Matthew 21: The End of the Beginning (2)
Pray Psalm 122.1-4.
I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go into the house of the LORD.”
Our feet have been standing
Within your gates, O Jerusalem!
Jerusalem is built
As a city that is compact together,
Where the tribes go up,
The tribes of the LORD,
To the Testimony of Israel,
To give thanks to the name of the LORD.
Sing Psalm 122.1-4.
Nettleton: Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing
I was glad when they said to me, “To the LORD’s house let us go!”
Holy City, let our feet be firmly planted in your soil.
Jesus builds His Church forever, where His people sing His praise!
As Your Word decrees forever, we will thank You all our days.
Read Matthew 21.1-17; meditate on verses 12-17.
What is a “house of prayer”?
Prepare.
1. Whom did Jesus drive from the temple?
2. Why did He do that?
Meditate.
In Jesus’ day, much of the proper focus of the temple—worshiping and honoring the LORD—had turned to the “needs” of the people. A whole gamut of programming was available for the convenience of worshipers. Need to exchange currency? Got a table for that. Need to buy an animal for offering? Can do—not the best stuff, you understand, but it’ll do in a pinch. Need a little refreshment from your long journey? Right over here. Kiosks, booths, and tables were set up in the temple court to accommodate the “needs” of “worshippers.” And from it all, the religious leaders turned a nice profit from renting space and taking a piece of the profits.
Jesus showed what He thought about this. Imagine the chaos! Bistro tables turned upside down. Coffee urns and latte machines knocked off their shelves. Special group rooms—with fun video stuff, ping-pong tables and foosball stations, cushy chairs, and whatnot—trashed, and the people manning all this sent scurrying for their lives. Staff offices savaged and all that nice furniture ruined. Or something like that.
Notice what happened right after Jesus trashed this faux worship center: People with serious needs flocked to Him (v. 14) and children praised Him loudly, while the religious leaders “were indignant” and got in Jesus’ face. They were especially galled about the children who greeted Him as the “Son of David” Who was bringing salvation to Israel. Jesus, in response, quoted from Psalm 8, and showed them that God had prophesied even this about His coming.
People who are without hope will be open to receiving the Good News of Jesus. Those who oppose Him will look for a way to use, control, or destroy Him. In which of those camps do we stand?
Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
Imagine having such a guileless and pure heart, that even after Jesus’ rampage against all things kitschy and disrespectful and antithetical to God’s house of prayer, the blind and lame approached Jesus for healing.
“Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD?
Or who may stand in His holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who has not lifted up his soul to an idol,
nor sworn deceitfully.
He shall receive blessing from the LORD,
and righteousness from the God of his salvation” (Ps. 24.3-5).
“Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your Word.”
It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes” (Ps. 119.67, 71).
The blind and the lame knew how to obey their God. And in this they had confidence.
Nehemiah, in his work of rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem, discovered that people were trying to bring things into the city to sell on the Sabbath. Here are some of his thoughts, and solutions, on this topic:
“…if the peoples of the land brought wares or any grain to sell on the Sabbath day,
we would not buy it from them on the Sabbath, or on a holy day…” (Neh. 10.31).
“…we will not neglect the house of our God” (Neh. 10.39).
“In those days I saw people in Judah treading wine presses on the Sabbath,
and bringing in sheaves, and loading donkeys with wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of burdens,
which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day.
And I warned them about the day on which they were selling provisions” (Neh. 13.15).
“Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said to them,
‘What evil thing is this that you do, by which you profane the Sabbath day?
…you bring added wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath’” (Neh. 13.17, 18).
“Now the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice.
Then I warned them, and said to them, ‘Why do you spend the night around the wall?
If you do so again, I will lay hands on you!’
From that time on they came no more on the Sabbath” (Neh. 13.20, 21).
Nehemiah, and the blind and the lame, were confident enough in their belief in God and His Word, that they were not afraid of anyone—not people from other countries, nor the religious leaders of their respective day. Their clean hands and hearts imparted courage to stand against all odds for the protection of God’s Laws and His house of prayer. They knew God. They trusted God. And they were healed and blessed by God.
And in the process, others were also blessed by their determination.
“If God is for us, who can be against us?”
“Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect?
It is God Who justifies” (Rom. 8.31, 33).
Is your church a house of prayer? Or a den of thieves?
Is there anything happening at your church that needs to be “overturned”?
All it takes to do so, is to stand tall and strong in the power of Jesus’ righteousness, and declare as He did, the fallacy and faux worship that has replaced the true. Trust in Him, like the blind and lame, and seek out Jesus. Be courageous like Nehemiah—his opponents troubled him “once or twice” but then learned that he stood firmly on God’s Law. And they “came no more on the Sabbath.”
But, regardless of the outcome, “we will be glad with exceeding joy” (1 Pet. 4.13).
Confidently siding with God is supreme—all else is fleeting (2 Cor. 4.17, 18).
Reflect.
1. In what sense could it be said of your church that it is a “house of prayer”?
2. You and I are temples of the Lord (1 Cor. 6.19) What does it mean for us to be houses of prayer?
3. The merchants were using God for their business. The people were using Him for their convenience. In what ways might we be guilty of “using” Jesus?
Pretexts, indeed, were not wanting for that custom of keeping a market, which relieved the people from trouble, that they might not have far to go to find sacrifices; and next, that they might have at hand those pieces of money which any man might choose to offer. John Calvin (1509-1564), Commentary on Matthew 21.12
Pray Psalm 122.5-9.
Pray for your church and its leaders, that they might seek the Kingdom of Jesus, and make His house a house of prayer.
Sing Psalm 122.5-9.
Nettleton: Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing
On the throne of David, Jesus sits to judge the nations all.
As our holy peace increases we are safe who on You call.
Grant us peace, LORD, by Your favor; for Your people’s sake we pray.
For the Church’s sake, O Savior, we will seek Your good today.
T. M. and Susie Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment to give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
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Other columns of interest: This week: Our Read Moore podcast continues readings from the book, The Joy and Rejoicing of My Heart. Our Crosfigell teaching letter is pursuing a series on the spiritual poetry of the Celtic Revival. The ReVision column is working through a study of the role of reason in the life of faith. Click here to see all the other columns and writers available to you.
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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.
