‘Easter Grace’
- Apr 11, 2025
- 5 min read
John Stott said, "Grace is love that cares and stoops and rescues."
Whether this is your thirtieth or fiftieth Palm Sunday weekend, I want to remind you, there is always more to Jesus. There is more grace and freedom to be found in Him than you ever thought possible.
Where are you today? Keeping your relationship with him superficial and professional; it’s just going to be another Palm Sunday moment!
Have we ignored the reality and the wonder of what Easter really means?
Matthew 21:5: "See, your king comes to you” What grace!
So, what does this mean for us today? It’s possible to hear the story of Easter once again, yet miss the dynamic, life-transforming work of God it brings.
It’s the message of EASTER GRACE to YOU. I think the greatest necessity for us this Easter is that we fall in love with its KING again!
“See” in the Greek means “look, listen, pay attention.” In this world, so many things steal our attention or turn our hearts away from Jesus. These then steal away our joy and peace. Maybe today you just need to "see your King," pay attention and listen to Him, fixing your eyes on "Jesus the author and pioneer of our faith’" (Heb 12:2).
The story of Palm Sunday is the story where the whole of the city had gone out to Jesus. It’s the story of people who are expecting a King to meet their expectations.
We’ve all been there. Expecting God to turn up and fulfil all our expectations, and when He doesn’t, we, like the crowd, turn our backs on Him in the days that follow.
A God of grace was about to demonstrate his love for a lost and lonely world, and at such a great cost. Has grace no limit? Absolutely not, this is what Easter Grace is all about! We are loved, treasured and so precious to God that He continually comes, stoops down to rescue us.
Donald Barnhouse said, “Love that goes upward is worship; love that goes outward is affection; love that stoops, is grace.”
You see, the crowd knew the script so they gladly take their place in the Palm Sunday story. They even respond with the words of Psalm 118: “Hosanna, save us! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.”
It’s a reminder to me that each of us knows the script. As I said earlier, this could be your fiftieth Easter but yet still remain unchanged by its message.
Do you know Christ still says – "if only you knew what could bring you peace," if only you knew you could be free TODAY!
Jesus is looking for a community of people totally sold out to Him; people that truly love Him and sacrificially give of themselves to serve Him in His name.
Eddie Gibbs says, “The church is more than the herald announcing the message of the kingdom, it is the demonstration model which gives credence to the effectiveness of the message.”
We’re Easter people in a Palm Sunday world!
Jesus is the King of, and source of, grace. Yes, He is the King of the Jews. He is the King of righteousness. He is the King of heaven. He is the King of glory. He is the King of kings. And He’s, my King!
He is the authentic King. He has impeccable credentials. Check out His royal heritage, royal nature and His royal character. A king has the sovereign right to rule. He’s the final court of appeal. He holds in His hand the power of life, the power of death. This is Jesus, the King of the poor and oppressed. The King of grace that’s alive TODAY!
As Easter people of faith, we ought to be living differently. When we choose to follow Jesus as King, and be open to the ways of His Kingdom, we are saying, “Your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth (in me) as it is in Heaven.”
This is not just a Palm Sunday thing!
The kingdom becomes real and crucial in a person’s life when they submit to His reign.
What if Jesus really came into the stories of our lives, how would you feel? What would it mean?
Let me remind you what the word “Christian” means. It comes from a Latin word which means “partisan for Christ.” When you come to Christ, you take sides with Christ. Partisans are never neutral. They never play it safe or sit on the fence. They’re never spectators. They have committed themselves to something/someone. We can’t just be Palm Sunday followers, following a script and have Jesus ‘king for a day!’
There’s always a conflict when Jesus turns up. Why? Because He is light and will always confront our darkness. This is where Easter grace is seen.
Jesus will graciously receive us and our worship, yet still knowing our ‘me-centred’ hearts! It’s a grace that overwhelms or reveals our gracelessness.
Romans 5:20-21: “But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness."
That first Palm Sunday, Jesus the King of grace entered a divided city. Maybe today as He comes, He enters a divided church, with people that have divided hearts.
Notice from our reading that one of the first things Jesus did was go straight to the Temple and overturn the tables. What has He got to overturn in your life in order that you may be able to truly worship Him as King? What’s stopping that heart-felt passion for Him being KING?
I/we need to let Him come into our hearts through His unstoppable grace. We need to decide to follow Him as King of our life!
Can I just say that no amount of our 'unfaithfulness' can stop the 'faithfulness' of God. His grace tells me He will continue to move towards us in love, mercy, and forgiveness no matter what!
Romans 5:2: “We have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.”
John Piper says, “But whatever you do, find the God-centred, Christ-exalting, Bible-saturated passion of your life, and find your way to say it and live for it and die for it. And you will make a difference that lasts. You will not waste your life.”
Today thank God for His never-ending, overwhelming, inexhaustible, unstoppable, unshakable grace which is for us wherever we find ourselves this Easter!
John Stott said –
"Grace is love that cares and stoops and rescues,"
even ME!
It’s been a bit of a spiritual challenging morning. Reading this devotional this morning resonated with psalms I was reading earlier. I had written myself a question to examine myself to see if I had lost the wonder of who the Lord is, and then feelings of guilt about not sharing Jesus more with people.
Then the question from Harry about where I am today in my relationship with God. On top of that I have been very conscious about being so busy I leave little channels for God, as a friend said to me a few weeks ago. And Tim’s message last week, listen, really listen. It began to get me in quite a state, but there is Jes…