Monday

What do you think of when you think of Jesus? What characteristics come to mind? I’d venture to guess that you’d picture a Jesus who is loving, gracious, and kind. And you wouldn’t be wrong. Jesus himself said that the greatest commandment was to love God and love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-39). However, in Matthew 21:12-17, we don’t see the normal, peaceful, lovey-dovey, nice Jesus that we typically think of on Holy Monday. This was an aggressive Jesus. A fed-up Jesus. An angry Jesus. The question is, why? Why was Jesus so angry on this day?

To understand this, you have to understand that the temple was intended to be a sacred space. It was a physical space built to house the Spirit of God. People would come to pray, offer sacrifices for sins, and seek the presence of God. At least, that was the idea. The issue was that this temple Jesus walked into was not that. It was not a place of prayer. It was a place of corruption. Countless merchants would set up shop in the temple and sell sacrificial animals at a 400% markup of what they could purchase outside the temple. Not only that but in cooperation with the priests, the only animals that were “approved” for the sacrifice of sins were the animals sold inside the temple walls. Jesus sees all of this and is filled with rage. He was disgusted by the barriers the merchants and religious leaders had put on people experiencing the presence of God, and out of that conviction, we see the “table-flipping” Jesus.

Throughout the course of events that took place on Monday, verse 15 points to a key detail. It says that there were children in the temple who saw Jesus doing this and were crying out, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” This action was appalling to the priests who were watching Jesus cleanse the temple. Greed and theft weren’t a point of concern to them, but praise to Jesus was. A spirit of religion will always lead you out of the presence of God, but a child-like spirit will always bring you closer to Jesus.

For a full account of the events of this day, see Matthew 21:12–22, Mark 11:12–19, Luke 19:45–48.

Reflection Questions

1. Have you ever thought about Jesus being angry? What does that tell you about the emotion of anger?
2. Where in your life have you developed a hard heart? Take some time and ask God to give you a child-like spirit in that area.

Prayer

Jesus, I thank you for removing all barriers from your presence. Today, I pray that you create a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me. Soften any area of my heart that has been calloused by life. Help me to have a child-like spirit that finds you and depends on you. In your name, I pray. Amen.