Easter

Holy Week – Day 1

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And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” Mark 11:17 ESV

Some of us get the idea that Jesus of Nazareth went through His ministry smiling, blessing children and sitting with newly washed lambs. But on Monday of Holy Week; this same Jesus who had forgiven the woman caught in adultery and who ate with sinners became angry when He went to the temple to pray. Instead of meekly entering He instead shouted as he drove the buyers and sellers away saying indignantly, “Is it not written My House shall be called a house of prayer?”

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Now the case could be made that Jesus was upset because of the physical location where these vendors were set up. But more importantly;  when Jesus used the word “House” he also meant household or family. In other words the place where God’s family meets should be exclusively for brothers and sisters who come together to pray. Of course it is easy for us 2,000 years later to be critical, but are we any better today?  Are we truly, first and foremost a family of prayer?

Or do we sometimes maneuver our way into desirable positions in order to take unfair advantage of others? Are we putting ourselves right back at the money changer’s tables? Our special events are great and fellowship while we are having coffee matters; but can we say that prayer is the main thing that happens at church (Online or otherwise)?  Secondly notice also that Jesus went on to say that His family was supposed to be for all nations. Are all nations showing up at our place of worship?  Jesus wants to clean His house of anything that keeps us apart. Then when everyone brings their own inheritance into God’s family  together we become the House of God and His family indeed!

Your King is Coming

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This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’” Matthew 21:4-5 ESV

When we think of Palm Sunday we see it as the triumphant end of a week in which He had raised Lazarus from the dead and healed a blind man on the way to Jerusalem. But for the first century Jew it was the beginning of a festival week. Try to imagine the week before Christmas. People are doing extra baking, decorating the house and

inviting friends and family over for the big day. And right into the middle of the excited crowds, Jesus rode into the Eastern Gate of Jerusalem.

The scripture tells us that But Jesus wasn’t just coming to town for the Passover. He was coming to fulfill the prophecy that God would send them their king through that gate riding on a donkey. He was not simply an amazing miracle worker, a powerful prophet or a triumphant king: He was their king!

Though the religious elite were angry when children shouted Hosanna, the common people were sensing something their leaders missed. Jesus was coming to be king riding a donkey and they didn’t need to be afraid.

The Last Healing

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And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Mark 10:47 NKJV

As Jesus is begins His final journey towards Jerusalem, a blind man named Batimaeus hears the news and in desperation cries to Jesus for help. Breaking the decorum of his day he starts to shout as loudly as he can, trying to get Jesus’ attention, no matter what anyone else thinks. During His ministry Jesus had healed all kinds of people including the mother of the Apostle Peter’s wife, the servant of a government official and a woman who touched his robe in a crowd. As He neared the end of His time on earth He raised His friend Lazarus from the dead.

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But what was likely His last miraculous act of Jesus paused to heal a bind beggar named Bartimaeus.  The blind man had no special credentials or connections except Jesus was passing by. For all of us who also have no pedigree, political connections or friends in high places there is hope. The mercy of Jesus comes with only the requirement that, like Bartimaeus, we ask with all our heart. Jesus is as willing to stop for a jailer as for a prisoner. He hears the prayer of the surgeon as well as the patient. He bends his ear as closely to hear orphans he does to the father of a nation. Our hope in Jesus Christ is based on one thing alone. He died for our sins and rose again. He is walking down our street and He is still inviting beggars to come to His side in His heavenly home!