Matthew 21: 1-22

The images of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem are confusing to me. In the humility befitting the servant leadership Jesus has modeled he rides into the city on a donkey. Then as he arrives in the Temple area, in a fit of fury he drives out the people who were performing a service necessary for the Temple functions of making sacrifices and offerings to God.

The response of the religious leaders is helpful to understanding Jesus’ actions. The leaders were annoyed at the disruption caused by Jesus running off the animal sellers and money changers, but they were most upset over what happens next. Jesus welcomed the blind and lame as he healed them. Children ran with joy shouting praises to Jesus the Messiah. This represented God’s will for the Temple, as a House of Prayer. But, through the religious leaders the Temple had evolved into something far less.

Jesus carries this theme to the lonesome fig tree. Jesus was not zapping the fig tree in a fit of anger because it offered him nothing to eat. The barren fig tree represented Israel which had become barren in fulfilling her mission to be a light to the world.  Cursing the fig tree was representative of the judgment of God, which will be central in this last week of Jesus’ life on earth.

BUT God does not leave us with the brown taste of judgment in our mouth. Jesus leaves us with hope. His closing words today remind us that even in the face of a barren world His followers can plant seeds of hope where the world only sees despair. Jesus says we can look directly into the face of death and a mountain of grief, and proclaim that Jesus is the resurrection and the life. We can cast despair and grief into the sea.

Hosanna in the highest.

Blessed is he who comes
in the name of the Lord.

Hosanna in the highest.

What does today’s reading reveal to you

about God?

What does it reveal to you about yourself?

Think about what God wants you to do

or remember about this passage.

Does God want you to change anything in your life?

7-Sep-11      Matthew 21:23-46