The Way to Peace

“How I wish today that you of all people would understand the way to peace. But now it is too late, and peace is hidden from your eyes.”
Luke 19:42 (NLT)

When Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, the crowds were shouting with excitement in the anticipation that their Messiah had finally come!  While they were seeking relief and deliverance from Roman oppression, they missed the real purpose of His coming! It wasn’t to establish an earthly kingdom as they had hoped.  It was to offer them something far greater.  He came to offer them “the way to peace!” 

Often, while we anticipate receiving answers to our prayers, God may very well answer them in a different way than we had expected.  If we’re not careful, we could miss the answer just as the crowd did that day.  Luke tells us, “As Jesus came closer to Jerusalem and saw the city ahead, He began to weep. How I wish today that you of all people would understand the way to peace.  But now it is too late, and peace is hidden from your eyes” (Luke 19:41-42, NLT).

It grieved the heart of God that His people, whom He came to redeem, missed the very way to peace He came to offer them. Could it be that we become so fixed on what we want God to do that we miss the greater work God came to do? In John’s Gospel, we read, “He came into the very world He created, but the world didn’t recognize Him. He came to His own people, and even they rejected Him” (John 1:10-11, NLT).

He came to offer them peace, yet as He approaches Jerusalem for the holiest week in human history on Palm Sunday, we find Jesus weeping for those so consumed with their own temporal desires that they would miss the eternal purpose of God. Had Jesus come to fulfill their desires, they would have only had a temporary political peace.  He came to offer them and us peace with God and the peace of God!  It’s a peace, the Bible says, that passes all understanding!  It’s a peace we experience during the storms of life.  Jesus said, “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” (John 14:27, NLT).

As we approach Palm Sunday and begin Holy Week, don’t miss the day of His visitation in your life. Receive the way to peace He came to offer us. The Bible says, “Christ, Himself, is our peace!” (Ephesians 2:14, NCV). The way to peace is a person – Jesus Christ.

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To read this devotional online or catch up on past ones, visit https://kerryshook.org/blog.

Another important part of your daily devotional is spending time with God in prayer. The Woodlands Church Prayer Board lists prayer requests submitted by our members and provides a way to send them some encouragement by using a button on the page to let them know that you prayed for them. Whether you use the Prayer Board or pray from your heart, the goal is to build the habit of incorporating prayer into your quiet time.

Need prayer yourself? Let us know by submitting a prayer request on the Woodlands Church Prayer Board.