PASSION WEEK SERIES: A CALL TO REMEMBRANCE

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover.”

“Where do you want us to prepare for it?” they asked.

He replied, “As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, and say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ He will show you a large room upstairs, all furnished. Make preparations there.”

They left and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.

When the hour came, Jesus and HHis apostles reclined at the table. And He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”

After taking the cup, He gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”

And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

In the same way, after the supper He took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is poured out for you.”

Luke 22:7-20

This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

It was the last full day Jesus would have on earth, the fifth day in what is known as Passion Week. This day on the Christian calendar is also typically referred to as Maundy Thursday, the day Jesus shared the His final Passover meal with His disciples, which is why we find Communion often referred to as "The Last Supper".

The Gospel of Matthew tells us that it was the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, a seven day period to commemorate the deliverance of the Israelites from their enslavement in Egypt (Matthew 26:17). And because the Israelites departed Egypt in haste, they had no time to make bread as they usually would. The bread was without yeast, which was also called leaven, and therefore the why we find “unleavened bread” in the festival title.

So given all this, we have the framework for the events taking place in our scripture passage today. It is Thursday, the fifth day of Passion Week, the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, and the day that the Passover meal would be partaken. Let’s look again at our scripture passage from Luke’s Gospel to see what transpired and the call of Jesus to remember Him:

Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover.”

“Where do you want us to prepare for it?” they asked.

He replied, “As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, and say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ He will show you a large room upstairs, all furnished. Make preparations there.”

They left and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.

When the hour came, Jesus and His apostles reclined at the table. And He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”

After taking the cup, He gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”

And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

In the same way, after the supper He took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is poured out for you.” Luke 22:7-20

Since it was the day the Passover meal was to be eaten, we find two of Jesus’ disciples, Peter and John, asking their Lord where preparations for the meal were to be made, preparations that would require the sacrifice of a Passover Lamb. Ironically the next day, Jesus, the One John the Baptist proclaimed as the Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world (John 1:29), would be sacrificed Himself on Calvary’s cross so anyone who would believe in Him would have the opportunity for death to pass over them, not perishing but rather living on for all eternity in Heaven (John 3:16). In fact, when we look at Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth, we find him sharing this:

“Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” 1 Corinthians 5:6-8

In response to His disciples’ question, we find Jesus giving very specific instructions to Peter and John, two of His most trusted followers who perfectly carried out the direction they were given. Indeed, things happened just as Jesus said they would as they met the owner of the house where the meal would occur and were led to a furnished upper room where all Passover preparations could be made.

Later that day in the evening, Jesus arrived with the rest of the disciples and they sat down to eat the Passover meal together. We should keep in mind that the disciples had no idea of what was going to transpire across the next 24 hours but Jesus well knew what was ahead. For before evening would fall the following day, He would be dead and catalyst that would propel Him down the road to crucifixion would be the betrayal He would suffer at the hands of one of the twelve who were dining with Him.

The scriptures show us that this wasn’t something that Jesus kept secret because when we study the other Gospels we find that He clearly identified Judas Iscariot as His betrayer (John 13:26). Despite this, Judas still went ahead and sold out his Master for a mere thirty pieces of silver (Matthew 26:14-16), the amount required to be paid to a master if their slave was accidentally killed (Exodus 21:32). It’s a sad testimony as to just how far he (Judas) had fallen into sin, taken there by none other than Satan himself (John 13:27).

Back to the Passover meal for with the disclosure of His coming betrayal out of the way, Jesus got down to what The Last Supper has been known best for, Jesus sharing the bread and the cup with His disciples while giving them a call to remember Him.

First, we read where Jesus took the bread and, after He gave thanks, broke it while telling His disciples that it symbolized His body which would be given up for them. The next day, this would literally happen as He would endure severe beating at the hands of Roman soldiers before being nailed by His hands and feet to a wooden cross and hoisted up to die in public humiliation. We need to always remember that Jesus suffered greatly to save His people, bearing all the judgment for sin upon Himself while paying the penalty that every sinner really deserved.

It was this suffering and brokenness that Jesus didn’t want His disciples to forget. Every time they would break bread together in Communion, present and future, they were to remember Him and the great substitutionary sacrifice He willingly carried out, purchasing the pardon of anyone who would simply place their trust and belief in Him as Savior. In the end translation, He died to a multitude of His disciples could gain eternal life.

