Be Strong & Courageous in Body, Mind & Spirit Seeing the Peace We Miss

Be Strong & Courageous in Body, Mind & Spirit

Seeing the Peace We Miss

Luke 19:36-44
By Pastor Tammy Long

For Your Heart Today

There are moments when something meaningful is right in front of us, and we still miss it.

Not because we aren't looking. Not because we don't care.
But because we are looking through expectations-through what we thought would happen, what we hoped would unfold, what we believed peace would look like.

In Luke 19, Jesus enters Jerusalem surrounded by celebration. The crowd is shouting, praising, and declaring truth. And yet, amid all that is happening, Jesus weeps.

Because even though they see Him, they do not fully recognize what is being offered.

They are looking for a certain kind of peace-one shaped by power, control, and visible change.
But Jesus is offering a different kind of peace-one rooted in restored relationship, surrender, and alignment with the heart of God.

And it's possible to be close to Jesus, to say the right words, even to celebrate Him-and still miss the deeper work He is doing.

The invitation for us is gentle but honest:
to slow down, to notice, and to ask for eyes that see more clearly.

Because peace may not always come the way we expect.
But it is present, being offered, even now.

4 Takeaways

1. We can see Jesus and still miss what He is doing.
   The crowd recognized Him, celebrated Him, and spoke truth-yet their expectations shaped what they were able to receive.
2. Our expectations can limit our vision.
   When we hold tightly to how we think God should move, we may overlook the way He is already at work.
3. Jesus' peace is different from what we often seek.
   It is not rooted in control or outward change, but in restored relationship with God and alignment with His way.
4. Alignment helps us see more clearly.
   As our body, mind, and spirit come into alignment with God, our vision shifts-we begin to recognize His presence, His peace, and His invitation.

Breath Prayer

Inhale: Open my eyes, Lord
Exhale: Help me see Your peace

Full Manuscript - Estimated Reading Time ~22-25 minutes

Be Strong & Courageous in Body, Mind & Spirit: Seeing the Peace We Miss

Luke 19:36-44
By Pastor Tammy Long

Introduction

Once when I was a little girl-I would have been about four or five-my mom asked me to get my shoes that were under my bed. But when I went to get them, I couldn't find them. I looked all around the room and just didn't see them anywhere.

So I went back and told her they weren't there.

She said, "Yes, they are. You're not looking hard enough. They are right under your bed."

So, I went back again. I looked. Still didn't see them.

Finally, my mom came into the room, got down on her knees, looked under the bed, and reached right in and pulled out my shoes-right where she said they had been all along.

She was a little frustrated, and I still remember her saying, "Tammy, if they had been a snake, they would have bitten you!"

But it wasn't long after that we realized what was really going on. A visit to the eye doctor revealed that I was very nearsighted. Which meant things had to be close for me to see them clearly. Everything outside that range was a blur.

Over the years, whenever my mom told that story, she would always say how bad she felt for getting upset with me. She thought I wasn't looking hard enough-when the truth was, I really couldn't see.

I think that can be true in life-especially in our spiritual lives.

We can all be a little nearsighted.

Something can be right in front of us, and we still miss it. Sometimes we're looking for something else, so we misunderstand what we're seeing. Sometimes we catch a glimpse of it, but it doesn't match what we expected, so we move right past it.

Peace may show up as a quiet moment, but we're looking for a breakthrough.
God may be at work in a small step, but we're waiting for something dramatic.
An invitation to slow down may be offered, but we keep pushing because we've got more to do.

It can happen that something real and present and good-a gift even-is right before our eyes, and we miss it.

And that is exactly what is happening as Jesus makes His way into Jerusalem.

Jesus is right there.
Right in front of the people.
Present-but not fully seen.

If you have your Bibles, we'll be reading Luke 19:36-44.

A Closer Look at the Text

As we step into this Palm Sunday account, there's something about Luke's telling of this moment that feels a little different. We may not be able to name it right away, but it doesn't quite land the way we expect. There is joy and jubilation, shouting and singing, the response of the crowd. There's tension with the Pharisees who are always lurking about, and then, almost suddenly in the story, Jesus is weeping.

