Pastor Sullivan's Blog

Grace and peace be unto you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. On Palm Sunday, as Jesus is riding to Jerusalem on the colt, the crowd of disciples shouts, “ Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the LORD!' Peace in heaven and glory in the highest ” ( Luke 19:38). Some Pharisees beg Jesus to them to be quite. Their rejoicing is too much. But Christ responds by saying “ I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out ” ( Luke 19:40). Jesus has indeed come to bring peace in heaven, peace between man and the God man has offended with his sins. This is such a joyous occasion that even if the crowd of disciples to put their hands over their mouths, the creation itself would cry out in joy. Yet in the midst of such joy and the hope of peace which Jesus brings, as He draws near the city He weeps over it. He weeps in pity at the sight of the city of David because He knows full well that the inhabitants of that city will reject...

Grace and peace be unto you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. The first part of this Sunday’s Gospel lesson takes place on Palm Sunday as Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey. Surrounded by shouts of ‘Hosanna,’ Jesus looks upon the city of David and weeps. He weeps because He desires the Jew’s salvation but knows they will reject it. He says, “ If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation. ” Christ’s coming to Jerusalem is the gracious visitation of God Himself. But they will crucify Him and for the next forty years, reject His apostles sent to them. For this rejection, the city wil...