The King Has Come

From as early as the 4th century, Christians have recognized this day as Palm Sunday, which of course commemorates the moment when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey.

It's often referred to as Holy Week. Of course, Holy Week culminates in the celebration of Christ's resurrection on Easter Sunday.

And perhaps beginning on this day and through the week, you have a particular reading plan.

Perhaps you're reading through the Gospels, as they tell, of the days leading up to the crucifixion and then, of course, the crucifixion itself and the resurrection.

Our church has never really followed a liturgical calendar, at least not very rigidly.

We do what most churches do, of course, with Easter and Christmas, and occasionally we'll throw in one of the other dates as well.

But today, we're going to jump on board with the typical Christian liturgical calendar,

joining with literally millions of Christians around the world today who are meditating on the significance of this moment in the life of Christ.

And we're going to do so by considering the account of this found in the Gospel of Luke.

Luke 19, beginning at verse 28.

When he had said these things, he went on ahead going to Jerusalem.

When he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany at the mount that is called Olivet,

he sent two of his disciples, saying,

Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat.

Untie it and bring it here.

If anyone asks you, why are you untying it?

You shall say this,

The Lord has need of it.

So those who were sent away and found it just as he had told them.

And as they were untying the colt, its owner said to them,

Why are you untying the colt?

Reasonable question.

They said,

The Lord has need of it.

And they brought it to Jesus and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it.

And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road.

As he was drawing near, already on the way down the Mount of Olives,

the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen,

saying,

Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord.

Peace in heaven and glory in the highest.

And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him,

Teacher, rebuke your disciples.

And he answered,

I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.

And when he 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.

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.

Amen.

What is important for us to remember

what the Gospels,

by Gospels I mean

the four Gospel pieces of literature in the New Testament,

it's important for us to remember

what they intend to accomplish

as a literary genre.

Many people will equate them to biographies,

but while they contain biographical information,

the authors of these Gospels

were not intending simply to tell us a few things

about Jesus' life.

That's not exactly what they are.

The Gospels are collections

of historical data

meant to persuade,

meant to persuade the readers

of a particular thing,

of the identity and the work of Christ,

of Jesus, of Nazareth,

and to persuade the reader,

therefore,

to trust in him

as the promised Messiah

and the Son of God

who has come to save us from our sins.

So they're not storybooks

designed to entertain us.

They are arguments

meant to convince us.

That's what the four Gospels are.

That's what they intend

to accomplish,

what their authors intended to accomplish.

Now, each of the four Gospel authors

have unique sources.

They also have unique audiences

for their material.

Matthew and John

were both part of Jesus' band of disciples

and were themselves eyewitnesses

of the events and the teachings

of Jesus' ministry.

John Mark was not a direct disciple

of the Lord Jesus,

but he came shortly thereafter

and was mentored

by the Apostle Peter.

Some point along the way

throughout their ministry in Rome,

those who had been listening

to Peter's preaching

and hearing Peter's eyewitness testimony

of the things of Jesus

asked that Mark would record those things

that they may have a copy of it

and the Lord has used that

so that we might have Mark's Gospel as well.

And then we come to Luke.

Luke was a companion

of the Apostle Paul

and because of that,

he moved in prominent Christian circles

in the first century

and his Gospel

presents the accounts

of various eyewitness testimonies

of the Lord Jesus.

And the purpose

of this collection of testimonies

by Luke's own admission

is that we might have certainty

about the person

and the work of Jesus

of Nazareth

as it relates

to our personal salvation.

Let me just read you

the opening dialogue

of his Gospel,

the very first four verses.

Luke says,

Inasmuch as many have undertaken

to compile a narrative

of the things

that have been accomplished

among us,

just as those

who from the beginning

were eyewitnesses

and ministers of the word

have delivered them to us,

it seemed good to me also,

having followed all things closely

for some time past,

to write an orderly account

for you,

most excellent Theophilus,

that you may have certainty

concerning the things

you have been taught.

So,

the events recorded for us

in Luke 19

are there

to contribute

to Luke's persuasive argument

about the Gospel of Jesus.

