Author: Rick Schupp

Read: Psalm 51

¹ Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. ² Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! ³ For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. ⁴ Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. ⁵ Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. ⁶ Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

¹⁰ Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. ¹¹ Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. ¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.

¹⁶ For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. ¹⁷ The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. (Psalm 51:1-6; 10-12; 16-17)

On December 17, 1903 in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the Wright brothers made their first powered flight. The Dayton Daily News published a brief article under the headline, “THE WRIGHT BOYS ARE COMING HOME”. In the article they missed the boat completely regarding the historic first flight and told their readers, “Orville and Wilbur Wright…left today for their home in Dayton, O., to spend Christmas with their parents.”

Eventually, the momentous event would be recognized for what it was, but initially, they missed it completely!

Lent is a bit like that. Too often the biggest question we ask or are asked is, “What are you giving up for Lent?” The real question is, “How will I repent and return to God with all my heart?” Lent is about taking time to reflect on our lives and to identify places where I have let my life get away from God. It is a time to consider what practices will help me to find my way back. Where have I “left” God and slipped into spiritual mediocrity?

In David’s prayer in Psalm 51:6, he tells God, “You delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.” We need God’s wisdom and the spotlight of the Holy Spirit to look into the dark places and identify where we have wandered away and need renewed passion and hunger for God. We need God’s Spirit to awaken us afresh; to warm our cold hearts.

Many of us have committed to fasting during Lent as a means to create space for the Holy Spirit to loosen the grip of sin and distraction in our lives. Few of us willingly choose to make such sacrifices. We would be happy to simply go on with life as it is. And yet, there is a deeper desire; a longing; a dis-ease with the status quo. We want more. We want to recalibrate our hearts and our lives.

And so, we voluntarily give up a good thing, that we might be led to a better thing. We fast for the sake of drawing near to God. We acknowledge that our hunger for comfort or food or security or fun is not as important as our hunger for the one who gives us comfort and food and security and fun.

As we begin the first full week of Lent, invite God to search you and know you. Ask him to lead you into resurrection life. Call on God to tune your heart to long for more of him. Ask him to break the hold of sin in your life and to set you free to pursue him with your whole being.

Lent is a serious season, but it is also a season of hope. God’s incredible love has been poured out. In the shadow of Christ’s cross and subsequent resurrection, we have forgiveness and cleansing as we turn to him. We have the hope that there is power to pass from death to life in the places in our hearts and lives where we need resurrection.

Where are the places in your life where you feel distant from God?

What has distracted you from cultivating your relationship with him more intentionally?

Reflect on what your fast or your giving up of something for Lent says to God. How can your “sacrifice” help you create more space for God and more passion for seeking after Him?

(Adapted from Lent: A Season of Returning by Ruth Haley Barton)

Read: Romans 14

¹⁰ You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. ¹¹ It is written: “‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God.’”

¹² So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.

¹³ Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. Romans 14:10-13

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus told his followers, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged” (Matthew 7:1). Followers of Jesus are often known more for what they don’t believe than what they do. They are often known more for what they’re against than what they’re for. Ask an unbeliever what he/she dislikes about Christians one of the top answers will probably be something along the lines of: “Christians are so judgmental.”

In the world in which we live, there are clearly things that are diametrically opposed to God’s will and God’s ways. But, before we run out and blast unbelievers for doing things unbelievers do (they are, after all, slaves to sin apart from Christ – as were we at one time!), perhaps we need to ask ourselves how many people were ever judged or blasted into the kingdom of heaven. I don’t know of any. Maybe you do.

Judgment often brings with it a lack of love. Love, Paul told us, is the greatest of virtues (1 Corinthians 13:13). Jesus came into this world to die because God loved it (John 3:16). He didn’t wait until we got ourselves together, but died for us while we were all still sinners (Romans 5:8). How then do we live rightly and judge correctly in a loving manner?

The passage above from Romans 14 brings the issue of judgment into the church. Judgment starts in the house of God (1 Peter 4:17), right? And yet, that sort of judgment is reserved for situations of sin. What about issues that aren’t clearly addressed in Scripture? What about things like:

Are Christians allowed to dance?

Is baptism to be believers only or for infants too?

Will Jesus return before, during, or after a tribulation?

Was the earth created in six literal days? Is the earth young or old?

