Jesus' response to Martha and Mary was interesting. To Martha He responded with an immediate and eternal comforting thought, "Your brother will rise again" (v. 23). To Mary His response was emotional..."When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews ... He was deeply moved in spirit... Jesus wept" (vv.33, 35).

A great need for the world that we live in is our Christian compassion. L. B. Hicks is credited with saying, "The best exercise for strengthening the heart is reaching down and helping someone up." That's what Jesus did on a continual basis, and that's what He expects His followers to do daily.

III. God's Glory Will Occur through our Action (vv. 38-45)

Jesus didn't just talk about the sorrow He felt; He did something about it. Christ stepped to the entrance of the cave and said, "Lazarus, come out! The dead man came out..." (vv.43-44). No longer was Lazarus dead!

People feel helpless and God has given us the ability to help. Our example is Jesus. He takes action. Who needs your help today? Don't just cry about it. . . do something about it. The world is waiting for Christian action -- your action! (Derl G. Keefer)

Palm Sunday (A)

March 24, 2002

Silly Sentimental Love

Matthew 21:1-11

The March, 1984 issue of Focus on the Family carried an article by Chuck Swindoll entitled, "What the World Needs Now Is Authentic Love."

His article reminded us that Hal David and Burt Bacharach were familiar names to music lovers all over America in the 60s and 70s. He mentioned several of their pieces, but he said that the single tune that captured the heart of the country was "What the World Needs Now." The song writer claimed that "Love, sweet love" is "the only thing that there's just too little of." He writes, "Do you believe that? Probably so. But the world doesn't need phony love; or mushy, fickle, wimpy love; or conditional love that says 'if you ______, then I'll love you;' or swap-meet love that says 'Because you gave me this, I'll swap you love in return.' No. What the world needs now is authentic love."1

As one reads the story of the Triumphant Entry, you have the feeling that the crowds who were shouting, "Hosanna to the son of David" (v. 9) had little love for Jesus. Rather, their love was the mushy, fickle, wimpy love that had the conditional sign that said, "If you______, then we will love you!"

Christ demands an authentic love from us as He has displayed and distributed His authentic love to us.

I. Authentic Love Is Expressed Love

When my son, Jeff, was 10 and my daughter, Julie, was 6 back in the early 1980's, my wife and I were having our devotions together early in the morning. Our son was at the table with us, but his sister was still asleep.

The devotion for that day was taken from John 13:34-35, "A new command I give you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. All men will know that you are My disciples if you love one another." Jeff was going through that stage in life when he was constantly picking on his sister. My wife asked Jeff to read the passage and expressed to him that the Bible meant for him to love his sister. He obediently read the scripture, but as he did he left the word "love" out each time he came to it. After a mother-son dialogue he reread the verse and inserted the word "love" each time!