If we're trying to wonder

why are these here,

what is their purpose,

fundamentally,

Luke has already told us,

they are here

as part of an orderly account

of the life

and ministry

and teachings

of the Lord Jesus

in order that we might

have certainty

about what actually happened

in His life

so that we may increase

in our faith in Him

as Messiah and Lord.

Now,

the significance

of the triumphal entry,

as we often refer to it

in Christian language,

the significance of it

to the arguments

of the Gospels

is undoubtable

because all four of them

include a detailed account

of this particular event.

Now,

that's unusual.

It's not unusual

for Matthew,

Mark,

and Luke,

the synoptic Gospels,

to share lots of material

between one another,

although,

with differing perspectives,

they have lots of the same material

that they're covering.

John is different from that.

John is doing a different kind of thing

with his Gospel,

filling in some gaps.

It's unusual for us

to find moments

in Jesus' life

that are recorded

in all four,

and so when they are recorded

in all four,

we should pay careful attention

to why they're there.

Well,

this is one such story.

It's in all four

of our Gospels,

and it's not merely mentioned

in the four Gospels.

It's actually covered

in incredible detail.

It highlights

a significant moment

of prophetic fulfillment,

and it reveals

a great deal

about Jesus' character,

purpose,

as the Messiah of God.

And what Luke does here for us

in Luke 19

that I find to be so helpful

is he groups

three unique scenes

together

to help us see

Jesus

as our prophet,

priest,

and king.

Studying through this this week,

I thought about

the toys that I had,

that we had as kids.

I think Mattel made them.

They were called

viewfinders,

which were like

these funny little

camera-looking things.

You'd put your eyes up to it,

and they had the reel,

the picture reel

that you'd stick in the top.

You could change out the reels,

and there was a lever

on the side.

When you look through the camera,

you saw a picture,

and if you pull the lever

on the side,

the reel turns,

and you see the next picture.

You guys have those as kids?

Yeah, okay.

So you know

what I'm talking about.

Viewfinders,

Mattel made them.

I don't know

if they make them anymore,

but I remember them

as a kid.

I thought about that.

As Luke is compiling

these eyewitness accounts,

and as he gets to

chapter 19 here,

and he's telling us

about this momentous moment

in Jesus' life

and ministry,

and he groups

these three pictures together,

I want to take

the viewfinder approach

to the text.

That is,

I want us to

kind of flip through

the three scenes

pictured here

so that we might

get a general idea

of what happened

while thinking

primarily

about how each scene

contributes to

our understanding

of the gospel,

our understanding

of the gospel of Jesus.

So that's what we're

going to do.

We can't cover

every detail.

I'll have to leave

that to you,

but what we're going

to do,

we're just going to

pull the lever

a couple times.

We're going to see

the scenes.

We're going to examine

them briefly,

and ask how is this

contributing to our

understanding of the

gospel of Jesus?

scene number one.

We might call it

riding down the road.

Riding down the road.

The first picture here

is our Bible viewfinder.

It's a celebratory scene.

Jesus is mounted

on a donkey

traveling from

the Mount of Olives

to Jerusalem.

A growing multitude

of people are beginning

to line the streets

with clothing

and palm branches.

The crowd

greets the Lord Jesus

not as a rabbi.

They greet him

in this moment

as a king.

And their shouts

are shouts of

salvation from God.

Clearly,

they believed

that Jesus

was the promised

Messiah King

come from God

to deliver them.

Their triumphant

shouts then

suggest they expected

him to make

his move

during this

particular

Passover event.

And they weren't

entirely wrong.

Jesus indeed

was the promised

Messiah King

and he would

indeed deliver

his people

during this

celebration

of Passover.

But he wouldn't

do it at all

how they wanted

or at all

how they expected.

He didn't come

as a conquering king

to defeat

Roman oppressors.

He came

as a humble king

to lay down

his life

as a sacrifice

for their sins.

I want to highlight

three ideas

for you in this picture

that's presented

to us by Luke.

The first thing

I want you to notice

is that the scene

here is deliberate.

It's deliberate.

Look with me

at verse 28.

When he had said

these things

he went on ahead

going up to Jerusalem

and when he drew near

to Bethphage and Bethany

at the mount

that is called Olivet

he sent two of his

disciples saying

go into the village

in front of you

where on entering

you will find

a colt tied

on which no one

has ever yet sat.

