Hi how are you today? I am well. I can’t believe it is Palm Sunday today. The day when everyone was cheering on Jesus as He made His entry into Jerusalem. Today is a day of celebration but it is also a day for remembering that people may praise you one week and then hate you the next week. Thank you God that You are the same all the time and love us completely.
This week I want to have a look at the story in Matthew 21 where Jesus went into the temple and was overturning the tables of those that sold goods in the temple and changed monies.
After receiving praise, Jesus goes in and literally destroys. What is really happening here?
So let’s look at Palm Sunday first. Jesus comes riding into Jerusalem on a donkey and people along the way are crying out in Matthew 21:9 in the NKJV:
Hosanna[b] to the Son of David!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”[c]
“Hosanna[d] in the highest heaven!”
The word hosanna means save. They are literally crying out that Jesus is the One who saves.
Then in Matthew 21:12 to 14, Jesus goes into the temple courts and drives out all those who were buying and selling. It was like a flea market in the temple courts. There were stalls set up and you couldn’t move for the people. The purpose of the temple courts was for people to bring their sacrifices to God and not for trade. Jesus told them the area was for a place of prayer. It was a place of restoration.
What happened next is something that I have never really noticed but it is so important? Once those temple courts were opened up again, the blind and the lane could come to Jesus and be healed. They couldn’t get into the temple courts before as it was an area for trade not restoration. Jesus restored the area and opened it back up again for its original purpose.
In this year of reimagining are there areas in our lives where we need Jesus to do some restoration work? Are we too busy doing that we don’t do enough coming to Jesus? This has happened many times in my life. It is such a great reminder to come and not just do.
The pattern in the above verses is how Jesus deals with us. First He is our Saviour each and every day and not just once. Paul reminds us of this in Philippians 2:12 in the NKJV where he states:
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;
He tells us to work out our own salvation. Everyday we need to be obeying God and doing what He says. We need to work on this everyday.
Then Jesus cleans out all those places in us one by one where our thinking is not in accordance with the Word of God. He renews our mind.
This is so that we can then minister to those around us and welcome them in so they can know Jesus too. We are not going to be perfect before we help others. We just have to be one step ahead of them.
In this year of reimagining what your life could look like, is this included? Do you have a heart for others because Jesus certainly does. It is time for us to do what we need to do to let people in.
Jesus is calling us to live our lives like He did, with love for others, compassion and transparency. If you take on this challenge, your life will be richer.
Have a great week and keep living the life God intended for you.
Bless you
Karen
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