Monday of Passion Week
This week leads up to Easter, the celebration of the Resurrection. While many people may be familiar with Palm Sunday and Resurrection Sunday, very few are as familiar with the days in between. Jesus didn’t just sit around and do nothing until He was arrested. So, let’s look at some of the events and teachings of Holy Week.
Scripture Reading – Mark 11:15-17 (ESV)
15 And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 16 And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. 17 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.”
On Sunday, Jesus rode into Jerusalem to the shouts of “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest” (Matt 21:9, ESV)! Because they misunderstood who Messiah is and what Messiah would do, the majority of the people were expecting Jesus to arrive Monday and begin an assault on the Roman oppressors. Instead, much to their horror, He attacked the Temple. Jesus enters the outer court of the Temple, known as the Court of the Gentiles, where the priests have allowed money changers and vendors selling sacrifices to set up stalls. This blasphemous abuse of God’s house so infuriated Jesus that He flipped tables, herded animals, and drove men from the Temple grounds. The Temple was a place where people of all nations could come and pray and worship the Heavenly Father. The priests, by allowing a market to be set up inside the Temple, made prayer and worship virtually impossible for those who had come for that purpose.
Jesus takes worship very seriously. His life and ministry were dominated by worship. We see many times in the gospels where Jesus goes off by Himself to pray. He says in John 6:38, “For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me” (ESV).
Take a few moments and focus on the events of Monday.
Heavenly Father, we pause today to worship You for who You are and all that You have done for us. We thank You, Jesus, for Your zeal for our Father’s house. We ask that You search our
hearts for any words or actions that might have led others away from worshipping You. Forgive us, Father, and create in us a desire to see men and women come to faith in the Risen Savior.
Amen.