Monday, April 6th, 2020

Hey Church of the Grove, welcome to this devotional journey for this Holy Week.

You may have uh woken up like me this morning, kind of wondering what day of the week it was and what what day on the calendar it was as we still continue uh to live in this world that's uh uh full of a bit of chaos and uh as we struggle with the effects of this pandemic.

Hopefully, this journey through Holy Week will be an encouragement to us and maybe an anchor for us.

Um and so um I'm looking out my window as I begin this devotional journey.

I'm looking next door at the owners of uh the new owners of our neighbors' home.

A few months ago, the old neighbors put a for sale sign in their yard, and a new family came along and decided they wanted to buy the house, and so at the closing table, an exchange took place.

Uh they signed their life away, made payment for the house, they received the keys to the house.

And so as a result, they went in and established a new house.

I mean, they they they moved moved in new furniture, they uh they changed some of the look of the house and the yard.

They've made changes because they are the owners.

See, see, there's this principle we see, and we're gonna see in this devotional scripture today, is that with new ownership equals authority to change.

New ownership equals authority to change.

See, see, Jesus is on this uh journey in the final week of his life, and we call it holy week, and ultimately he will end up dying on a Roman cross and he'll take on the sin of all humanity upon himself in that death.

And then uh the beautiful part, the part that we celebrate, the apex of the story, is he leaves the tomb empty on resurrection Sunday, right?

That's the we're excited about that.

But before that, he he he he journeys into Jerusalem.

And so as he journeys into Jerusalem, there there's all this anticipation, there's a there's excitement about this new messianic leader that's coming into the city.

Um he's known as a healer, he's known as one who can cast out demons, he's known as one who teaches with a new authority.

Um he's kind, he's humble, he's a servant, he's compassionate, he's known as a friend to sinners.

Um but we're we're about to see is another side of Jesus, and it and it jumps off the page to us because it's not something that we've seen consistently in his life.

We see a different side of Jesus as we look at Luke chapter 19, verses 45.

Luke 19:45

And so here's what Jesus is about to do.

He's about to establish his authority.

You know what I said, new ownership equals authority to change.

Jesus is about to establish himself as the new king, the new owner.

And with that will come authority to make changes.

And that's what you see in this passage, Luke chapter 19, verse 45.

Luke 19:45

Let me read two verses.

It says, He entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, saying to them, It is written, My house should be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers.

And so if you looked at all four accounts of the gospels, that this account is in there.

And if you looked at all four, you get a bit more detail than we get right here in these two verses.

But basically, Jesus takes a whip that's made out of cord, he actually hits people with it, he turns over the tables of the people who are selling animals for sacrifice, and he turns over the tables of those who are exchanging currency, and he's angry.

He yells.

Why is he angry?

Why is Jesus yelling?

Why are we seeing this side of Jesus?

Before we answer that question, we need to understand the significance of the temple.

The temple represented the one place on the planet where humanity could come and meet and interact and encounter a holy God.

This was the place for human beings to come and to worship the God of the universe.

See, see, the one God that was that was holy and big, but yet still personal and up close, that was different from all the other gods on the planet.

It is where you came to worship.

See, the temple wasn't just another church building, it was a place where you encountered God.

So it was a place of prayer, it was a place of genuine preparation before you would go into the presence of God.

And so Jesus is angry in how he sees what they've done with his father's house.

This is his response.

It's anger.

This is not meant to be a place of selling things and exchanging money.

It is a place for prayer and encountering my father and for personal worship.

See, it's not the specific things that he was angry about because those that journeyed and pilgrimage to Jerusalem, they had sometimes to buy an animal to offer sacrifice.

They had sometimes to exchange currency.

It was the location of where this was taking place that angered Jesus.

And so not only do we need to understand the temple, we need to understand the system of sacrifice.

Why was sacrifice needed?

See, a family would pilgrimage to Jerusalem during one of these festivals, and they would buy an animal, and that animal would have to be sacrificed so they could encounter God on a personal level.

See, when you came to encounter God, you didn't come to worship just any old way.

You had to be prepared.

You had to present yourself in the correct way before a holy God.

And so therefore, sacrifice was a part of it.

An animal would have to be taken, and the animal's blood would be spilled on behalf of you.

And in contrast to you spilling your own blood to gain access to God.

And so Jesus is saying this place is meant to be a place of prayer.

It's meant to be a place of meeting the Heavenly Father, and you've turned it into a place of commerce.

And he is establishing himself as the new king, he's establishing his new authority.

And it doesn't sit well with the religious leaders that are there.

I'm not going to read word by word through the rest of this passage, but through starting with verse 47 and into chapter 20 through verse 8, you see where Jesus gets into a verbal jostling match with these religious leaders over his authority.

They want to know where he gets this authority from.

And it's his establishing his authority that is what gets him in trouble.

This is ultimately leads to them arresting him, to them beating him, and to him ultimately being crucified on a Roman cross.

But here's the beautiful part of the story is that all of this fits in God's sovereign plan.

We know that they didn't take his life.

He willingly laid his life down because he knew that ultimately humanity didn't need more sacrifices, but humanity needed one ultimate sacrifice for all history that would reconcile us into right relationship with our Heavenly Father.

And there would be no more need for further sacrifices.

And that's what Holy Week is about.

Holy Week is about Jesus offering his life up.

He became human flesh.

God became a servant.

Philippians says.

And because of Jesus willing, his willingness to lay down his life, he was able to die that cruel death and to become the ultimate sacrifice.

John the Baptist says that would take away the sins of the world.

And so that's the beauty of this story, is that because of Jesus' being establishing himself as a new king, his new identity, his new authority, he's able to make the one biggest change necessary for you and us to have eternal life.

And have hope in a world that's gone crazy, in a world with a pandemic, and a world that is very sick, there is hope because Jesus has given us his life.

And so that's the question for today.

Have you accepted what Jesus is offering in his sacrifice?

He came in to establish his authority, and in establishing his authority, he laid down his life, and in laying down his life, he paid the ultimate price for your life.

And so the question is: have you received the new life that Jesus has bought for you and paid for you?

And see, now he has ownership.

He has the keys to your heart.

And because of him having ownership and having the keys to your heart, he can come into your house and rearrange it as he sees fit.

It'll always be for your best interest.

It'll always work out for your good.

So, a couple of questions to think about this week.

What is God saying to you in this journey through Holy Week?

What is it that God wants to say to you as you read Scripture, as you journey through these devotionals with us?

What is it that you need to look at inside your own heart, inside your own house, and rearrange and possibly change?

What is it that God wants to say to you?

And what is it that you need to do in obedience and response to Him?

Father, would you bless us as we journey this week?

And would you bring healing to our souls in a hurting world, a sick world that needs a touch from a new king?

Or may we be willing to listen.

Do you speak to us gently?

And may we be willing to rearrange as necessary in our household what needs to be rearranged.

It's in Jesus' name I pray.

Amen.

God bless you and have a great week.