God’s purpose affirmed

STUDY PASSAGE: LUKE 19:41–48

LAST week we began a journey towards a holy place, using the one Jesus made to Jerusalem as our guide. This week we move on to read the rest of Luke chapter 19 and see the purpose of Jesus affirmed through teaching, testing and tears.

It might be helpful to use this study as a base to ponder on our own sense of God’s purpose for our lives.

PURPOSE AFFIRMED
In outlining his purpose throughout the journey Jesus took with his disciples, there were teaching, testing and tears.

Jesus taught about his Kingdom by declaration and demonstration. He warned of the consequences of ignoring God’s ways and introduced the truth that God’s purposes can turn human ideas upside down.

Jesus also spoke directly to the disciples about his death: ‘We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him and spit on him; they will flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again’ (Luke 18:31–33 all quotations New International Version).

Luke’s writing is clever. Where the disciples did not understand what Jesus was saying, Luke immediately records Jesus bringing sight to a blind beggar.

His Kingdom again challenges the norm. When people tried to silence the outcast, the beggar and the disabled, Jesus gave them dignity, honour and healing.

But even as Jesus was seemingly enjoying his moment of glory, trouble was brewing. Often there are times of testing, particularly when we are working out God’s purpose.

An 18-year-old man in our corps received a vision to begin a music school in Ghana. He began collecting musical instruments to ship over, and planned to go there last summer with his family to commence the work. Every room in his home was filled with donated clarinets, trumpets, cellos and drums! But the success of the project meant that costs began to rise. This resulted in his family sometimes eating less than a meal a day, over some months, in order to raise enough money. The vision was really tested.

Now – months after its launch – many children in Ghana have a new purpose, passion and proficiency because one young man and his family chose to persevere through the time of testing.

Luke 19:41 captures the triumphal entry, ending in tears. The preceding verses show the pain that burdened Jesus, as people misrepresented him. Some say that when Jesus wept over Jerusalem, he was prophesying the fall of the Temple. As he entered it, he shouted out in indignation: ‘It is written... “My house will be a house of prayer”; but you have made it “a den of robbers”.’

As we come close to God’s purposes, the things that touch his heart will touch ours and stir our emotions too.

This Easter, allow God to touch you deeply about the things of this world that disturb his heart. Be prepared to face the challenges ahead in order that his victory may be known.

FOR REFLECTION
• As we journey into Holy Week, consider when we hail Jesus as King through our worship. Do we go on to hail him as King through the way we represent him to the world?
• Do we recognise the way God has prepared a place in history for us today? Are we going to waste the days he has prepared for us by ignoring his purposes for this age?
• Do we represent Jesus by reaching out to the marginalised or do we keep ourselves with the crowd, waving banners, before going back to our comfortable lives and following the ways of the world?
• What teaching have you received that is going to help you know Jesus more passionately this Easter?
• What testing are you going through that may help reveal more of God’s purpose for you?
• What is Jesus ‘shouting’ to you this week? Is your temple (your body) a house of prayer, or does it resemble more the den of robbers, where God has given so much and you are not using it to his glory?

Today, cry out ‘Hosanna!’ – knowing that it means ‘He saves!’ Journey well!

• Captain Smith is corps officer at Southwark