After breaking the bread, we see Jesus take the cup, telling His disciples of its significance. For every time they would drink from it, they were to remember the crimson blood that poured out of His body at the cross, a shed blood that would wash them white as snow from their sins, a shed blood that would usher in God’s new covenant, not just for the Jews but the Gentiles (non-Jews) as well. Jesus’ sacrifice was the final one ever needed for the atonement of sins and anyone placing their trust and hope in Him would become a legitimate child of the God Most High and co-heir to His blessed Kingdom (Romans 8:9-17).

Friends, as the classic hymn reminds us, “Jesus Paid It All” and all to Him we owe. He allowed His body to be broken in place of ours and shed His blood, not ours, to bring atonement for our sins. So whenever we participate in the Lord’s Supper (or Communion or the Holy Eucharist…other names for this sacrament), we need to answer the call of Jesus to do it in remembrance of Him. It’s the least we can do to honor Him for all that He pain and suffering He endured to save us.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

PASSION WEEK SERIES: UNQUESTIONABLE

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is He?”

“The son of David,” they replied.

He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says, ‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.”’”

If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?”

No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask Him any more questions.

Matthew 22:41-46

This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As we continue working through Passion Week and the events that resulted in salvation being made possible for all people, we come to an interesting fact concerning the scriptural accounts of Jesus' final week on earth.

For there is no mention of anything that happened on the fourth day, the day we would call Wednesday in modern times. The speculation is that there was a lot of preparation going on, good and bad. Jesus would be preparing Himself for His last Passover meal with His disciples while the Jewish religious leaders were plotting His arrest and subsequent execution. 

So given that the scriptures have no account of events on the fourth day, I want to go back to day three (Tuesday) and capture a passage that we should not let get by us, a passage that removes any doubt as to who Jesus was. Look again at these words from the 22nd chapter of Matthew:

While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is He?”

“The son of David,” they replied.

He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says, ‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.”’”

If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?”

No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask Him any more questions. Vv.41-46

At the beginning of this series, we found Jesus making His triumphal entry into Jerusalem and being treated as royalty even though the scriptures indicate that the people didn’t really know He was the Messiah who had been predicted by the prophets of old. The word of God tells us that the crowds who welcomed Jesus so warmly thought He was just a mere “prophet from Nazareth of Galilee” (Matthew 21:11).

With this, it’s little wonder that Jesus would return to the matter of His true identity and, of interest, chose to address those who opposed Him the most. We know this because the scriptures tell us Jesus went to the Pharisees who “were gathered together” and therefore an easy audience for Him to address. We need to keep in mind that these were the Israelite religious authorities of that time who knew the law best, strictly enforcing it among the Jewish people even though they themselves never perfectly adhered to it, a fact that we know stoked the ire of Jesus.

These Pharisees, with their staunch, legalistic approach to carrying out the Word of God and the messages spoken by the prophets, found themselves facing a simple question from Jesus regarding the lineage of the Messiah, the prophesied holy One who was expected to come in power and authority to rule and reign over God’s people while vanquishing all their enemies.

Jesus simply asked them this:

“What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is He?”

We sense there wasn’t a whole lot of deliberation or hesitation in the Pharisaic response for they told Jesus they believed the Messiah was “the son of David” and I think what happened next was simply fascinating as we see Jesus building up to the true point He wanted to make. The Messiah question was just setting the stage for a final move that would be as beautiful as a chess master working His opponent toward checkmate.

So what did Jesus do to put His opposition right where He wanted them?

We see where He went back into the Old Testament scriptures and drew straight from the words of David himself. Quoting Israel's former king from the 110th Psalm, Jesus said:

The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”  Psalm 110:1

Note that the first Lord here, representing none other than the Lord God Almighty, was not speaking with David nor was He talking to Himself. Rather, He was speaking with David’s Lord, the second Lord mentioned, and that Lord was none other than the Messiah or Jesus Himself.

Thus, if the Lord God Almighty was speaking to the Messiah as Lord and David was identifying the Messiah, not as his son but as his Lord's, then how could the Messiah be David’s son?

This was the point Jesus made and it was an inescapable truth. Jesus masterfully exposed the Pharisees' theory and clearly inaccurate understanding of the scriptures they were supposed to be well versed in and in doing so, He identified Himself as the Messiah, the very Son of God.

