Zeal Monday (as I call it) is commonly remembered as the day Jesus clears the temple. Check out the text from Mark:
The next day, when they had come out from Bethany, he was hungry. Seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came to see if perhaps he might find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. Jesus told it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” and his disciples heard it.
They came to Jerusalem, and Jesus entered into the temple, and began to throw out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of those who sold the doves. He would not allow anyone to carry a container through the temple. He taught, saying to them, “Isn’t it written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations?’ But you have made it a den of robbers!”
The chief priests and the scribes heard it, and sought how they might destroy him. For they feared him, because all the multitude was astonished at his teaching.
When evening came, he went out of the city.
Okay so imagine this: all 250,000 people into Jerusalem to make sacrifices at the temple. How many entrepreneurs does it take to figure it out that some people are not going to bring a #2 pencil to a scantron test? So what do you do? Let’s set up shop at the temple, sell some sacrificial animals, and make a bundle off the event!
In a sense, all the reverence of the event turns into a ‘going through the motions’ session. I always pictured this event as one where there were about 100 people standing around making bids on goats. But the real impact came when I read how many people were in the city. This was no small gathering. Imagine how difficult it would have been to come into the temple area with a reverent heart before the LORD and earnestly pray when you had all of these people bartering for animals that weren’t their own in order to sacrifice them as a formality.
Prophecy Fulfilled: Psalm 69:9 – “Zeal for your house will consume me.”
These sacrifices were weak at best. When Jesus clears the temple a clear message is sent to those who were present: “You are wrong. Everything about this is manufactured. It has lost its beauty. This is not about a relationship anymore. You have made it about a pithy requirement.”
Questions to Think About:
- Have you ever ‘run through the motions’ in worship or prayer?
- Have you ever paid for someone else to engage in bringing the sacrifice so you didn’t have to get your hands dirty or because it was easier that way? (think missions)
- What does it look like to fully engage the disciplines of worship and prayer in your own life? What value do you place on them?
Palm Sunday is the commemoration of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem as king and promised Messiah. A key point in this part of the narrative is the timing. We find ourselves in the approaching the Passover Feast, which is a remembrance of the miraculous exodus from Egypt where the Israelites were ‘passed over’ by the angel of death – the final straw breaking the heart of Pharaoh and triggering the release.
Jewish pilgrims would make the trek to Jerusalem from all over the countryside and surrounding nations to make sacrifices at the temple during this festival time. Normally, there would be about 80,000 people in the city, but considering the major festival weekend there were up to 250,000. This is key to know because much of Jesus’ ministry was in the rural sectors to the north in Galilee (kind of the boondocks of Israel). He had gained many followers by this time who were captivated and amazed at the power behind His teaching along with the miracles which pointed to Him as abnormal. The followers say He was performing miracles, but the opposition would call them sorcery. Think about that one for a minute. This is the setting for the entry.
Point of Interest: The Chant. As Jesus enters the Holy City, he is met by many followers shouting, “Hosanna (Hebrew for ‘Please Save/Deliver!’) to the Son of David!” Interestingly enough they are referring to the great king who firmly established Israel’s place in the world. Militant and just, David worshiped and strived to remain faithful to God alone. To chant this would be connecting Jesus to David as one who would bring it all back – oust the Romans, purify the nation, restore the honor of Israel. This is the hope anyway.
Point of Interest: The Donkey. Jesus has an unusual means of transportation upon His entry. In that time, one who conquers a city in war would ride through the nation’s capital mounted on a horse. Alexander did this on several occasions. It was a flexing of the muscles so to speak. If it were a peaceful transition of power, another option would be riding a donkey/mule to communicate minimal tension in the process. Amid the royal battles for the throne in the Old Testament, David instructed his son Solomon to ride into Jerusalem on a donkey to mark him as the successor to the throne who would reconcile the nation. In a sense, Jesus is communicating this same thing… He is coming to bring reconciliation and peace, not military overthrow.
