The crowd cheered, waved branches and even threw their coats on the ground for him to walk on. But that’s only because they had no idea just how radically He really was.
When Jesus entered Jerusalem a week before His death, He did some things that no one does. First, He appeared in public every day even though they were trying to kill Him. He drove everyone who was selling merchandise out of the temple like He owned the place. He cursed a tree that immediately withered. Oh, He had his disciples take a donkey from town without asking first.
Jesus was radical. He did things we did not expect. But that’s only because our understanding of who and what the Messiah was had become distorted over the centuries. The religious leaders didn’t plan to be antagonistic toward the Messiah, they wanted God to come and deliver them as much as anyone else. They simply had become confused, and then hard hearted. By the time Jesus shows up, they are no longer able to recognize Him. And the crowd? They were cheering because they thought Jesus was going to deliver them from Roman oppression. None of them were cheering at the end of the week when Jesus was hanging on a Roman cross. But they should have been, because Jesus was radically changing their lives with His actions. it wasn’t until several days later that a few began to realize just how powerful their Rabbi was. They had proclaimed by faith that He was God, and at the time they understood in part. But now, here is Jesus standing in front of them back from the dead. They must have thought “Even the grave cannot hold Him. Truly this is God and He cannot be denied.”
Of all things, the fig tree sticks in my mind today. Jesus looks at His disciples and says “if you have faith…if you really believe…they you will have what you ask for” It occurs to me that we could be asking for so much more, and receiving so much more than we currently do. I wonder if our understanding has become as confused as the Pharisees? Are we praying for things while not believing in the one we pray to? Are we really asking God, or are we just talking out “into space” wondering if someone hears it?
Jesus was upset because the temple was supposed to be a place to connect with God, and it was turned into a marketplace. There’s nothing wrong with a marketplace. Merchandise can be sold from many different buildings…but in Jesus’ day God could only be contacted through one. To turn the one place a person could contact God into anything else was to deny the people the possibility of help from heaven. No wonder Jesus was upset.
Today we can contact God personally regardless of where we are. The days of the “Temple” are over. We no longer need priests to offer sacrifices for us. But the commandment to continue gathering together still remains. The command to learn and teach others is still there. The Temple has become the church, and the church is still a place to connect with God and with like minded people who are seeking to grow as well. But there are many churches today. I think if Jesus were to return today and see a church that was ungodly He would not drive everyone out….He would simply call attention to it and tell the people that they should seek out genuine faith.
Thinking aloud,
PR