How effective was this scriptural checkmate move by Jesus?

We read where it left the Pharisees speechless.

Indeed, the scriptures tell us that “no one could say a word in reply” to the question Jesus answered. In fact,  after this encounter "no one dared to ask Him any more questions” or in other words, Jesus’ identity was unquestionable. It was then in New Testament Jerusalem and it still is today.

It was and is unquestionable that Jesus was, and is, God’s Son, the prophesied Messiah, and David’s Lord.

It was and is unquestionable that Jesus went onto sit, and still sits, in authority and power over all creation at His Father’s right hand.

and…

It was and is unquestionable that Jesus had been, and still is, elevated above all of His enemies. As the Psalm proclaimed, they are the footstool under His feet.

Friends, as we come to this fourth day of Passion Week, Jesus has established who He is in undeniable fashion and as we enter into the final days of His life, we are soon to see that there is one more fact that is unquestionable:

Jesus Christ is indeed the Savior of all, the Lamb of God who took away the sins of the world (John 1:29) and brought the hope of eternal life to anyone who would simply believe in Him (John 3:16).

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

THE REJECTED SON

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit. The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third.”

“Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way.”

“Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.”

“But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.”

“Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”

“He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”

Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:”

“‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”

“Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”

When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew He was talking about them. They looked for a way to arrest Him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that He was a prophet.

Matthew 21:33-46

This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Today is the third in a series of messages centered on what is known as Passion (or Holy) Week, the final week of Jesus’ earthly life, the week that spans from Palm Sunday to Easter.

First, we looked at Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem, an arrival marked with a pomp and circumstance reserved for royalty. Indeed, the King of all kings had arrived in the holy city but when the people were asked who Jesus was, you’ll recall they said He was just a prophet from Nazareth, prompting the question, “Did they really know who He was?”

Then, we moved onto Jesus’ second day in Jerusalem, a day that saw Him cause a stir in the courtyard of the Gentiles after finding illicit money changers and sellers of sacrificial animals crowding a place intended to be a place of prayer. Through His actions, we were shown the absolute necessity of taking a stand for God the Father when the need presents itself.

And that brings us to today and the third message in this series. As we move to the third day Jesus is in Jerusalem, we find Him going back to His ministry roots and teaching those who had gathered to listen. Of course, that teaching took the form of parables and as we see in one of them, Jesus specifically targeted a certain audience while providing a glimpse into what would happen in just a few short days. Look again at this passage as we continue to look at the 21st chapter of Matthew’s Gospel:

“Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit. The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third.”

“Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way.”

“Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.”

“But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.”

“Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”

“He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”

Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:”

“‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”

“Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”

When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew He was talking about them. They looked for a way to arrest Him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that He was a prophet. Vv.33-46

Before we probe deep into the depths of what Jesus was conveying, we need to first define the parable’s key components to help us in our understanding.

To begin, we must understand what the landowner and his vineyard represent in the parable.

The landowner Jesus is talking about here is none other than God, His Father and ours. Note the vineyard would never exist had it not been for the landowner creating it first. The landowner planted the vineyard and put things in place to make sure the vineyard was protected and able to be productive.

So if the landowner was God, who or what did the vineyard represent?

We go to the Old Testament and the Book of Isaiah for the answer:

The vineyard of the Lord Almighty is the nation of Israel, and the people of Judah are the vines He delighted in. Isaiah 5:7

The word of God makes things easy for us. The nation of Israel is the vineyard, planted by God the landowner to be productive for Him. His people, the Israelites, are the tenants, the vines through which God intended to bear fruit.

With these points in hand, we now have the base with which to look at the rest of the parable. Let's return to that and answer some questions while adding additional meaning to Jesus' teaching.

What did the landowner do?

The scriptures tell us that he left the vineyard in the hands of his tenants who had an obligation to produce for the landowner. In other words, God’s people, the tenants, were not just living in the land for free. There was a rent to be paid to the landowner, in this case, the fruit that Jesus mentions.

The landowner allowed the tenants to live in the vineyard and, in return, they were to pay him at the appointed time. We read that the landowner did not go directly to the tenants to collect what they owed him but rather sent a succession of messengers to collect what was due with each being mistreated in some way with at least one killed.

So, who did the messengers represent?

