Jesus Clears the Temple (part 2 of Holy Week)

Luke 19:45-48

On Monday, following Palm Sunday, Jesus arrived at the Temple to teach. However, he found that people were buying and selling their goods there and he became very angry. Talk about righteous anger. He began to throw those people out of the temple. He said that they had made his house of prayer into a den of thieves.  At that point, he began to teach the people that had gathered there to hear him. The Chief Priests and other religious leaders did not like this at all and began to plot about how to get rid of him. But they were having problems with that because the people listening to Jesus really wanted to hear what he had to say.

Suffice to say, that from the time Jesus was born and all through the centuries, people have tried to do away with Jesus and his teachings. Whether it be people that don't believe in him at all or those that don't necessarily disbelieve but just refuse to accept him. They scoff at those of us that do, but sadly for them, it puts them in a very dangerous position as they will one day find out that they too will bow at the name of Jesus and call him Lord. Philippians 2:10. And at that point, it will be too late for those people. 

Whether they deny that he exists or just deny him does not matter. It does not make what they believe the truth. And in fact, they want to make the truth out to be a lie. Unfortunately, those beliefs will one day call for their very souls. 

As with the Christmas Holidays every year, Easter has its own set of traditions that most of us follow. From dying eggs to filling baskets, to stories about the Easter Bunny, we can get caught up in those things that we forget the true meaning of the Easter Celebration. I would not even suggest that people should avoid those things because that is legalism and I was once in a church that not only did not participate in those kinds of things but also did not even recognize them for the religious or Christian part of them. However, we must remember first why we do celebrate these holidays. That without the birth, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus, we are without hope. He came to forgive us our sin and give us life. He did not come so that we could color eggs and deny or forget about him. So enjoy the holiday with your family. Hide those eggs that you have colored and watch as the kids excitedly find them. Watch as they dig into their baskets. Eat a wonderful meal with family and friends. But first and foremost, worship the God that sent his Son Jesus Christ to become a sacrifice by his blood for those of us that believe. Because without that, we would be lost.


                                                   Have a blessed Holy week Friends!