Untie it

and bring it here.

If anyone asks you

why are you

untying it

you shall say this

the Lord has need of it.

So those who were sent

went away

and found it

just as he had told them

and as they were

untying the colt

its owners said to them

why are you

untying the colt

and they said

the Lord has

need of it.

Deliberate

is what comes

to the surface here.

There is a common notion

about Jesus

that

he was

an incredible teacher

who just

unfortunately

was crushed

beneath

the will

of history

as one writer

put it.

That he was just

kind of

he was doing

a lot of good things

he was

he was a notable man

and he just happened

to be

wrong place

wrong time

and was crushed

by the corruption

of his day.

The idea

it intends

to portray

the Lord

as a good man

caught in circumstances

that were

out of his control

those circumstances

being Roman oppression

in Palestine

of the day

those circumstances

being a corrupt

spiritual government

among

the Jewish people

who of course

were

his enemies

in these moments

and we understand

how all of that went.

The Bible however

repeatedly asserts

the opposite of that.

At no point

was Jesus

ever in anything

but total control

of what was happening

to

and around him.

He knew

from the very beginning

what his purpose was.

it was to

die for our sins

to raise from the dead.

He repeatedly

revealed this

to his disciples

even telling them

exactly how it would

unfold

and how it would

take place.

And at this point

in Luke's gospel

if you were to trace

the chapters leading up

you would find

that what Jesus

is doing

is he's making

a very direct

purposeful

deliberate

intentional move

towards Jerusalem

acknowledging

that this will be

his last move

toward Jerusalem.

That what awaits

him there

is betrayal

he will be turned

over to the Roman

authorities

he will be crucified

and then subsequently

rise from the dead.

It's all deliberate.

He's in total control.

Even in his own trial

you'll remember

Pilate

urging him

at one point

to answer for himself.

Pilate unwilling

to crucify him

in that moment

says don't you realize

that I have the power

to free you.

You'll remember

Jesus' response.

You would have

no power over me

were it not given you

from the Father.

He's in total control.

He knows what's happening

and he's moving

towards that

and this story

is no different.

What we see here

in the triumphal entry

in the moments

leading up to it

we see on Jesus' part

careful premeditation.

He's moving

toward Jerusalem

he's probably

two miles

outside of the city

he intentionally

pauses near the villages

of Bethphage

and Bethany

as he was

prone to visit

many times before

and he prepares

himself

for this

royal procession.

now how he knew

the donkey

would be there

and would be tied up

isn't explained

to us in the text.

Perhaps it was

his omniscience

and his divine person

and his divine nature

that was just aware

and knew what would unfold.

I think the simplest

explanation

is the best one

in this case

which is that

Jesus just planned

for this moment.

It's almost as if

he's even

made his arrangements

with the owners

of this donkey

and he's even

supplied a passcode

as if to say

hey I'm going to

send some people

your way eventually

and when you see

them untying it

ask them what they're doing

and if they say

these words

the Lord has need of it

you'll know it's from me.

I think it's just

deliberate arrangement

premeditation

he's working things out

he's doing it on purpose

but why?

Why would he arrange

such a thing?

John and

Matthew's gospels

remind us

that this was

an explicit fulfillment

of something spoken

by the prophet Zechariah.

Zechariah chapter 9

Zechariah 9:9

verse 9

he says

rejoice greatly

O daughter of Zion

shout aloud

O daughter of Jerusalem

behold

your king is coming to you

righteous

and having salvation

is he

humble

and mounted

on a donkey

on a colt

the foal

of a donkey

this is fulfillment

of the prophecies

Jesus

intentionally moves

towards this

he intentionally

arranges it

in order that

he might fulfill

what the prophets

had spoken

there's no coincidence

here

this is

premeditated

careful planning

on the part

of the Lord

another thing

that contributes

to this idea

is the fact

that

this is different

from how Jesus

typically operated

in Jerusalem

his attendance

at the various

festivals and feasts

was always

greatly anticipated

by the people

and if you read

through the gospels

you'll find that

this is not normal

for Jesus

Jesus often

arrived late

he often arrived

in relative secrecy

in order that

he might prevent

this very thing

from happening

we even read

of other times

in his ministry

where the crowd

so impressed

so moved

by his power

sought to make

him a king

by force

we find it

in John 6

in particular

the feeding

of the 5,000

what do the people

do?