Prophecy Fulfilled: Zechariah 9:9. Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Questions to Think About:
- How do you shout Hosanna (Please Save!) in your life today?
- Is what you want to be saved/delivered from in line with what God is saving/delivering you from?
- What expectations do you have about God and the way He is working out reconciliation in the world?
- Is He up to something different than what we think He should be?
Narrative. If you look at the way people understand life, it all goes back to the interpretation of narrative. When I think of the most memorable speeches, sermons, books, etc. that I have experienced, the common link is that there were high impact narrative stories behind them.
Liturgically the church has employed narrative in the church year. Advent, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Pentecost, and then all over again… the church is living the narrative of Jesus year in and year out. I tend to gravitate toward the experience of walking through the life of Jesus. Born to live. Born to die. Born to live again. It is what Paul calls the ‘message of the cross’. A beautiful, living story.
The church has traditionally referred to this week as Holy Week or Passion Week. For the next few days, I invite you to walk through this experience with me. I have done some research and will be connecting this week’s events in Jesus’ life with some prophecies and with some first century historical meaning, and we will trek with scripture through the most anticipated and written about event in history.
See you tomorrow for Palm Sunday!
Becky and I have been reading a psalm every night for the past several months. Last night we read and talked about Psalm 96. I think it is interesting how when we think of the psalms, we tend to gravitate toward the magnanimous one filled with worship language of high praise, laced with shouts for joy and singing to the LORD.
In our trek through the psalms, however, number 96 is probably the 4th or 5th one that really belts out this type of worship. The more prevalent genre is one of rescue and deliverance from enemies, colored by a desparation inside David (or other writer) that cries out in what we would think of as a negative situation. To boot, many of them call on God to take action (dramatic) against those who stood in the way of the writer.
As I reflect on this I can’t help but try to remember the last time we read a psalm like this in a worship setting. It seems like we do gravitate toward the psalms that make us feel better in a worship gathering. I wonder if there is a connection between our use of the psalms in worship and how we want to feel during this gathering. Case in point: even when we use a psalm that contains heavy material toward the enemy, we tend to dice it up and read around the “bring the heat, God!” wording that the psalm contains.
This time that Becky and I have spent reading and discussing the Psalms has really changed the shape of how I look at the book as a whole. I think it is amazing that I have read through the whole book at least four times and this understanding happens now.
New every morning.
Today was my first baptism! I have wondered for a while now what it would be like to fulfill this servant role in someone’s life, and all I can really say is that I am honored and in awe. I also wondered if I would goof up the name on my first time, but those concerns were quickly put away when I learned the little boy’s name… LANDON!!! How cool is that?!
Today I learned and experienced more deeply the beauty of how God uses His people to carry out His ministry. Broken people. People who have experienced the depth of sin and the awesome power of His grace… the measure of His love for us. I thought of May 10, 1981 - the day I was baptized. I wondered how Pastor Wuensche felt the day he baptized me. I still have a picture up in th living room of my grandparents holding me that day. The older I get, the more I appreciate this day where God put His name on me and said, “I choose you, Landon.”
He said those same words today to a different Landon. My prayer is that this Landon will come to appreciate this beautiful gift as I do and that God would continue to grow his faith throughout his life.
Mark 16:16 - “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved.” -Jesus Christ
Evidently I write in Spanish… according to a friend who forwarded this to me recently. Looks like there is an english link too. Just a fun little post.
A few minutes ago I finished cleaning alot of the house with Becky. I had a playlist from the EPIC worship gathering that I put together playing on my laptop. As I was cleaning, I heard Becky singing in perfect harmony with the song and I just had one of those moments. I am a really blessed man. I have a wife who loves the Lord (and she can sing too!). Little things….
ELEMENT 2009 - Faith and Adventure will collide this summer in POP Student Ministry! We are making the trip to Colorado July 4-12.
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