  
|
|
About-Him.Com Devotional 07-23-2005
http://about-him.com/ My Thoughts on the Life of Christ, from His Baptism to His Ascension. 185: Cleansing the Temple Mt. 21:12-13; Mk. 11:15-19; Lu 19:45-46 186: Healing in the Temple - Mt. 21:14-17 Matthew 21:12 ¶ And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, 13 And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves. 14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them. 15 And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased, 16 And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise? 17 And he left them, and went out of the city into Bethany; and he lodged there. Jesus had driven the money changers out of the temple on the first Passover of His ministry. See Par 51,52. Now it is two days before the last Passover and He once again finds the same situation. He overthrew the tables of the money changers and told them that His Father’s house was supposed to be a house of prayer, but that they had made it a den of thieves. The Chief priest and the scribes counseled together on how they might destroy Jesus. However, they were fearful of doing anything because of His popularity with the people, who pressed upon Him to hear His doctrine. Many of the blind and the lame, upon hearing that Jesus was in the temple, came to Him and He healed them. The Chief priests and the scribes were also annoyed that some children were crying in the temple in the presence of Jesus and shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David.” They asked Jesus, “Don’t you hear what they are saying, they are calling you Messiah,” Jesus didn’t deny the title, He simply answered that it was written that God had perfected praise in the mouth of babes and departed. Conclusion and Application: I believe that Jesus is just as disturbed with the crass commercialism of the church today as He was when He drove the money changers out of the temple . It is sad to say, but many churches and ministries are little more than businesses. Of course there are many many more who are doing their best to fulfill the commission to preach the gospel. Peter told us that there would be a day when with feigned words, some would make merchandise of men. I believe that day is here. Those who do so have their judgment waiting for them (II Peter 2:3). I do believe in giving and giving liberally to the kingdom of God, but I am very careful where I place my donations. If it can’t be demonstrated that the monies given are helping the kingdom, I simply will not give. I am not about to help anyone live like a king, while the mission fields go begging. The children in the temple were recognizing Jesus as Messiah by crying out, “Hosanna to the son of David.” Sometimes a child, in their unsophisticated innocence, can recognize things that the rest of us miss. Sometimes children seem to get a bit emotional in praise. Enough so that some of us are always present to see that they don’t get carried away. We had better be careful. Remember in Luke 19:14, Jesus said that the very stones would cry out if the people didn’t praise him. In About-Him
Online Sermons http://about-him.com/sermonlink.htmlOur Bible Studies http://about-him.com/bslinkpage.html Our Music: http://about-him.com/audio.html Flash Theater http://about-him.com/player.html Scripture list on 30 subjects http://about-him.com/wordarc.html Humor
Two robins have been flying for quite a while, when one says to the other, "I'm
starved, I'm going to go down and see what I can find for lunch.
The Other said, "Me too." They soon saw a freshly plowed farm field, with big worms free for the taking. After a while one said, "I'm so stuffed, I think I'll just lay here and bask in this warm sunshine." The other said, "Me too." As they were lying there basking in the sun a big tom cat came along and ate them both. He walked away, licking his chops and saying, "I just love---------------Baskin Robbins." Somebody Has Said
"The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us; just as the roof of a sunhouse does not attract the sun because it is bright, but becomes bright because the son shines on it."- C.S. Lewis
Keep Looking Up! Don and Marie Spooner About Him! Ministries Your thoughts and Inquiries Contact@about-him.com Subscribe to this devotional? Subscribe@about-him.com
The purpose of About-Him.Com is to glorify the Lord Jesus
Christ whom we preach as the Almighty God manifest in the flesh.
It is our desire that everything presented on these pages increases your
faith in our God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
|