They were none other than the prophets that God had sent to His people and if you know anything about the Old Testament, you know the Israelites mistreated God’s prophets over and over and over again as they rejected God’s word and will to follow their own desires. We should note here that God was very patient with the tenants just as He was with His people before Jesus came. He could have sent immediate judgment on them for the way they disregarded Him and those He sent but He didn’t. He gave His people every possible chance to try and correct their ways before taking action and such was the case with the landlord in the parable Jesus was telling.

Unfortunately, there came a juncture when the landowner realized that sending mere messengers was not achieving the desired result and so he came up with another idea. He would send his son because he felt that the tenants would surely respect him, the very flesh and blood of the landowner who was the rightful owner of the land.

Of course, the son in the parable represented none other than Jesus Himself, the very flesh and blood of God the Father.

Sadly, the end outcome wasn’t any different.

For when the tenants saw that the landowner had sent his son, they saw the opportunity to capitalize on the situation thinking that if they killed the landowner’s heir (the son) then they could take his inheritance.

And so that’s what they did, they took the son, “threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.”

Hopefully by now you’re starting to get the big picture of what Jesus was getting at. For if the vineyard’s tenants were representative of the Israelites and the landowner’s son was representative of Jesus, then we know Jesus was foretelling what was about to happen to Him while in Jerusalem.

For in three days, Jesus would be put to death, a death carried out by the Romans but instigated by the very chief priests and Pharisees who stood in the company of those listening to Jesus deliver this parable. As the scriptures tell us, the Jewish religious authorities certainly understood Jesus was talking about them but instead of repenting and turning their hearts away from making the parable come true, we read where they immediately began to ponder ways to arrest Jesus with the intent of eliminating Him altogether before week's end.

So what’s our takeaway?

Well, God had sent His Son Jesus to try and get His people to produce the fruit He expected them to provide. But as we know, the Israelites were going to reject Jesus and kill Him just as readily as the tenants killed the landowner’s son in the parable, an act that would bring God’s judgment upon them, a judgment that would soon fall on the Jewish religious leaders that Jesus was teaching.

Ironically, they would be the very “wretches” who would be brought “to a wretched end” and such will be the case for anyone who chooses to reject Jesus today. For a time is coming when the once rejected Son, who was crucified, died, and resurrected from the dead before ascending into Heaven to sit at His Father’s right hand, will return as the victorious Judge of the world. And when He does, He will take those who placed their belief, faith, and trust in Him as Savior to the new Heaven and earth while vanquishing everyone else into the lake of fire where they will be utterly destroyed with the earth and heavens as we know them now (Revelation 20:14-15).

Until then, we are still God’s people, placed in His “creation vineyard” to bear the fruits of the Spirit, make disciples, and lead them to salvation through Christ Jesus, the once rejected Son who now serves as the blessed Savior, the precious Lamb of God who took away the sins of the world (John 1:29, 1 Corinthians 5:7).

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

PASSION WEEK SERIES: TAKING A STAND

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. “It is written,” He said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’”

Matthew 21:12-13

This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In yesterday’s devotion, the first of this special Passion Week series, we saw where Jesus had entered Jerusalem to the cries of a gathered crown who were proclaiming:

“Hosanna to the Son of David!”

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Hosanna in the highest Heaven!” Matthew 21:9

If we then go to the Gospel of Mark, we learn that it was late when Jesus entered the temple courts during His first day in the holy city and so He went out to Bethany (located 1 1/2 miles east of Jerusalem) with His disciples (Mark 11:11). The next day, the second day in what is commonly referred to as Passion Week, Jesus then returned to the temple courts and what He witnessed brought on a righteous indignation as we see in this excerpt from our passage from Matthew:

Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. “It is written,” He said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’” 21:12-13

So what got Jesus so riled up?

In order to understand His actions, we need a little background for context.

First, it’s important to know that the main part of the temple where the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies existed was surrounded by four courtyards, each with limits as to who could be within them. The closest courtyard to the temple was reserved only for the priests which made sense as they were the only ones who could perform duties in the temple.

The next courtyard outside of the courtyard of the priests was the courtyard of men and outside of that was the courtyard of women. It should be noted that not all men could be in the courtyard of men nor could all women be in their designated courtyard. Rather, only those who were Israelites, male or female, whichever applied, could be within their respective, designated places.

