”Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” ”Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace.” Luke 19:38-42
Lord Jesus, the ache within our hearts for peace is unrelenting. Let me get specific: the ache within my heart is unrelenting. Though I already rest in you-plus-nothing for my forgiveness and righteousness, I still get sucker-punched by the tantalizing temptation that peace, or at least more peace, can be found in something or someone else. I wish I only pouted and whined when this restlessness kicks it. But unfortunately I reach for empty nothings; I run to broken cisterns; I open the door to wandering peddlers promising pseudo relief.
Some days, Jesus, I’m like Esau. My peace-pangs take over, and in the moment, I’ll gladly settle for a bowl of hot porridge over the hope of a future banquet. The provision of a snack in hand blinds my eye, deafens my ear, and dulls my taste buds to the sumptuous fare of the wedding feast of the Lamb—the day when my longing and demanding heart will be fully set free to delight in you.
Some days, Jesus, I get lost in the world of “if only.” If only there were no tensions in any of my relationships, I’d be a happy man. If only the phone wouldn’t ring again, demanding a little more of me than I have to offer, I’d be fine. If only I lived somewhere else, worked with different people, had a different body, had more money, had fewer hassles, had a different spouse, had never been deeply wounded, were twenty years younger . . . if only, if only, if only. If “the road to hell is paved with good intentions,” then, surely, the road to misery is paved with “if onlys”.
But right now I hear you saying to me, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace” (Luke 19:42). Indeed, Jesus, you alone, this day and every day, are the Prince of Peace. Only in union with you—only in communion with you do I find the true and sufficient peace for which I long.
I join the chorus of those who cry out, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Luke 19:38), for you, Jesus, are the king of glory and grace. I also cry out, “Bless is the king who is coming again—the One who will finish making all things new—including me!”
“Maranatha!” Even so, Lord Jesus, please come quickly; hasten that Day; accelerate the moment of our release, completion and perfection. Until then continue to free us from the illusion and delusion that peace can be found anywhere else but in you. So very Amen we pray in your faithful and loving name.
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