Is it acceptable for Christians to drink alcohol?

Is speaking in tongues a gift that is available to Christians today?

There are well-intentioned, Jesus-believing men and women who disagree on these issues. How do we approach those who disagree with us? Perhaps the real issue is not judging but being judgmental. Do I, in my judgment express myself lovingly or am I harsh and condemning?

First, we should seek the truth in love. We should focus on the issue, not the person, and we should seek to understand what Scripture says or points toward. “Primary” issues are things we must agree on. They include things like Christ’s death and resurrection; Christ’s full deity and full humanity; the Trinity; salvation by grace through faith. These and other issues are essential and we need to agree on them.

Second, there are many issues (like those listed above), that are not explicit in Scripture. We might call them “secondary” issues. It isn’t that they are unimportant, but they are not essential for salvation and/or Scripture is not clear about them. When we have an issue like this, we seek truth, but we do so lovingly and humbly knowing we cannot know for certain that we are right. On these things, we let love cover our differences. We agree to disagree.

I think Paul, and Jesus, are making the point that:

1) We need humility to see ourselves rightly. We need to examine our hearts to see our weaknesses and sin and to surrender ourselves completely to Jesus. When we know our own hearts and our own struggles; when we realize how much grace and mercy we’ve experienced from Jesus; we are better able to speak truth lovingly to another person.

2) In all judgment, we must deal with others lovingly. We need to examine our hearts to see check our attitude toward the other person. Do I want their best or do I just want to be right? Do I long for a stronger friendship or do I hope the other person will fall and fall hard?

Our desire needs to be to love the other person. Our purpose needs to be to build up and bring life. It shouldn’t be to tear down or win points. We shouldn’t be looking to get revenge, but to help a friend or a sibling grow closer to Jesus and understand truth and how to live it. We might have to say hard things, but we should try to do so in a manner that shows we love and care for the person.

We become judgmental and our judgments become sin when we put ourselves in the place of God. If we forget the grace and the mercy we’ve been shown, it’s easy to sit in judgment of others. It’s easier to take a holier-than-thou attitude that communicates judgment, arrogance, superiority, pride, and not love.

Can you think of times Jesus confronted sin gently? Times when he confronted son boldly?

Are you able to judge situations without becoming judgmental? Why is that difficult for many people?

Invite the Holy Spirit to show you any areas where you may have a judgmental spirit. Ask for grace and humility to let love cover those areas.

Read: 1 Samuel 15:1-31

²² But Samuel replied:“Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. ²³ For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.” (1 Samuel 15:22-23)

The purpose of Lent is to reflect, repent, and pray as a way to prepare our hearts for celebrating the resurrection. It is a time of waiting and preparation. Lent begins with Ash Wednesday (this year it falls today – March 6) and continues for forty days until Resurrection Sunday. In reality, there are forty-six days until Easter, but the six Sundays are not included in the forty days since they are always, even in the season of Lent, a celebration of Jesus’ resurrection.

In the Old Testament, God’s people were promised the Messiah would come and crush Satan as early as Genesis 3:15. Over the years, Israel lived with a persistent pattern of sin and repentance; wandering and return from the beginning until Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Many people choose to fast from something during Lent. It is a chance to “suffer” in a small way as a reminder of Jesus’ suffering for our sake on the cross. We willingly choose to not eat something; or to not participate in something for the forty days of Lent. We “suffer”, we “sacrifice” because Jesus did. As we consider our lives and seek to be more aware of our sin and our part in sending Jesus to the cross, our fast can be a vivid way of bringing us into the story. It can help to create in us a deeper awareness of Jesus’ presence and of our sin.

Throughout the Old Testament, sacrifice was a way to show love to God; to show repentance for sin; and to show a desire to make things right. And yet, from the beginning of creation until today obedience has always been better than sacrifice. Why? Why would this be the case?

Perhaps the biggest reason is that obedience is an even truer demonstration of love. It does not require repentance or need to make things right. It honors God from beginning to end. Obedience shows a love that puts God’s will above one’s own. It chooses to die to self rather than exalt one’s one desire above God’s. In obedience, there is sacrifice, but it is a sacrifice that submits to God and acknowledges him out of love and joy and a whole relationship.

We often struggle to live obediently. There are a variety of reasons we choose to do our own thing, but at their root are selfishness and pride. We think we know best. We put our desires above God’s. We want what we want.

