Day 31 - Week 5 Day 3 A Royal Entry

Today’s reading (Bible in 1 year) reading links are at the end bottom of the page

Genesis 43
Psalm 29
Isaiah 26
Matthew 21:1-22

This is Palm Sunday; ok, not in our calendars but that’s what we are reading about in Matthew. Jesus rides into the city on a donkey as the prophet foretells “Behold your King is coming to you, gentle and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden” and the key word is gentle.  Jesus is riding in as a humble, peaceful king.

A short time later on the same day, Jesus entered the temple and drove out “all those who were buying and selling in the temple and overturned the tables of the money changers.”  This seems to be quite a contrast from the humble peaceful king we just read about.  
It’s interesting that while He was in the temple that day He also healed the blind and the lame.

The temple was supposed to be a place of prayer and worship.  The buying and selling was being done in the outer courtyard of the temple which was a consecrated place of prayer, meditation and worship for non-Jews who desired to worship the God of Israel.

This is one of the few times that we see Jesus displaying anger.  This is Jesus who is the righteous judge.  Every time we see Jesus angry, it’s because of injustice and generally caused by the religious people.  What is Jesus doing?  He is throwing out of the temple those who are there for profit and greed.  Then He heals the lame and the blind!

I’ve been called religious often, mostly in the last few years when I was no longer employed by church organizations.  I generally respond with my preference to be referred to as a person of faith.  I also prefer to be called a Jesus follower rather than a Christian. Unfortunately in the Christian world, I see a lot of people who classify themselves as Christian but who present themselves as “the religious people of the day.”  They will hold up placards on Pride Week on the way into town pronouncing biblical judgement on the whole community, especially those who identify as  LGBTQ+.  They will meet in their small churches with a handful of congregants on a Sunday morning, complaining about the lack of funds to either hire a new pastor or fix their building when maybe it’s time to sell the building and refocus their attention on serving others in their own communities.  They will act as if filled with God’s Spirit on Sunday while being filthy talking contractors visiting the local hardware store on Monday.  They will say that GOD is love but then support politics that “seems” to promote Godly principles yet are cruel to the vulnerable and support the rich to get richer by their policies.  If that is what Christian is, should we be surprised that people aren’t interested?

I will tell you, I would much prefer to represent the Jesus of the Bible that in Tiny Tim’s words (from the book “A Christmas Carol, written by Charles Dickens), Jesus who made “lame  beggars walk, and blind men see.”  That’s my Jesus!!!  The humble, peaceful king!  


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