Imperfect Praise

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased! ~Luke 2:23
 
Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest! ~Luke 19:38
 
These two verses from the book of Luke frame Jesus' earthly life. The first, of course, was the song of the angels as they announced the birth of the Messiah. The second comes from an incident a week before Jesus' death as the people praise their Messiah as he enters Jerusalem riding on a colt.
 
This second passage from Luke 19 was our pastor's Palm Sunday text. If you've ever been in church (or anyplace there was some instruction) and a lightbulb suddenly came on as things fell into place for you, then you know what I was experiencing yesterday morning as Pastor Vos opened this text to us.
 
It's interesting how similar both these praise verses are--coming at the beginning and end of Jesus' life. But there is an important difference. In the first, God--through the angels--announces the birth of his son and declares that there is peace on earth. In the second verse, the people get things--as our pastor explained--upside down.
 
The people knew their Bible, he explained. They were aware of the prophecies regarding the Messiah. So when Jesus came riding into Jerusalem from the east, on a colt, they were excited. Here was salvation! They thought that within a week, the Romans would be cast out, and Jesus would be on the throne. Their nation would be restored to them, and they would no longer be slaves to Rome. In their excitement, they declared peace in heaven--upside down and imperfect praise, for only God, from heaven, can declare peace on earth.
 
And yet Jesus accepts their imperfect, upside-down praise. In their ignorant arrogance, they were offering their praise for the wrong kind of Messiah, for a Messiah who would have delivered far less than they really needed. So how could he accept this praise? The same way he accepts our imperfect praise today--he atoned for it on the cross the next week.
 
And in the next verse, Luke 19:41, our Lord weeps for the city that does not know the things that make for its peace.