My hope this week is to step away from what’s going on around us and stick to themes throughout out our week heading up to Easter. There is much that Jesus has to say between Palm Sunday and the last supper, trial, crucifixion and resurrection. What things would we want to communicate to people around us, if we knew our end was near? Each day I’ll step into one of those passages and prepare our hearts for this journey to Easter.
One of those events is Jesus at the Temple. Jews were obligated to offer sacrifices… perfect sacrifices. The system had become a corrupt version of what that expectation looks like. “Sorry Mr Rivken, your sacrifice isn’t perfect enough, please go see one of our vendors out in the courtyard.” The merchant makes his money, a kickback goes to the priest and most likely the imperfect sacrifice brought in by Mr Rivken is now sold to the next person who makes his way in with his imperfect sacrifice. Round and round it goes. Proverbs 16:11 “A just balance and scales are the Lord’s; all the weights in the bag are his work.” Jesus had a few things He wanted to get corrected in the integrity department.
“My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers.” Matthew 21:12-17 Things are in a constant state of morphing from what they should be, to what they shouldn’t be, especially where a sinful heart is let loose for money, sex or power. Priests and vendors had come up with a plan for their own gain when the priests responsibilities were to serve people. Not to make a buck and ruin a house of prayer, a house to be reconciled to God, a house that was a sanctuary from the outside world; now it’s become anything but that.
Jesus is going to flip a lot of things upside down on this His last week on earth. Depending on the side you fall, it will ruin, embarrass, wreck your economic/power base. For others it will bring life like no other thing ever has. Remember my blog about “Another Perspective Away.” Yeah… that!
But don’t be surprised when one of your tables gets turned over or when Jesus says something that is completely confusing because he knows where this thing is headed and we’re simply stuck in time. Jesus isn’t always who we expect he is or demand he should be, but he always valued what was most valuable, I pray that I can learn to do the same, even if a few tables get turned over in my life!
Truth, Grace, and Time 
The religeous system that was in place was bearing no fruit and was going to wither. What God put in place to bring people closer to him was corrupted and bringing oppression on them. He came to set the captives free as the New covenant. We, as His church need to be aware of the same things that may have crept in and are oppressing and alienating people from the Father.
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