And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.” - Matthew 21:9 –11 (ESV)

Our world and the Biblical world are separated by time, geography, and culture. It's hard for us to read our Bibles and understand them sometimes because of the distance. We have tried at times to bridge that gap with flannel graphs, pictures, and movies, but to be honest often those obscure more than they clarify.

Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. -- Romans 3:1 –2 (ESV)

Romans 2 is rough if you are self-righteous or Jewish. Paul has been cutting off any possible escape routes for these individuals from the wrath of God. Nothing is going to save them - not their morals, or their knowledge, or ethnicity, or their ceremony. It is a full assault with no retreat.

Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. Psalm 73:1 –3 (ESV)

Is there really any profit to being good? Following God seems like a thankless, difficult, unprofitable path sometimes. It seems easier, less painful, and frankly more fun to be bad. Especially in difficult times it's easy to feel this way.

For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God. - Romans 2:28 –29 (ESV)

'God Bless You' says an anonymous stranger after I blew out a thunderous sneeze. It's a weird custom, but in polite company you hear it still uttered. Did you know it has odd, even superstitious origins? In the Middle Ages people had a much more active view of the supernatural world. For some reason, it was believed that a sneeze represented a demonic assault on an individual. (It probably started when someone thought they were cursed for having hay-fever.) The only way to ward off that spirit was with a specially uttered and timely blessing. Thus a custom was born.

“None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” -- Romans 3:10 –12 (ESV)

Are you a half-empty or half-full kind of person? Are you an optimist or pessimist? Reading through Romans 1-3 you would think that Paul is a pessimist? The picture isn't pretty on any side when he considers mankind. However, I don't think he would have seen himself as a pessimist but a realist. He's not positive or negative, he's just describing what is.

Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. - Romans 2:1 (ESV)

This is the equation we live out most of the time. We live on a sliding scale of righteousness. We compare ourselves to those around us and somehow we always seem to end up on the better, cleaner, holier side of the scale. This is a church-people problem, but it actually has ancient roots. This week we step into Romans 2 . In this chapter, Paul continues to lay out the problem of our condition. Last week it might have been easy to look around and point at 'those people' but this week points squarely at us - 'good people'. Take a few minutes to read through the chapter to prepare your heart for worship.