When have you wrestled with - even had anxiety or lost sleep over - a guest list? Wedding reception (more faces more plates more dollars)? Birthday (number of little ones running around)? Sleepover? Pool party? Anniversary? Graduation? Confirmation? Backyard BBQ? Super Bowl party? Guys night? Girls night? Sorting through people/names and faces can be stressful: who do we include, and who do we well...pass over? In Mark 2, the scribes of the Pharisees take issue with Levi’s … and Jesus’ guest list: Jesus eats with a houseful of equally “defiled” people! Jesus’ love got so messy that other people noticed. We made His guest list too, and we’re just as messy! In resurrecting Jesus’ love, would we let Him write our guest list too? What would scare us the most about that? When have we missed opportunities to love - even in the mess, because we were too busy wielding a righteous badge or being the hall monitor of other people’s behavior. God drew a heart around the world and said everybody is in; we don’t decide who is in and who is out.

Amber Alert is an emergency response system that disseminates information about a missing person (usually a child), by media broadcasting or electronic roadway signs. Can you imagine Jerusalem’s Amber Alert on Easter Sunday? Missing Messiah! Have you seen this man? He has dark hair and was last seen wearing grave clothes. He’s considered dead and dangerous. Do not approach Him. Notify Jewish and Roman authorities immediately. The angels, however, declare to the women outside His tomb: “Jesus isn’t missing, but has risen!” Jesus lives eternally so that we can too! If heaven had an Amber Alert, would you be on it? We don’t have to be missing either! All who are baptized/believe in the crucified and risen Jesus are found too!

Luke 19:37 notes that “as He was drawing near - already on the way down the Mt. of Olives - the whole multitude of His disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen.” Interestingly, praise increases at the crest of the mount just as Jerusalem comes into view. I imagine this moment was like a “Scenic Overlook” for Jesus. This is it...the final week that His entire ministry has been preparing for. The holy city where God had placed His name, the epicenter of God’s redemptive plan for the entire world (i.e., our salvation) now in view. Jerusalem remains a scenic overlook for us too - the place of our redemption - as we walk with Jesus from the Upper Room, to the cross, and to an empty tomb on Easter morning!

In our affluent American suburbs, believers will constantly feel the pull toward material possessions in their walk with Jesus. The constant danger, however, is that obsession with earthly goods and well-being can crowd God’s ways out of our hearts. Hence, Jesus teaches us to “Use Extreme Caution” as He continues down the road toward Calvary.

The human eye is the headlamp for the entire body. The light and darkness which our eyes let in/don’t let in affects our entire being. When the Gospel illumines are sight, our body walks in God’s light. When our eyes allow darkness, we walk blindly in sin. Only Jesus can correct our vision as the Spirit penetrates the eyes of our body, dispels the darkness of sin, and sanctifies every aspect of our lives.

The story of Mary and Martha shows the importance of abiding in Jesus and His Word. Today, we are often so distracted by things of this world that we veer from what matters most: Jesus and His Words.

In a play on words, Jesus says, “Mary has chosen the good portion.” He compares the Word to eating a meal. Meals will come and go, but only His Word lasts and satisfies for forever.

In life there are many roads and sideroads that we can take, yet only one road leads to God and His home - merging with Jesus. As Luke continues in chapter 9, three would-be followers miss their “merge” because they want to follow Jesus in their timing and on their terms. The good news for us is that though there’s only one road to God, and it’s narrow...only one-laner...by grace Jesus invites us to enter from any point in any condition and merge with Him. He even gives us the strength to follow and stay merged.

ALZ kills more people every year than breast cancer and prostate cancer combined; 1:3 seniors die with ALZ or another dementia. Although the disease itself has been described as a prolonged funeral for loved ones, Jesus’ words speak hope of eternal remembrance and care in His hands.