What We Expect to See for Palm Sunday

That's Luke's account. But if you've been around the church for a while, there's a more robust picture most of us carry for Palm Sunday. In fact, let's join in the celebration-grab your palms for a few moments, and let's take a brief moment to celebrate Jesus' entry into Jerusalem.

That's Palm Sunday as we know it. And it's not wrong. It captures something true about what happened on that day. We see this especially in Matthew's telling-the crowds are stirred, the whole city seems to be caught up in the moment, and the celebration moves forward. In the Gospel of Mark, the story is told more briefly-Jesus enters the city, goes into the temple, looks around, and then quietly leaves. And John highlights the recognition of Jesus as King and the fulfillment of all the prophecies spoken long ago.

Even though John is the only one who actually mentions palms, most of us probably carry something closer to Matthew's version of the story in our imaginations. That's the account that has shaped how we think about this moment we call Palm Sunday. And it's accurate. In fact, each account gives us something true. Each of them lets us see this moment from a particular angle.

What Luke Wants Us to See

But Luke… Luke offers something the others don't. And it's not by accident.

Most of our Bibles today have chapters and verses and little headings that break things up for us. They help us find our place and follow along. But the original manuscripts didn't have any of that. Luke's Gospel would have been read as one continuous story.

So what Luke gives us is not one moment and then another separate moment. He gives us one unfolding scene that is meant to be understood together-a crowd celebrating, Pharisees pushing back, and Jesus weeping.

What the Crowd Sees

The crowd is celebrating for a reason. They have seen Jesus heal disease, they have watched Him restore sight, and they have heard Him teach with authority. They have been witnesses and recipients of Jesus' ministry, and they believe He is the King they have been waiting for.

They are living under the weight of the Roman Empire. They know what it feels like to be occupied, controlled, and reminded every day that they are not free. They carry the stories of David's kingdom, the memory of what was, and the hope of what could be again.

So when they see Jesus, they are not just seeing a teacher or a miracle worker. They are seeing the hope of a new day-freedom, restoration, the King who will finally make things right. They are celebrating Jesus, and at the same time, holding an expectation of what He will do next. They are seeing what they want to see.

But even in the way Jesus enters-riding on a colt, as prophesied by Zechariah-there are clues about the kind of King He is. He is not coming in power as they expect, but in humility. He's not forcing peace but offering it in a different way.

What the Pharisees See

Now the Pharisees are there too, watching and listening, but not celebrating. They see the same moment and come to very different conclusions.

For some, Jesus is a fraud, a blasphemer, someone saying and receiving things that belong to God alone. And they are genuinely concerned that Jesus is harmful and misguiding people.

For other religious leaders, the concerns about Jesus are different. They see Him as dangerous. The kind of public attention He is garnering, along with His language and rhetoric, threatens to disrupt the religious order they have worked so carefully to maintain. It could bring consequences, draw Rome's attention, and unravel everything.

So they say, "Teacher, rebuke your followers for saying things like that." They do not see a King. They see a problem, a threat, something that needs to be controlled and quieted.

What Jesus Sees

But Jesus' response is telling. He says, "If they kept quiet, the stones along the road would burst into cheers!" It's interesting that Jesus doesn't silence the praise. Actually, He affirms and receives their words as truth.

And as Luke holds all of these moments together, he brings us to the point where we see Jesus looking at the city. Luke is inviting us to feel the contrast-the height of the crowd's celebration alongside the depth of Jesus' grief-because even though their words are true, they still did not see what was unfolding before them.

And when Jesus looks upon the city, He weeps.

The Peace They Missed

And He says, "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."

Peace. It is not just a word in Luke's account. It is why Jesus came-to restore peace with God and peace among humanity.

From the very beginning of Luke's Gospel, that has been the promise. When Jesus is born, the angels sing, "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased."

And now, as Jesus enters Jerusalem, that word is still being spoken. The crowd is saying it: "Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest."

But even as they say these words, their view of peace and God's view of peace are not the same. They are longing for a peace that comes through power and control-a peace shaped by the belief that enemies must be defeated, that you hold on to what is yours, and that justice comes through force.

But as Howard Thurman reminds us, Jesus did not come to mirror the world's ways of power, but to offer a way of life that transforms it.

For three years, Jesus has been inviting people to see differently. He has been teaching a different kind of peace-calling people beyond self-centeredness, to love God with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength, and to align their lives with the Kingdom of God.

