Jesus returned to Jerusalem
on Monday. Yesterday’s events still reverberated throughout Jerusalem.
He had wept as he approached Jerusalem and now, as He approached the very heart
of the city of God’s chosen people, His heart was filled with a zealous anger
again (John 2:17).
I wonder if he began to clear out the temple on Sunday, by
telling sellers to go away as part of his overview (Mk 11:11) and now on Monday
He began to do so in force (Mk 11:15-18). I wonder if the sellers didn’t take
Him seriously until He overturned the tables of the money changers and the dove
sellers, stopping the trafficking of merchandise through the temple When
feathers and money flew in the air and the shoppers and entrepreneurs would
gasp at the perceived mad man who quoted scripture (Matt 21:12-14).
“My house shall be a house of prayer but you have made it a
robber’s den!” I wonder if they focused on the fact it was scripture He quoted
or did the fire in His eyes pull them away thinking He spoke of something more
than words (Mark 11:18).
The Pharisees and the leading men, who made so much money
from the temple sales during the feast, could do nothing. This Jesus had turned
God’s house back to its original purpose—a service of God before the people. They
stared at this turn of event with hatred.
I wonder how the Pharisees ignored the fact that flocks of
the lame and the blind gathered at the temple to receive healing at His hands
as they continued to plot His death (Luke 19:47). I wonder how the transcendent
and now incarnate God, stood in His temple once more in a manner beyond that of
the day of Moses in the wilderness—stood there and didn’t wipe those hard-hearted
men out of existence. He knew where they derived their profits, He knew what
they plotted and yet, He continued to teach…within earshot of murderers with
continued signs and wonders (Matt 21:14).
Then again, the Son of Man came into the world not to judge
the world, but that through Him the world might be saved (John 3:17). If it wasn’t for His patience and His
love and His continued zeal for God, the human race would have long been wiped
out of existence.
Look at Him, patiently teaching at the cleared temple, daily—the
people hanging on His every word (Luke 19:47,
48). He would die in a few days and knew it.
-r-
Jesus Wept on Palm Sunday
Chronology of the Passion Week
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Rey's Studies (Topics) 
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