they move

in order that

they might make

him a king

by force

and what does

Jesus repeatedly

do in those moments?

he escapes

he gets out of there

it's not time

his hour has not come

this is not normal

for Jesus

this isn't glory

seeking

in a selfish sense

in a human

sinful sense

at this point

no this is

deliberate action

on Jesus' part

held off

for this particular

moment

in order that

he might communicate

a specific thing

he was unequivocally

identifying himself

in this moment

as the Messiah

King

that's its purpose

it was deliberate

intentional

premeditated

Jesus in this act

fulfilling the scripture

says

I am him

but the scene

isn't only deliberate

we find that the scene

is also quite dramatic

isn't it?

verse 35

and they brought it

to Jesus

and throwing their

cloaks on the colt

they set Jesus

on it

and as he rode along

they spread their

cloaks on the road

and as he was

drawing near

already on the way

down the Mount

of Olives

the whole multitude

of his disciples

began to rejoice

and to praise God

with a loud voice

notice the singular

tense there

multitudes of people

multitude typically

means it's not even

worth bothering

trying to count

there's so many

multitude of people

but what are they

shouting and singing?

with one voice

with unity of voice

in unison together

an amazing moment

why are they shouting?

verse 37

for all the mighty works

that they had seen

what were they saying?

blessed is the king

who comes in the name

of the Lord

peace in heaven

and glory in the highest

dramatic

so word quickly spreads

that Jesus

was on his way

as he gets closer

to the city

the crowd

grows

larger and larger

but the drama

comes from what

the people did

as Jesus passed by

we're told here

that they lined

the streets

with their clothes

their cloaks

they cast them down

on the road

as if to roll out

something of a red carpet

for the Lord

but then Matthew

Mark and John

add something

that Luke does not include

which is that

they were also

laying down palm branches

which is why we

refer to this

as Palm Sunday

what is the significance

of that?

it's depicting

a royal procession

it's implying

triumph

over their enemies

those of you

who like

the Hunger Games

will remember

the Mockingjay

being an emblem

of revolution

in the fictional

country of Panem

in the similar sense

the palm branch

was a symbol

it was an emblem

of salvation

and deliverance

to first century Jews

who were crushed

beneath the oppressive

rule of the Roman Empire

it dates back

to the second

Maccabean revolt

just two centuries

before the time

of Jesus

they began to print

them even on coins

these palm branches

it was a symbol

it was an emblem

of revolution

against Rome

an emblem

of salvation

from God

against their enemies

and as Jesus

rides into the city

from the Mount

of Olives

they roll out

the red carpet

so to speak

they throw down

the palm branches

why?

they're shouting

for salvation

he has come

to deliver us

finally

from our enemies

there's also

drama

in what they said

quoting Psalm 118

which was common

at this festival

in particular

the people shouted

praises to God

declaring that

Jesus

was the promised one

sent from God

to bring them peace

Hosanna

they shouted

which just means

save us Lord

blessed is your king

who has come

what is this?

