Pray:
Lord, cleanse Your living temple, Your church and my life, and fill us with Your Spirit.
Read:
Matthew 21:12-17
Reflect:
What do you think of this picture of Jesus, whip in hand?
"They've gotten too big for their boots" is a phrase used to describe people with an inflated sense of their own importance. Maybe the chief priests and teachers of the Law thought it (15) when Jesus turned over the tables (12).
Jesus was explaining his mission in two ways. By quoting the Old Testament (13; Isa. 56:7; Jer. 7:11), Jesus points toward both the Temple and the sacrificial system being destroyed. Through him people will directly access God.
Second, the healing of blind and lame people (14) recalls King David's recapturing of the Temple from the Jebusites (2 Sam. 5:6-10). As a result of this event, David had decreed that blind and lame people were excluded from the Temple. By welcoming, and healing, such people in the Temple, Jesus demonstrates that he is greater than King David.
The chief priests and teachers of the law were horrified at the significance of what Jesus did and said (15). They could not accept Jesus. If they did, everything they stood for and all their income would be overturned. Their opposition caused them to miss out on the new life Jesus offered.
Apply:
Are there ways in which you have remade an image of Jesus that is easier to live with than the true Jesus?
Pray:
Lord, let us never forget that You, who died to extend mercy, also died to restore righteousness. We worship a holy God.
