Saturday, November 17, 2018
Matthew 21:10 says, And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? Jesus's entry into the city moved the whole city. The people of the city wanted to know what all the commotion was about and Who Jesus was. We today need to be proclaiming Christ in such a way that lost people will want to know Who He is. Verse eleven states, And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee. The people now professed Jesus simply to be a prophet from Nazareth. I believe that until they were asked this question that they were seeing Jesus as more than just a prophet, but now that they had to tell others Who Jesus was, all they were willing to say was that He was a prophet from Nazareth. This made Jesus no more than any other prophet. Some people today feel the need to prove by physical evidence that Jesus indeed lived as the Bible states, but ultimately we must simply accept Him as Savior and Lord by faith. Some concede that Jesus was a great Prophet, but this is not enough. We must proclaim Jesus as Savior and then allow Him to be the Lord of our lives if His death, burial and resurrection are to have any effect on our lives. Verse twelve states, And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, Jesus had the multitudes following Him, but now He began to upset their worship, which had become profitable to them. The temple had become a place of merchandising instead of a house of worship. We must be careful today that we don't allow material things to come between God and us, especially in the church. Verse thirteen says, And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves. Jesus reminded the people what the scripture said about the temple, or God's house. It was intended to be a place of prayer, but the religious leaders had turned it into a den of thieves. This was those who were supposedly the religious leaders of God's chosen people who were corrupting worship. When we gather together in God's name, we need to make sure that we are doing so in a way that honors Him. Verse fourteen states, And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them. People were still coming to Jesus for physical healing, and He was healing them. Still, this was not the primary reason Jesus came. Jesus came to bring spiritual healing. Even if God heals us of all our physical ailments, if we do not profess Christ as our Savior, then it is only a temporary healing. Verse fifteen states, And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased, Then, once again the chief priests and scribes saw what was happening with Jesus, and they were very displeased. We would think that when religious leaders saw wonderful things happening and people worshipping that they would be happy, but they were angry instead. I believe that this was because their position, and their own self-righteous, was being threatened. Hopefully, if we as Christians see great things being accomplished for God today we will join in the praising, and not be angry because God is working through someone else to accomplish these great things. Verse sixteen says, And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise? The chief priests and scribes again questioned Jesus, asking if He didn't hear what the people were saying. The people were pronouncing Jesus to be the Son of David, or the Messiah. Jesus once more referred the chief priests and scribes to the scripture. If they had really been the religious leaders that they professed to be, then they would have recognized Jesus for Who He is. The scripture will always point us to Christ, some looking ahead the to His coming the first time, and some looking back on His having come and ahead to His return. Verse seventeen states, And he left them, and went out of the city into Bethany; and he lodged there. Jesus left the people who were praising Him and the chief priests and scribes in Jerusalem and went to Bethany and lodged there. Most of the crowd were following Jesus for the wrong reasons, and the scribes and Pharisees were totally defiant, so Jesus left. Jesus is not going to be in the midst of those who attempt to make Him into someone that He is not, no matter how many are gathered together. If we want Jesus in our midst, where even two or three gather, then we must acknowledge Him for Who He is, our Savior and Lord.
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