This left one remaining courtyard, the one furthest from the temple proper. This was called the courtyard of the Gentiles and anyone could be in it even though you probably wouldn't find any Israelites hanging out there as they typically didn't associate with the Gentiles who they viewed as unclean and spiritually inferior.

We also need to know that Jesus entered Jerusalem during Passover week and the city was filled with Jews and Gentiles. The temple itself would have been packed with Israelites who had come to offer up the prescribed sacrifices and a marketplace had been set up outside the temple with two distinct transactions taking place at tables which were located within the courtyard of the Gentiles.

The first transaction involved currency exchange. Many people came to Jerusalem from points outside of the city, points that carried their own currency. That currency would need to be exchanged to do business with the temple as only sanctuary shekels would be permitted to pay the temple tribute. Like the tax collectors of that day, the money changers had a reputation for levying exorbitant fees for exchanging currency from people who often had little money to begin with. The money changers knew the people wanted to be faithful to paying the temple tribute and would dole out whatever was required to remain faithful to God and His holy place. And so they, the money changers, took advantage of the people’s desire to be obedient to the Lord.

The other transactions that took place surrounded birds and animals that people could purchase for sacrifice. The animals offered within the temple courtyard could also be bought outside the temple grounds in the city but as a matter of convenience, people would often look to make their purchases inside the Gentile courtyard. The sellers of the sacrificial birds and animals knew this and would drastically elevate their prices, sometimes as much as twice as much as people were paying elsewhere.

And so wha we find that both of these transactions within the courtyard of the Gentiles was nothing more than an exercise in sinful money grabbing, corrupting a place that was meant for devoted hearts to lift up prayers to God…and this was something that Jesus didn’t settle for.

The Gospel of John tells us that He (Jesus) “made a whip out of cords” (John 2:15) before He drove out all who were buying and selling within the courtyard of the Gentiles, overturning the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling birds and animals. It was quite a chaotic scene, one that would have immediately drawn attention and so Jesus used the moment to make a declaration about the motivation for His behavior, proclaiming:

“‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’”

You see, the temple courtyards were not simply social gathering places for those who would assemble there. Rather, they were to be holy places where people could go to pray and draw nearer to God, whether Jew or Gentile. Through His words, Jesus was simply upholding the very words of His Father God who said the following through the Old Testament prophet Isaiah:

“My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.” Isaiah 56:7b

God’s house, His holy temple, had indeed become just that for it was constructed in such a way where people from all nations could pray unto Him, even the Gentiles. This is why Jesus became so incensed about the marketplace location because the special, holy place for the Gentiles had been turned into a place of commerce and a sinful one at that. The money changers and sellers had taken the "house of prayer" that God had intended the courtyard to be and made it into a “den of robbers”.

And so Jesus took a stand, showing He wouldn’t permit anything to violate the standards set in place by His Father, even though He fully knew that His actions wouldn’t be popular.

Friends, we need to follow the lead of Jesus and take our own stands for our Father God and those He loves, reinforcing His righteousness and holiness every chance we get. And while we may not find ourselves fashioning whips out of cords and driving out money changes and sellers from sacred courtyards, there are plenty of other instances when we need to be speaking out and defending the Word, will, and way of our Lord.

One thing’s for sure. The world today is trying to force God and Jesus out of every aspect of life with every chance it gets. Persecution and godlessness are on the rise, even in nations that proclaim themselves to be democratic and free, nations that even declare themselves as being “under God”. As a result, it should come as no surprise that sin is becoming increasingly rampant, acceptable, and permissible. The name of the Lord is only invoked when it is convenient and can be used to someone’s advantage to support something that isn’t of Him.  

As we continue through the Holy Week and beyond, this is not the time to stay silent and be inactive. It’s time to take a stand for our God and follow the example that Jesus set.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

PASSION WEEK SERIES: DID THEY REALLY KNOW WHO HE WAS?

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In Christ, Mark~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to Me. If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”

This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:

“Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”

The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of Him and those that followed shouted:

“Hosanna to the Son of David!”

“Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”

The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

Matthew 21:1-11

This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Today, we’ll pause our study of the Book of Deuteronomy to enter into a series of messages on what is referred to as “Passion week”. Beginning today, Palm Sunday through Easter, we will walk with Jesus as He makes His triumphal entry into Jerusalem and start the countdown to the end of His earthly ministry by crucifixion before being resurrected in power and into authority three days later, defeating death and the grave.

