strengthen us by His Spirit so “Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith,” but it is very close and may even be a parallel concept. In His letter to the Christians in Laodicea Jesus said He wanted a more significant place in the life of the Christian so He could have a more intimate fellowship with them. In Ephesians, Paul prayed that we would give God a more significant place in our lives so the Holy Spirit can have control of our lives so that “Out of his glorious riches he may strengthen us with power.” In Revelation it was all about fellowship whereas in Ephesians it was all about strength to live the life expected of us as believers. But the two, fellowship and power cannot be separated. With a closer fellowship comes power, which is why Paul went on to write that a key to that fellowship and power is, “being rooted and established in love.”

Paul knew that all of us as Christians need to continually grow in our relationship with God, which is why he could write to the Christians in Philippi about the same time that he wrote this letter to the Christians in Ephesus. Read what he wrote in Philippians 3:12 and 3:14. There will never be a time when we cannot or should not be growing and the more we grow the better able we are to live a daily life that is pleasing to God.

Paul prayed that the Christians in Ephesus would press on so that the Holy Spirit could strengthen them from within. Is that the prayer we have for ourselves and for one another?  It should be.