In this short series for Holy Week, we’ll spend a few minutes every day meditating on Jesus’ journey to the Cross. From Palm Sunday to Resurrection Day, this is a sacred week in the Christian calendar—a week that changed everything. 

 

An Invitation to Overturn Tables

 

Read: Matthew 21: 12-17

 

“But everyone else is doing it.”

Perhaps that’s a statement we expect to hear from teens who insist that their outlandish plans are perfectly normal. 

But is that still an attitude we hold as adults?

It’s not such a “bad” sin because everyone else is doing it—or doing something worse.

We may not say it out loud, of course. But are we thinking it and justifying our actions? 

That’s perhaps what the people in the temple courts thought as they went about business as usual. The house of God had been turned into a marketplace. And no one seemed to care. When they looked around, they saw others indulging in the same hardcore “shopping.” They grew complacent in their sin. The crowd seemed to provide cover. 

But when Jesus saw the desecration of the temple, the defilement of the sacrifices, and the damage it was causing the worshippers, He didn’t sit back. The gospel of Matthew says that He “drove out” those buying and selling stuff. He “overturned” tables. He declared the truth boldly and unapologetically to the chief priests and teachers of the law.

Yet, it wasn’t a reckless anger. It was a righteous anger. When the holiness of God was being trampled, Jesus demonstrated his authority and power.

It wasn’t a careless anger. It was a compassionate anger. When those who were coming to the temple were being distracted, misled, and taken advantage of, the Good Shepherd rescued His flock. 

Friend, we can either be part of the crowd that looked around and thought, “Everyone else is doing it,” or we can be part of the called who looked to Jesus for rescue and redemption.

Can we invite Jesus to enter those spaces in our lives where we have grown complacent with our sin? Can we ask Him to overturn those areas where we have traded our eternal joy for temporary pleasure?

In His grace, Jesus doesn’t get “angry” with us. He hates sin. But He loves us. He enters those “temple courtyards” of our lives where we have not honored Him, and He invites us back to Himself.

Prayer

Jesus, thank you for Your righteous and compassionate anger. When You saw the house of prayer turned into a den of thieves, You, the gentle Savior who rode on the back of a donkey, displayed Your authority and power. Lord, I invite You into those areas where I’ve grown complacent and cold, like the crowds. Cleanse and transform me that I would be a living Sanctuary for You. Amen

 

 

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