If God’s in a good mood with everyone—then why do some people still go to Hell?

I say it all the time. It’s basically our tag line now. It’s what we’re known for: God is in a good mood with you. And you see that when you look at Jesus.

Martin Luther in the Smalcald Articles, his last will and testament, writes this:

Here is the first and chief article: “the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” furthermore, “All have sinned,” and “they are now justified without merit by his grace,”

In other words… …ALL are justified …ALL are forgiven …ALL have a God who is in a good mood with them.

But in Luke 19, Jesus is entering Jerusalem to a mixed reception.

In v. 38 the crowds are shouting:

“Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

So, in v. 39 the Pharisees say to him:

“Teacher, rebuke your disciples.”

Jesus has come to bring salvation to Jerusalem, But, some people love Him, others hate Him.

So, what does that mean? What’s the difference between them? And is God really in a good mood with everyone there?

1) Rejecting God is rejecting the good (vv. 42-46)
2) Jesus wants you to receive good so much, it reduces Him to tears (vv. 41, 45-48)
3) And so trust Him and ask Him for stuff (vv. 45-46)

So, the first point 1) Rejecting God is rejecting the good

Look at what Jesus says in vv. 42-44:

Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. ⁴³ For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side ⁴⁴ and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.

Jesus is entering Jerusalem, and he says they could have known the things that bring peace—but they didn’t want them.

They’ve repeatedly shut their eyes to God’s gift, and Jesus longs for them to receive it, but he warns there will come a day when their rejection becomes permanent.

And on that day, instead of peace, they’ll get destruction.

Jesus wants good for Jerusalem.

God wants good for you. So, rejecting Jesus is rejecting peace, rejecting life, rejecting every good thing God wants to give.

In the Gospels, the judgement that comes upon Jerusalem is a picture of the final judgment that will come upon the world.

Jesus shows us that God’s good mood is real.

His grace in Christ is for you is real. Jesus’ death for you is real.

But your rejection can also be real. Hell is not proof that God is in a bad mood. It’s proof that people can refuse to receive His good mood.

Luke gives us a picture of how the same Jesus brings different reactions, look at vv. 47-48:

And he was teaching daily in the temple. The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people were seeking to destroy him, ⁴⁸ but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were hanging on his words.

Jesus wants goodness and mercy and love for all of Jerusalem, and the response is:
—some seek to destroy him
—others hang on all his words.

And those are the two responses we’ve seen again and again over the first year of our church here in Manchester.

As our radical message of God’s love and grace has become more widely known: as we’ve learned better how to make the Lutheran Gospel clearer for people in this city, we’ve seen people react more and more strongly.

Simply by saying “God is in a good mood with you.” Every week we now have people meeting in my home, fascinated to hear more. But, also we’ve seen people frustrated, angry, even bitter in their rejection and confusion.

1) Rejecting God is rejecting the good

And rejecting God is possible. It is within your power to push Him away, to resist His Spirit, to turn away from His grace and refuse to receive it.

But, God only wants good for you. He’s on your side. Don’t do that.

In fact, that’s Jesus’ second point:

2) Jesus wants you to receive good so much, it reduces Him to tears (vv. 41, 45-48)

Look at v. 41:

And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it,

The idea of judging the world, of people not receiving Jesus’ forgiveness, of people being punished and going to Hell… …this brings God no pleasure at all.

That isn’t what God wants. That isn’t why Jesus came.

And Jesus feels so strongly about it — He cries. And that’s how He feels about Manchester today. It’s how He feels about your friends and family who haven’t received the Gospel. It’s how He feels about everyone we talk to, who reject or ignore His message of mercy.

If you have a burning desire to see someone you know receive the Gospel, Or if you have even the smallest hint of feeling that you want people taste Heaven and avoid Hell… …God feels it infinitely more.

God sent His Son to die for them. Jesus entered Jerusalem and willingly took lashes for them.

Sweating blood, He chose to go to the Cross, to put Himself in the position where he was forced to pray through Psalm 22 to cope:

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?

Jesus and His actions are what proves God’s mood toward you. Don’t get lost trying to reason out how the infinite God works Don’t confuse yourself making up rules of logic about the mechanics.

The way God deals with us is, very simply, through His Word alone: through command and promise through Law and Gospel.

And we receive His goodness simply by trusting what He says.

Jesus enters Jerusalem to die for everyone in the world, and as He does so, He sees thousands of people refusing to receive that favour and goodness. …and His response is not frustration, not anger, but to weep, to cry, to get upset. Why? Because He really does care. He really does love.

When you weep over your loved ones. When you weep over your city. You’re not alone… Jesus weeps with you. His tears run longer than ours. His love runs deeper than ours.

2) Jesus wants you to receive good so much, it reduces Him to tears

And so, because Jesus wants you to receive good… …here’s what you can do this week:

3) Trust Him and ask Him for stuff (vv. 45-46)

Look at vv. 45-46

And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, ⁴⁶ saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers.”

God is good, and He wants to give you good things. He gives you those things as you pray and ask.

We know this because He commands us to pray. What is the third commandment?

You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain

Because to use God’s name means to call on it in prayer.

God tells you to ask Him for things, Psalm 50:15:

call upon me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”

Prayer is hearing God’s Word, trusting He is good, and responding by asking Him as He has promised.

As Jesus says in Matthew 7:7:

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

But the scribes and the Pharisees did not have this trust, this faith, this attitude to God’s goodness.

So, rather than responding to God’s Word and using the Temple to ask Him for things in prayer, they turned it into a business where they cheated people for money.

God wants to give you good things… …and so he wants you to ask Him for them.

If you trust Him, then His command to pray, is wonderful, sweet, freedom from worry and stress.

So, If God’s in a good mood with everyone—then why do some people still go to Hell?

Well,

1) Rejecting God is rejecting the good (vv. 42-46)

And you, I, everyone has the power to reject Him. God is in a good mood with you, and give you that goodness through His Word, don’t resist that goodness—the consequences are horrendous.

That’s why, 2) Jesus wants you to receive good so much, it reduces Him to tears (vv. 41, 45-48)

Jesus weeps because Jerusalem refused to receive God’s goodness.

Rather than receiving God’s Word, trusting Him and asking Him for good things in prayer, they abused the Temple as though they needed to take things for themselves as though God didn’t want their good.

3) And so trust Him and ask Him for stuff (vv. 45-46)

This is what God wants you to do: Knowing His goodness toward you, respond to His Word and ask Him for good things.

Because as James promises us:

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.