Peace Is Unreceived

And now He looks at the city, and His heart breaks with compassion and grief because they missed the gift being offered to them.

Jesus is right there. He has drawn near. He is making peace available to them. And they do not want it.

"How I wish today that you of all people would understand," Jesus says. And He weeps.

Jesus weeps because He knows where the path they are on will lead. He says, "Before long your enemies will build ramparts against your walls and encircle you and close in on you from every side. They will crush you into the ground, and your children with you. Your enemies will not leave a single stone in place, because you did not recognize it when God visited you."

These are not abstract words. These are prophetic words that will be fulfilled, and did indeed come to fruition.

Jesus grieves the pain He knows will come-the suffering that will unfold, the consequences their choices will unleash. And He names the root of it all.

"Because you did not recognize it when God visited you."

And because they did not recognize God coming to them, Jesus weeps over what was offered-and left unreceived.

Eyes to See

As we hold this passage and listen for what Luke has to say to us today, I'm struck by the fact that we, too, can be looking at Jesus and still be seeing through our own expectations and desires.

Seeing Through Our Expectations

The crowd saw Him. They recognized Him. They responded to Him. They were crying out the right words, "Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest!"

And at the same time, they were holding a picture of what Jesus should do, what peace should look like, and how God should move. And clinging to that picture shaped what they were able to see.

I wonder how often that's true.

We may be asking God for peace and still holding onto our own version of it. We might be praying and already have in mind how the answer should come. We may be walking with Jesus and still filtering things through what we expect Him to do.

It's subtle. It's human. We may not even be aware that we're doing it-until things don't happen the way we want, and we find ourselves feeling angry, or betrayed, or disappointed. Those feelings are not wrong; they are indicators we can bring to God for clarity.

It's in those moments that we begin to realize… we may have been holding a vision that wasn't God's vision.

We may be seeing… but not always clearly.

That's why, as followers of Jesus, His invitation to us is always to align with God's vision, as hard as that may be-to remain open, to look for where the peace of Jesus is indeed present among us, even when it's not what we are expecting or wanting, and to trust Him when our vision is unclear.

Learning to See as Jesus Sees

What's more, Luke's account not only shows us what the crowd could not see, but also how Jesus sees clearly.

When Jesus looks at the city and the desires of the crowd, He sees where peace is absent, where it is being resisted, and where another way, another path, is being chosen. And it moves Him.

He weeps.

Jesus weeps because He is fully aligned with the Father. He sees what the Father sees, and He feels what the Father feels. And I believe Jesus weeps for us, too.

And the same invitation is extended-to receive the peace Jesus offers, a restored relationship with the Father, where, over time, we begin to see as He sees.

Learning to see as Jesus sees isn't shaped primarily by circumstances or experiences. It comes from being aligned with the Father's heart. Being aligned with God in body, mind, and spirit not only shapes how we live but also shapes how we see.

When our bodies are cared for and attentive to God, when our minds are focused and settled before Him, and when our spirits are rooted and at rest in Him, we begin to see the world differently.

We recognize what leads to peace, not just in our own lives but also in the world around us-what is aligned with God, where peace is present. And we notice where peace is absent, where it is strained, and where it stands in contrast to the Kingdom of God.

And I believe in those moments, if we look long enough-like Jesus-it will move our hearts too.

I am reminded of a friend who spent time at the border, standing in a place where realities are complex, and the pain is real.

As she shared her experience, she wept. Not just over what she saw, but with a deeper grief and weight. "Once you see, you can't unsee," she said. "This is not the way things are supposed to be… my heart is just heavy."

As she shared, I was reminded of Jesus' tears. She had His eyes, and like Jesus, her heart responded.

The Invitation Before Us

As we walk with Him and align our lives with Him, we are invited into that same way of seeing-not to carry everything or try to fix it, but to see more clearly, to notice where peace is breaking in, to weep with those who weep, and to discern how He is inviting us to respond.

Both as recipients of His peace in our own lives, and as participants in His peace in the world around us.

Jesus is near, offering peace.

Not always in the ways we expect, but always in the way we need.

May God give us eyes to see,
and the ability to recognize His presence of peace in our body, mind, and spirit.