We live in the in-between times and as we approach Advent
again we are reminded that the One promised here, the one humble and mounted on
a donkey has already come, that was Palm Sunday. When He came in that manner they greeted Him
with wild acclaim, "Hosanna to the Son of David." Hosanna is Aramaic for "Save us"
while Jesus means "the Lord saves."
He came to save and yet the same crowds that greeted Him that Sunday
later shouted "Crucify Him!" and they did exactly that, crucified the
Messiah. But, the grave couldn't hold
Him and now we await His coming again and the establishment of the second part
of this promise, peace and a new Jerusalem.
Is that your desire today?
It is easy to forget just how fickle we truly are. Jesus' response to the acclaim is to go
directly to the temple and deal with the moneychangers and those selling
pigeons. He is making room for the
Gentiles in the outer courts of the temple, so that they will be able to hear the
teaching there and have access to truth.
During feasts like Passover many pilgrims came to Jerusalem from both obligation
and desire. That is why Jesus and the disciples
were staying at the Mount of Olives, you had to make at least one Passover in
Jerusalem, so the city was full, just as when Bethlehem was full at Jesus' birth. You had to stay in the city and the Mount of
Olives counted as part of the city. The moneychangers
and sellers of pigeons were set up in the temple in order to provide necessary
services for the pilgrims, changing their money to pay the temple tax with the
proper currency and selling the pigeons for sacrifices. They also were there to make a profit. They set up, however, in the place where
Gentiles, non-Jews, could be in the temple courts and Jesus knew that this
meant that they would then not be allowed to participate as the Father had
intended. Acclaim is one thing,
people-pleasing is another and Jesus wasn't interested in maintaining the good
vibe, He was interested in saving all people.
Jesus was more zealous for what is good than any man or
woman who ever existed and what was His earthly reward? Crucifixion on a Roman cross. In baptism, we have been crucified with Christ
and risen to a new life that allows us to pursue the good. We have died to self, supposedly, and
acknowledged our belief in the resurrection and we are to begin participating,
by faith, in that resurrected life now, not after we die. One way of participating in that is by
following God's will, seeking and pursuing good wherever He leads, come what
may. Have we died to self yet?
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