We begin with this passage from Matthew:

As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to Me. If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”

This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:

“Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”

The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of Him and those that followed shouted:

“Hosanna to the Son of David!”

“Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Hosanna in the highest Heaven!”

When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”

The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.” Matthew 21:1-11

I think the first thing we need to note here is that this wasn’t a random, impulsive, event.

Like so many other aspects of Jesus’ life, prophecy had predicted what was to come and in this instance, the prophecy had come from the prophet Zechariah who foretold of a future king who was coming who would be righteous and victorious, a king who was worthy of their shouting and rejoicing.

Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!

See, your King comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. Zechariah 9:9

And so as we look at the scene painted in our scripture passage from Matthew’s Gospel, we see that Jesus, the king Zechariah told of, had now come to Jerusalem but as He did, I wonder about this…

Did the people who gathered to greet Him really know who He was?

Yes, Zechariah had said that a King was coming, and not just any king (small "k") but rather the King of kings and Lord of lords, a King that deserved all the pomp and circumstance of any other king who had come to Jerusalem and more. That pomp and circumstance was evident in the way the people responded to Jesus, following the customary traditions when any royalty would come to the city.

We read where some spread their cloaks out on the road while others cut branches from trees and placed them on the path Jesus would travel on, paving the path before Him. And there weren’t just a few people there for God’s Word tells us that crowds went ahead of Jesus shouting and proclaiming the following praises to Him:

“Hosanna to the Son of David!”

“Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Hosanna in the highest Heaven!”

You see, it’s clear that the people who came to welcome Jesus to Jerusalem knew something about the man who was riding the donkey across their cloaks and palm branches. They acknowledged Him as David’s son, a man in the lineage of their beloved former king who had a reputation for being someone who was after God’s own heart. And they declared Jesus as being blessed, seeing Him as having come in the name of the Lord and calling for adoration to come on Him from the highest heavens.

But did they really know who He was?

I think we get a sense that they didn’t for within the clamor and excitement over Jesus’ arrival as He moved from the road into Jerusalem itself, we read where His coming caused quite a stir in the city, leading people to ask on simple question:

“Who is this?”

The question show us that the people truly didn’t recognize this Man who had come with great fanfare, this Man who had been predicted through prophecies of old, this Man who rode into the city as the Messiah, not on a warhorse but rather humbly on a donkey.

So what answer was given regarding the curiosity over Jesus’ identity?

We see it in our scripture passage:

“This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

It’s interesting that they knew more about where Jesus had come from than who He was. In regard to that, we see that they didn't view Him as the Messiah or the Son of God who had been sent to save them and all mankind but rather as a mere messenger, a prophet who had been sent to speak to them. With this, it’s of little wonder why the people would be shouting something completely 180 degrees out from “Hosanna!” after just a mere five days, demanding this be done to Jesus:

“Crucify Him!”

And when they got what they wanted, we go to the cross and find the crucified Christ saying this to the Father, a statement that only affirmed that the people in Jerusalem were clueless about His true identity?

“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." Luke 23:34

If the Jewish people had really known who Jesus was, they wouldn't have falsely accused and convicted Him, brutally beat Him, and then execute Him. They would have continued to treat Him as royalty long after He rode across the cloaks and palm branches on the road into Jerusalem. But they wouldn’t open their hearts and minds to God to understand and discern that He had sent His Son to save them and all other sinners of the world.

Today, we have so many people in our world who either don't know Jesus at all or think they know Him but really don’t for if they did, they would respect and revere Him in their lives. They would be proclaiming His greatness and goodness while bowing down to worship Him. They would strive with every ounce of their being to live like Him in all that they do, seeing Him as the greatest role model ever. And they would realize that without Him and the salvation found only in believing in His name, they have no hope in this life.

My brothers and sisters, as we enter this final week of Jesus’ life, let our prayer be that all would come to really know Jesus as the scriptures define Him:  

That He is the Good Shepherd who was willing to lay down His life for us, His sheep (John 10:11).

That He is the Lamb of God who gave Himself up freely as a living sacrifice to take away the sins of the world (John 1:29).

And that He is the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25), the Savior of all who would come to save all who would place their trust and believe in Him as the only way to God the Father (John 3:16, John 14:6).

This is who Jesus is.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.