There are so many different things we could look at in Matthew 21, but we will just be looking at verses 10-15 today:
11And the crowds replied, This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee.
12And Jesus went into the temple (whole temple enclosure) and drove out all who bought and sold in the sacred place, and He turned over the four-footed tables of the money changers and the chairs of those who sold doves.
13He said to them, The Scripture says, My house shall be called a house of prayer; but you have made it a den of robbers.
14And the blind and the lame came to Him in the porches and courts of the temple, and He cured them.
15But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He did and the boys and the girls and the youths and the maidens crying out in the porches and courts of the temple, Hosanna (O be propitious, graciously inclined) to the Son of David! they were indignant.
All of the ordinary people were excited to be able to see this One they had heard so much about! They were stirred up because they WANTED to believe that God was really the way Jesus was presenting Him and NOT the way the religious leaders had. Most of those religious leaders were so jealous that the attention was no longer on them (remember Jesus teaching about the chief seats and their long-winded prayers?), that they tried to trip Jesus up at every turn. Shouldn't these leaders of the people have been overjoyed to see people set free and God getting all of the glory? They had never healed anyone and instead of glorifying God for what had happened, they wanted to do away with Jesus because He showed them up for what they were!
We see here that these same religious leaders had let all sorts of ungodly things go on right in the temple area! They were more upset that Jesus turned over the tables and kicked out the merchants than that so many of the people were sick and hurting. The Scripture that Jesus was referring to is found in Isaiah and Jeremiah. Isaiah 56:7:
7All these I will bring to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on My altar; for My house will be called a house of prayer for all peoples.
And then Jeremiah 7:11:
11Has this house, which is called by My Name, become a den of robbers in your eyes [a place of retreat for you between acts of violence]? Behold, I Myself have seen it, says the Lord.
These religious leaders were robbing the people of their opportunity to know God! There are people today, "religious" leaders and "laypeople", believers and unbelievers, who would rather argue about what they think the Word says and complain about what different ministries are teaching, than to actually find out what the Word of God says and live it like it's true! AND IT IS!!! Don't be one of those, and don't even give them your valuable time! The Word of God says if you lack wisdom, then ask of God, and HE WILL give it to you! James 1:5:
5If any of you is deficient in wisdom, let him ask of the giving God [Who gives] to everyone liberally and ungrudgingly, without reproaching or faultfinding, and it will be given him.
Make it your goal to learn something new from the Word of God, and about Jesus, everyday! You'll be amazed at how much you'll grow!
Shalom in Him!