the people

believing Jesus

to be that king

greeted him

with emblems

of deliverance

and shouts

of triumph

for God's salvation

and indeed

they had the right

person

and their concept

of what this person

would do

was not far off

but their expectations

of how he would

fulfill his mission

were completely wrong

by week's end

some of the people

in this crowd

will turn against him

turning their shouts

of Hosanna

into shouts

of crucify

others will simply

be crushed

under the discouragement

of another Messiah

who has failed

to do what they hoped

he would do

and would abandon hope

and go home

such is always the case

for those

whose expectations

of Jesus

are skewed

people come to Jesus

for all kinds of reasons

they come hoping

that it will bring

some kind of prosperity

to their lives

they come hoping

that it will bring

some type of comfort

or reassurance

to their anxieties

that they feel

there's all kinds of reasons

for people to come to Jesus

but if you're not coming

to Jesus

for who he is

and for the purpose

for which he came

to fulfill

you're ultimately

going to walk away

disappointed

even angry

ready to completely

turn against him

but their misunderstanding

here

it doesn't take away

from the significance

of the moment

what they did

was right

what they did

was necessary

they just didn't realize

how right it was

and how necessary

it was

it's deliberate

it's dramatic

thirdly

it's divinely determined

the scene

is divinely determined

look at verses

39 and 40

the Pharisees

always tend to pop up

don't they

and some of them

did here

they're in every crowd

I suppose

and some of the Pharisees

said

teacher

rebuke your disciples

and he answered

I tell you

if these were silent

the very stones

would cry out

now unsurprisingly

the Pharisees

take notice

of the commotion

and they move

to rebuke the Lord

now perhaps

their concern

is simply that

this is a lot

of commotion

this is loud

these are shouts

of kingship

have they forgotten

that we are

occupied

by Rome

that there's a

proconsulate

from Rome

who is here

there is a garrison

here

perhaps their concern

is that Rome

is going to

the Romans

are going to get

their attention

is going to be sparked

they're going to come

they're going to think

that this is some sort

of insurrection

that would be good

for no one

and so perhaps

the Pharisees

are just bringing

Jesus' attention

to that

I don't know

I think maybe

there's more to it

than that

I think they

recognized

exactly what was

happening

I think they

understood

they recognized

Jesus' actions

as a deliberate

statement

of his

messianic

identity

and they

demanded

in this moment

that he set

the record

straight publicly

hey

teacher

while all these

people are around

saying that you're

Messiah

why don't you

just go ahead

and correct them

before things

get out of hand

and we must

appreciate Jesus'

