Monday, March 30th
Bible Passages: Matthew 21:12-17, Mark 11:15-19, Luke 19 45-48
By: Ken Grether
Let's take a moment to reflect on what happened the day after Palm Sunday.
Jesus had just entered Jerusalem with crowds shouting “Hosanna!” It was a moment of celebration and joyous excitement. But the very next day, Jesus walked into the temple—and things changed quickly. In Matthew 21, we see Jesus overturn the tables of the money changers and drive out those who were selling animals in the temple courts.
Then He says these powerful words: “My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers.”
The temple was meant to be a place where people could come close to God. But instead, it had become crowded with business, corruption, and barriers that kept people from truly praying, worshiping, and spending time with God. So, Jesus cleaned house!
Now here’s what I love about this moment. Right after the tables were overturned and the marketplace cleared out, Scripture tells us that the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple and He healed them. Once the clutter and obstacles were removed, the hurting could finally come near to our God to worship and be healed.
And that makes me think about us and our hearts. Sometimes our lives get cluttered too, filled with worldly obstacles such as busy schedules, distractions, prideful endeavors, worries, and things that crowd out the time we could be spending with our loving God. Jesus loves us and wants our hearts to be what they were meant to be, a place of prayer and closeness with Him.
So today I want to ask a simple question: Is there a table in your life that Jesus might want to overturn? Maybe it's a distraction or worry. Maybe it’s something that has slowly taken God’s place in your heart, like politics, hobbies, or some other stronghold that has gotten in the way of spending precious time with our Savior.
The good news is this: when Jesus cleans house, it’s not destruction, it’s restoration. He clears the space so healing can happen and so there's room for Him to take the rightful place in your heart!
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