“Jesus’ wept over Jerusalem as he approached the city, and said, ‘If you had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes.’” (Lk.19:41-42)
Lord Jesus, long before the Day you will wipe away our tears, you wept many of your own. You wept at Lazarus’ tomb—despising death and its ravaging effects. And you grieve the ways we look for peace anywhere but in you—both as non-believers and believers.
The tears you shed coming into a religious-but-graceless Jerusalem underscore the depth of our need and the zenith of your mercies. Just a few days earlier, you told your disciples, “Don’t let your hearts sink and settle into trouble and fear, for I give you peace—my peace.” (pp Jn.14:27). Thank you for still speaking that word to us.
The only reason we have peace with God is because you weren’t just walking into Jerusalem that day. You were walking to the cross to die the death we deserve to give us the salvation we desperately need. Jesus, if you hadn’t died for us we’d still be hapless and hopeless, foolish and peaceless.
But many of us have more peace about dying that we have peace as we live. We don’t just need peace with God; we also need “the peace of God to rule in our hearts” (Col.3:15). That might be what Easter 2026 is about for most of us. We live in a fear-fueling, peace-sabotaging world right now.
As those who belong to you—free us from the illusion that peace can be found in the absence of war and the rebound of our economy, in a king other than you or in a romance torrid with passion, in a cancer-free body or a happiness-filled life. Why settle for temporal happiness when we can have your eternal and daily peace? Once again, grant us the gift of restlessness until we rest in you alone, Jesus. So Very Amen.