In our passage today, Saul was given specific instructions to destroy the Amalekites completely. He was not to keep anything or anyone alive – no people, no livestock (1 Samuel 15:3). But Saul spared Amalekite king and the best of the sheep and cattle – everything that was good (1 Samuel 15:9).

When Samuel went to see Saul, Saul greeted him and said he had obeyed the Lord. Samuel confronted this boldfaced lie saying, “What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear” (1 Samuel 15:14)? Saul tried to justify his actions. He tried to say he did obey the Lord. He kept the best of the cattle “in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God…” (1 Samuel 15:21).

At that point, Samuel responded with the words above. Saul had not obeyed. He pridefully thought he knew better than God. He was unwilling to do all he had been instructed to do…stubbornly refusing to sacrifice his pride and his “wisdom”. He compounded his sin by rationalizing it; by defending it; by trying to say he had done what was right when he clearly had not.

When confronted, Saul admits his wrong and says, “I was afraid of the men and so I gave in to them.” He begs Samuel to return with him and when Samuel refused, he again asks forgiveness and says, “Saul replied, “I have sinned. But please honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel; come back with me, so that I may worship the Lord your God.” (1 Samuel 15:25, 30).

Is that true repentance? Is he showing fear of God? No! He wants to save face and not be dishonored before his men. He is still more concerned with appearances than with his heart. In his case, his sacrifice is meaningless because there is no repentance and obedience.

Questions to ponder:

Why is obedience better than sacrifice? How is sacrifice a part of obedience? How can sacrifice combined with obedience bring greater blessing?

As we begin the season of Lent, is God inviting you to sacrifice something?

Salem as a church is inviting members to take one day each week during Lent to fast. Have you chosen to participate in that? Why or why not? Is there another way you sense God calling you to obey and sacrifice instead or in addition to this?

Read: Luke 23:32-33; 34; 43; 46; John 19:26-27; 28; 30; Matt 27:46

Luke 23:32-33 – Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left.

Pilate, under pressure from the Jewish leaders, delivered Jesus to be crucified. He was mocked; he was beaten; and he was lead to Golgotha – The Skull – to be crucify him. As he hung on the cross, Jesus spoke seven times. All four gospels record Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. In each account we get information on what happened during the last hours of Jesus’ life. Below are the seven last words of Jesus on the cross. As we prepare to celebrate Christ’s resurrection, we consider first the agony of his death.

The first time, Jesus prays for those who were crucifying him:

1. Luke 23:34 – And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Jesus prays for all who participated in his crucifixion. Most obviously, the Romans who obeyed Pilate’s orders, nailed him to the cross, and gambled for his clothes. He also prayed for the criminals on either side of him. One taunted him while the other believed. He prayed for the religious leaders who were watching and mocking him along with the crowd that uttered blasphemy.

In his agony, Jesus prays for their forgiveness. Not all received it. Without repentance and faith in Jesus, forgiveness would not come. But in Jesus’ prayer, he shows the deep mercy of God. Even those who would crucify the Messiah; who would mock the Son of God; even they could be forgiven.

Jesus was able to forgive those who killed him, who mocked him, who abandoned him. He died that we might experience forgiveness as well. Is there anyone in your life that you need to forgive?

2. Luke 23:43 – And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

While one of the thieves mocked, the other believed. He knew he was rightly condemned and Jesus had done nothing wrong. Perhaps hearing Jesus’ prayer and seeing the peace he had on the cross, He rebuked the other thief and asked Jesus to remember him when he entered his kingdom. He believed in Jesus as the Messiah, the King. Jesus promised him they would be together in Paradise.

Even on the cross Jesus was leading people to Paradise. Ask God who you can share the hope of heaven with this Easter. Will you be faithful to share?

3. John 19:26-27 – When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

As Jesus hangs on the cross, there is a small group of friends and family near him. Seeing his mother weeping, heartbroken…he is moved. She is a widow. Her eldest son is dying. Her other children do not believe in Jesus as she does. In love, he makes sure she is cared for.

Even as he suffers, Jesus thinks of others first. He shows the love he had for his mother and even in death he takes responsibility for her well-being.

Is there anyone to whom you could show the love of Jesus? Perhaps it’s someone who has gone through loss or an especially difficult time. How could you show them love and care?

