Passion Week Monday - Jesus Cleanses the Temple
Passion Week is the arguably the most important week in all history. On this week, Jesus enters Jerusalem with His face firmly set on going to the cross to fulfill His mission: to give His life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45).
It’s a week of highs and lows, mostly lows, as all of Jesus’ life was. A week of remarkable teaching and confrontations with the Jewish religious leaders, and a week of tragic irony as His people (by creation and lineage) reject Him, seize Him, and betray Him to the Roman authorities.
He enters Jerusalem “triumphantly,” but no one expects that this triumph would take the form of death. A conquering King was expected to do just that – conquer. But Jesus would triumph, over the world, the devil, sin, and death. And the only way He could do that was by death, His death.
On Monday, Jesus enters the temple grounds and is confronted by a noisy rabble of buying and selling. So, He clears an area where greedy money changers and merchants were exploiting Passover worshipers. Jesus sees what Jeremiah saw in his day: God’s people offering hypocritical worship in the Father’s house, turning it into “a robbers’ den” (Matt 21:13; Isa 56:7).
Jesus reminds the crowd that the temple is a house of prayer (v. 13; Jer 7:11). And He has come not only to make it so but to overturn the entire sacrificial system that the temple represented. His temple cleansing shows the first glimpses of this. But so does His healing of the blind and lame (v. 14). He does “wonderful things” (v. 15). Only the children offer the right perspective on everything going on. They cry out to Jesus, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” (v. 15) – acknowledging Jesus as the Savior and the Messiah. But upon seeing and hearing all this, the religious leaders become “indignant” (v. 15), while being just fine with all the other noise in the temple. Jesus corrects them firmly, declaring that God Himself has prepared this praise for Christ (v. 16; Psa 8:2).
What a scene of contrasts…their King is right there, speaking truth to them and performing what only God can do. Yet, the religious leaders have nothing but contempt for Jesus. It takes children to bring clarity to the scene. But all along this has been Israel’s problem – hypocritical, self-righteous worship. Those who knew the truth best, drove it away most.
And Christ comes into His Father’s house to set things right – not only in the temple but in the hearts of those who are spiritually blind and lame.
Do you know Christ as these children do? Do you praise Him as your Savior, as your King? And do you worship Him from your heart? Do you love Him and treasure Him?
Remember who He is and what He has done for you. And let His glory and grace fill your heart and transform your worship today.