Palm Sunday
Scripture
Luke 19:41-48
41 As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42 saying, ‘If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 Indeed, the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you, and hem you in on every side. 44 They will crush you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another; because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.’
45 Then he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling things there; 46 and he said, ‘It is written,
“My house shall be a house of prayer”;
but you have made it a den of robbers.’
47 Every day he was teaching in the temple. The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people kept looking for a way to kill him; 48 but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were spellbound by what they heard.
Devotional
As we begin Holy Week, the daily lectionary gives us passages that differ from the traditional passages we associate with each event. We’ll stick mostly to the daily lectionary specifically for that reason. Today, we read Luke 19:41-48. In Luke, this passage comes immediately after the triumphal entry, and it’s not what we would expect. Following the joy and shouts, the excitement and celebration, Jesus weeps. He knows what’s coming. Regardless of the joy of the day, Jesus never loses sight of where he’s heading.
Message provided by the Miller Summer Youth Institute.