4. Matthew 27:46 – And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Darkness came over the land from the sixth hour until the ninth hour. Jesus cries out in agony. Some think he is calling Elijah, but he is calling to God. (Interestingly, this is the only place Jesus speaks to God in prayer instead of Father)

In his suffering, Jesus quotes Psalm 22:1. In his anguish, he feels completely abandoned. God laid our sins on Jesus. He bore our penalty. On the cross, Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away our sin. We see the incredible love of the Father and Son and the incredible lengths they went to bring forgiveness to us.

5. John 19:28 – After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.”

In his final moments, Jesus thirst. Someone brought him a sponge with sour wine on it and held it to his mouth. John tells us this fulfills the words of Psalm 69:21. In Jesus’ thirst, we are reminded of his humanity and the suffering he endured.

6. John 19:30 – When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Throughout John’s gospel Jesus says his hour has not yet come. Finally, in John 12:23, after some Greeks ask to see him, Jesus declares that his hour had come. Throughout his ministry, Jesus had told his disciples that he would die. Now as he hangs on the cross, he makes a cry of triumph. He has completed his mission. He has done the will of the Father.

Jesus lived a life of purpose and obedience. He was willing to suffer rather than disobey. Do you live with purpose? Are you willing to sacrifice and suffer to be obedient to God’s will?

7. Luke 23:46 – Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.

Luke tells us the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. Knowing his work was finished, knowing he had been faithful to the end, Jesus commits himself to God. It is a word of surrender. It is a word of trust. They were words included in the evening prayer by devout Jews.

Jesus breathes his last. He gives up his spirit. He commits himself to the Father and then surrenders himself.  He lets go of his earthly life. He entrusts himself to God.

Read: John 13:1-17

Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

² During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him, ³ Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, ⁴ rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. ⁵ Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

⁶ He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?”

⁷ Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.”

⁸ Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.”

⁹ Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!”

¹⁰ Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.” ¹¹ For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

    ¹² When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? ¹³ You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. ¹⁴ If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵ For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.

¹⁶ Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. ¹⁷ If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

 

Living in a day when most of the streets and roads were dirt and people wore sandals or walked barefoot, the foot was the dirtiest part of the body. After a long journey, it was common for the servants in a wealthy home to come and wash guests’ feet. A student would be willing to wash his master’s feet, but peers never washed one another’s feet. It was too demeaning. When Jesus moves to wash his disciples’ feet, they are not only ashamed for not washing his, they are completely flabbergasted that he would stoop to wash theirs. This was unheard of.

Jesus reverses the expectations and the normal roles. This act of humility is a stunning display of love, but it also serves to symbolize the cleansing only Jesus can provide (verses 6-9) and it is an example of how Christians should live (verses 12-17).

John emphasizes that Judas Iscariot was present when Jesus washed the disciples’ feet. Why is that significant? Why does he wash them?

What does Jesus tell Peter after Peter refuses foot washing? Why wouldn’t Peter have a share with him if Jesus did not wash his feet? What does this suggest for the cross and the cleansing power of Jesus’ blood?

Jesus says, in verses13-15, that what he has done has set an example for them to follow. What is the example? How can we follow that today?

One author suggests that human pride often presents itself by refusal to take a low role with others. Have you ever found that true of yourself? How does knowing that Jesus humbled himself to the level of a servant challenge that attitude?

Think about the people you know – at work/school, in your neighborhood, at home – how could you humbly love them through service? How could you tangibly show the love of Christ to them in a way that might dent your pride but would speak volumes of the love of Jesus that led him to the cross?

 

Read: John 12:20-26

²⁰ Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks.²¹ So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” ²² Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. ²³ And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. ²⁴ Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.²⁵ Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶ If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

 

A pastor tells the story of two men who had grains of wheat. One man he loved his very much. He spent the majority of his time and energies on securing the best possible container for his wheat. He made sure his grain of wheat stayed out of harm’s way; if wheat gets wet you know then it will quickly spoil. He was very careful to always do what the wheat experts told him to do in order to see his grain of wheat stay strong even to old age. This man was sold out for his wheat and it showed. Then the man died.

The other man also had a grain of wheat but what he did was very different. He went out into the backyard, dug a hole, threw his wheat in to it, covered it with dirt, and poured water all over it thus completely ruining the wheat. Then that man died.

