An 8 Day Meditation for Holy Week

Monday
Scripture: Matthew 21:12-17; John 2:13-17 (Jesus Cleanses the Temple)

His heart was broken. Righteous anger filled every fiber of His being as He carefully and patiently wove together the small strips of hide from the animals that had been slain in the sacrifice. If only they had a heart in them that they would fear the Lord and keep His commandments He must have thought. But He also knew all too well that God’s children were incapable of this kind of heart— the heart that God yearns for in His children. For this is why He had come to dwell among them. They needed a Savior.

More than likely Jesus was recalling this vivid passover memory from three years ago at the beginning of His ministry when He had used the whip to cleanse the court of the Gentiles. This was the only place that the Gentiles were allowed to pray. Dishonesty, greed, and malice had entered into God’s sacred space. The temple worshippers had become all too familiar with this house of merchandise. Familiarity breeds legitimacy and the zeal of Jesus for His Father’s house would not allow Him to stand idly by and not address the blatant unrighteousness that was hindering His house of prayer.

He was now headed to the temple for the second time as He knew His earthly ministry was exponentially coming to a close. The temple desperately needed cleansing again. Cleansing was part of the passover celebration. The Jews were careful to make sure that no yeast was present in their homes during this sacred time. This was one of the many things that they did to commemorate the Passover. But they were still missing the point. “Israelite religion was from the beginning a heart religion.” This quote from Daniel I. Block, shows from Deuteronomy 30:6, the divine role of circumcision of the heart: “The LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love The LORD with all your heart and with all your being, in order that you may live.”

As we continue to ponder Who is This Jesus during day 2 of our meditation let us invite Him to come in and cleanse our own temples. Let Him sort through our familiar metaphorical tables and merchandise so He can rid us of anything that may be hindering our worship of Him. This Jesus is zealous for us.