Scripture: Matthew 21:12-14
Then Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who were selling and buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a den of robbers.’” The blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he cured them.
Thought for the Day: In Matthew’s Gospel, this scene occurs shortly after the triumphant entry into Jerusalem that we often call Palm Sunday. For many, including his disciples, there was an expectation of a revolt that would drive the Romans out of Jerusalem, but Jesus had a different vision of revolution. In this act, he offered another reversal of social and religious expectations. The often misused quote about the money changers making the temple ‘a den of robbers’ was referring, not to the actual act of changing money, but was a quote from the prophet Jeremiah — a harsh critique of those who came to the temple as if it was a place to hide from their iniquity. These were the respected people of society, yet they participated in acts of injustice toward the orphan, widow and alien. They committed these atrocities, and God described it (through the prophet) as those who “stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are safe!’—only to go on doing all these abominations” (Jeremiah 7:10). Jesus offered a symbolic act by which these insiders’ lives were turned upside down. Immediately following this act, we read: “The blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he cured them.” The blind and lame were not traditionally allowed in the temple for it was believed that illness was a sign of God’s displeasure, and so people who already struggled because of illness and disability were also made to feel like outsiders by the religious institution. In a matter of moments, Jesus spun everything on its head by welcoming and making whole those who had been previously left out, while making the comfortable squirm in the face of their own hypocrisy. It becomes very clear why Jesus made enemies among the establishment and why the Romans would decide to have him executed.
Prayer: Lord, in those places where I have acted arrogantly and excluded others in the process, forgive me. And where I have been made to feel like an outsider, one with no value, allow me to see your gracious act that reveals your welcome and demonstrates my standing as one of your beloved children. Amen.
TOMORROW NIGHT
Thursday at 7:30pm
And a Good Friday Service
at 7:30pm