answer in verse

40

rather than

quiet the crowd

or argue

with his

detractors

Jesus pointed

to the purposes

of God

it was God's

determined plan

to send his

son for the

purpose of our

salvation

and that truth

would not be

silenced

even if every

person on the

road that day

suddenly became

mute

such is God's

truth that if

every person

refused to speak

it

the rocks

themselves

would cry out

the glory

of God

and of our

Lord and Savior

Jesus Christ

it cannot be

stopped

it's

definely

determined

if we won't

do it

God will use

another portion

of his

creation

to do it

the world

can silence

God's people

it can never

silence God

the heavens

declare the

glory of God

wrote David

no power

of hell

no scheme

of man

will ever

overcome

what God

has determined

to do

the Pharisees

say teacher

do something

about this

he doesn't

argue with them

he doesn't

silence the

crowd

he just says

this is God's

doing

it's God's

doing

to quote

Psalm 118

again

it's the Lord's

doing

it's marvelous

in our eyes

even if they

stop the rocks

will cry out

you can't

stop what

God is doing

to save

his people

Jesus

says

here

amazing

that's

scene

number one

riding down

the road

we're gonna

pull the lever

now we're gonna

move to

scene number

two

we might call

this one

weeping at

the wall

weeping at

the wall

look at

verse 41

and when he

drew near

and saw

the city

he wept

over it

now I

can't imagine

that if this

was your first

time coming

to this chapter

and you

just got

through this

celebratory

event that

you would

have expected

that the

next thing

to happen

would be

Jesus

weeping

and yet

that's what

happens

indeed

it differs

greatly from

the first

scene

the setting

is essentially

the same

only Jesus

is a little

closer to

the city

perhaps as

he's come

down from

the Mount

of Olives

if you're

familiar at

all with

the geography

of that

he would

have been

viewing the

panorama

of the

east side

of the

wall of

Jerusalem

the expanse

of the

city

comes into

his view

the contrast

between this

and the

first scene

though is

that

as the

crowd

celebrates

his arrival

the Lord

laments

traveling over

the Mount

descending

toward the

eastern gate

of Jerusalem

Jesus

suddenly

burst into

tears

tears

this

is not

merely

the

swelling

of

your

eyes

when

you're

somewhat

moved

emotionally

this is

a

likely

loud

weeping

wailing

kind of

moment

for the

Lord

based on

the

language

that's

used

here

and they

weren't

tears

of joy

over his

reception

by the

people

they were

tears

of sorrow

over his

rejection

by the

people

seems

backward

doesn't

it

as the

people

shout

Jesus

weeps

but why

well the

answer is

in his

prophetic

lament

look at

verses

43 and

44

Jesus

says

the days

will come

upon you

he's

speaking

he's

anthropomorphizing

the city

of Jerusalem

here is what

he's doing

he's referring

to the city

as he looks

at the city

and he says

the days

will come

upon you

when your

enemies

will set

up a

barricade

around

you

they

will

surround

you

they

will

hem

you

in

on

every

side

and

they

will tear

you

down

to the

ground

you

and your

children

within

you

they

will

not

leave

one

stone

upon

another

in

you

because

you

did

not

know

the

time

of

your

visitation

now

the

shouting

crowds

we've

already

said

they

believe

Jesus

was

there

to

free

them

from

Rome

and

yet

as

soon

as

Jesus

gets

to

the

city

he

prophesies

a

coming

day

when

Jerusalem

would

endure

a

terrible

fate

at

the

hands

of

Rome

already

cluing

us

in

on

the

fact

that

what

he

actually

came

to

do

was

quite

different

than

what

any

of

them

expected

him

to

do

his

mission

was

not

at

all

what

they

wanted

which

is

why

many

of

them

would

ultimately

turn

against

him

by

weeks

end

of

course

what

just

a

few

years

later

the

Roman

general

Titus

raised

the

city

including

the

temple

complex

itself

to

the

ground

but

don't

misunderstand

the

weeping

here

Jesus

tears

did not

flow

out of

concern

for

brick

and

mortar

he

wept

over

the

souls

of

the

people

who

would

continue

to

reject

his

rule

and

ultimately

suffer

the

wrath

of

God

as

a

result

that's

why

he's

weeping

doesn't

care

about

a

wall

he'd

come

to

replace

the

temple

he

doesn't

really

care

about

that

temple

what

is

he

weeping

over

it's

the

souls

of

the

people

how

do

we

know

well

verse

42

here's

what

he

said

would

that

you

even

you

had

known

on

this

day

the

things

that

make

for

peace

but

now

they

are

hidden

from

your

eyes

and

as

a

result

of

that

their

blindness

their

spiritual

blindness

this

destruction

would

come

peace

the

people

thought

of

peace

only

in

terms

of

their

relationship

with

Rome

Jesus

spoke

of

peace

in

terms

of

their

relationship

to

God

peace

was

the

purpose

of

his

incarnation

peace

was

the

purpose

of

his

ministry

peace

was

the

purpose

of

his

crucifixion

and his

resurrection

and his

ascension

peace

between

God

and man

it would

be

achieved

through

an

atonement

that he

would

make

for

sin

he would

do it

on a

cross

just days

after this

moment

Jesus

the

sinless

son

of

God

bore

the

wrath

of

God

in

the

place

of

sinners

who

by

nature

hate

him

and in

taking

our

sins

Jesus

then

imputes

he credits

to us

his

righteousness

righteousness

reconciling

man

with

God

peace

between

God

and those

who have

rebelled

against

him

peace

Jesus

speaks

of

not

peace

with

Rome

peace

with

God

was

he

Messiah

yes

had

he

come

to

deliver

them

during

this

Passover

yes

was

it

to

bring

peace

with

Rome

no

it

was

to

bring

a

greater

peace

the

things

that

make

for

peace

what

Jesus

refers

to

in

verse

42

are

simply

repentance

toward

God

and

faith

in

the

Lord

Jesus

Christ

those

are

the

things

that

make

for

peace

he

would

supply

the

peace

the

things

that

make

for

peace

are

repentance

and

faith

and

this

was

not

a

new

message

from

Jesus

this

is

what

he

had

preached

from

the

very

beginning

Mark

tells

us

in

Mark

Jesus

came

into

Galilee

proclaiming

the gospel

of God

saying

the time

is fulfilled

the kingdom

of God

is at

hand

therefore

repent

and believe

in the

gospel

what are the

things that

make for

peace

repentance

and faith

repentance

toward

God

faith

in his

son

who has

achieved

the peace

for

us

Jesus

wept

because

on the

whole

the

people

remained

in

darkness

they

were

blind

to

the

things

that

make

for

peace

they

refused

repentance

they

refused

faith

unless

it was

convenient

but a

convenient

faith

is never