Sometime after both men were dead and buried a news reporter decided to do investigate. The first man’s grain of wheat in a protective container. When the lid was removed, the sight was saddening; that grain of wheat though prized and protected had ruined. Stuck away in dark selfishness that wheat had spoiled.

The reporter went to see the second grain of wheat. As she drove closer she noticed tall green plants along the side of the road – very strange. As she pulled into the driveway the entire yard of the second man was covered in three-foot-tall green grass. Now filled with curiosity the reporter asked the neighbor, “What are all these plants.” He responded, “It’s this man’s wheat.”

One man protected his wheat and lost it all.  The other man threw his wheat into the ground, it died, and it produced much fruit.

After Jesus had entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, some Greeks came and wanted to see him. Philip and Andrew take the message to Jesus. Throughout John’s gospel, Jesus has said his hour had not yet come. From the turning of water to wine in John 2 to John 7 and 8, Jesus hour had not come. But when the Greeks come to speak to him, Jesus says, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” It is time for Jesus to go to the cross, to die, and to be raised from the dead.

But he says more than that. His path to glory is through the cross. When a kernel of grain falls to the ground and dies, it bears fruit. Jesus died for us. Are we willing to “die” for him? Do we consider him to be so valuable that our lives are secondary to knowing Jesus? We can gain our lives in this world, to lose them in the next. Or we can give up our lives in this world and follow and serve Jesus and find that God will honor us even to eternal life.

Is there something God is calling me to die to that I might experience more fully my position in Christ; that I might see Christ more clearly and show him more compellingly?

Am I working against my very nature as a Christian by trying to keep alive something God sentenced to death when I became a Christian?

Are the weaknesses in my life because there is something that needs to die in me — some old habit, some secret sin, some root of pride, some fear of looking silly, some desperate need for approval, some desire for wealth?

What kind of grain of wheat will I be? Am I ready to say with Paul, “To live is Christ, to die is gain?” (Philippians 1:21)

Read: Matthew 21:6-11

⁶ The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. ⁷ They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. ⁸ Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.  ⁹ And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” ¹⁰ And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” ¹¹ And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”

 

On what we now call “Palm Sunday”, Jesus left Bethany and began making his way toward Jerusalem. There were huge crowds gathered for the Passover celebration who heard he was coming. Some, we read, put their coats on the road and others broke palm branches off and placed them on the ground.

There is nothing in the Passover celebration that called for using palm branches. However, when Simon the Maccabee drove the Syrian forces out of Jerusalem two hundred years earlier, he was greeted upon his return to the city with music and crowds waving palm branches. They had also been used when the temple had been rededicated and became a symbol of Jewish nationalism. During the Jewish wars against Rome, insurgents would make coins using a palm branch as a symbol for the Jewish hope of reclaiming their nation.

As Jesus enters Jerusalem, the people wave palm branches because they believed a messianic deliverer was coming to rescue them. Even more, they shouted “Hosanna” which means, “give salvation now”. During some feasts, when Psalm 118 would be read, every man and boy would wave “lulabs” (a few shots of willow and myrtle tied to a palm) when Psalm 118:25 was read and “Hosanna!” shouted.

As Jesus entered Jerusalem, the people expected he was the messianic deliverer they had been waiting for. They expected he would gather an army and lead a revolution. But Jesus had a different agenda. His concern wasn’t a nation. It wasn’t reclaiming the land. Jesus’ priority was spiritual. It was worship and love and obedience and intimacy with God the Father. It was breaking the yoke of sin so that people could live freely for God. It was bringing hope and life so the people walking in darkness could walk in the kingdom of light.

On Palm Sunday, the people rightly proclaimed Jesus, “king”, but wrongly understood what that meant. They expected something different. What expectations do people today have for Jesus? What expectations do you have for Jesus?

When you pray, what is your main focus – physical or spiritual? Clearly Jesus blessed people with physical healing and provision in his ministry, but was that his priority? What should be ours?

If Jesus was to ask you, “What do you want me to do for you?” How would you answer? What would it look like for Jesus to answer that prayer? Is there anything you need to change in preparation for when he would answer?

What does it mean that Jesus is King? How does it affect the way you live or think?

How could you bless or encourage someone today by sharing these truths?