Today’s passage: Matthew 21:14–17, Mark 11:18–19, and Luke 19:47–48
Focus verse: The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him. (Mark 11:18)
After Jesus clears the merchants from the courtyard around the temple, people come to him for healing. This includes the blind and the lame. And Jesus heals them.
Take a moment to consider this—not that Jesus heals those who hurt, which is an amazing feat we must not overlook—but where he is.
He’s at the temple. He just drove away the merchants from this exact place. Even though they were there to facilitate worship, they disgraced the temple and detracted from the prayers people came to offer.
But this doesn’t stop Jesus from healing people there. As he cures them, the children shout their praise, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” This continues the chants of the crowd that occurred when Jesus rode into Jerusalem.
Healing people is another action that goes beyond the original purpose of the temple. But Jesus is doing good. He serves these people in need and improves their lives.
What better place to do this than at the temple? (See Luke 6:9.) In addition to healing them there, he also teaches.
The religious hierarchy—the leading priests and Bible teachers—should be happy to see the bodies of the infirmed made whole and hear truth proclaimed.
They are not.
They criticize the children for their joyful noise (see Psalm 98:4). Jesus responds by quoting Scripture about children offering their praise (Psalm 8:2).
Mark and Luke both say that the religious leaders want to kill him for what he’s doing. Matthew mentions this also but in other passages (Matthew 12:14 and Matthew 26:3–5).
The religious leaders scheme for a way to kill Jesus. They don’t care that he heals people or teaches them about God. By doing this, he threatens their way of life.
They don’t see God’s hand at work in fulfilling the Old Testament law and prophetic messages.
Their solution is to get rid of Jesus, even if they must kill him.
Over the past two thousand years, Christians have reacted the same way to other Jesus followers they disagree with. In the extreme, Christians have killed other Christians in the name of their religion.
They want to perpetuate what they know, what they love, not caring that others may have an equally good—or even better and more God-honoring—approach.
May we not follow their error.
Questions:
What must we change about our time at church to do good and help others?
When have we fought to keep the status quo instead of embracing what God is doing?
Prayer: Lord, may we do good for you and seek ways to advance your kingdom, even if it makes us uncomfortable.
Discover more about celebrating Jesus and his passion to save us in Peter’s new book, The Passion of Jesus. It is part of the Holiday Celebration Bible Study Series.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo Christianity and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.