Matthew 21:12-17
Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all those who were selling and buying in the temple. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a den of robbers!” The blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the experts in the law saw the wonders he performed and heard the children calling out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant. They said to him, “Do you hear what they are saying?” “Yes,” Jesus told them, “Have you never read, From the lips of little children and nursing babies you have prepared praise?” He left them, went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there.
Applying God’s Word today: The sick are healed; the proud get angry.
What is the purpose of God’s churches on earth? They are not meant to become marketplaces that cater to the desires of the masses, but rather to be hospitals for the soul. When Jesus entered as the perfect sacrifice, he showed himself at the temple and clearly indicated to everyone that he was the one they were seeking. His zeal for his Father’s house consumed him. Yet Matthew records that the religious leaders were angry at him, even though they saw the miracles he performed. Meanwhile, the children were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David.” Hosanna means, “please save us.” And, the sick were coming to be healed.
Where do you stand in comparison to those in the temple that day? Are you someone who is too proud or self-righteous, believing you don’t need a Savior? Or are you like the broken and the children, realizing how weak and damaged you truly are? Our sin destroys us all, and if you don’t recognize your sins, you walk like the religious leaders who want to know where Jesus got his authority. While the sick and the lame trust Jesus by faith, knowing there’s nothing they can do to overcome their illnesses or hardships, only God’s love, grace, and mercy can break our bonds of sin. So we cry out, “Hosanna!” God, save us, please.
Dear Son of David, Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna! Amen, Amen, Amen.
Jesus entered that temple as the perfect sacrifice for our sins, so that on Good Friday, he would willingly and humbly allow himself to be placed on the altar of the cross for all our sins. It is through his death and resurrection that we are healed.