Passion Week: Monday
Monday
Devotional
Jesus Came to Purify
Welcome
Thank you for joining us for day two as we follow Jesus’ path to the cross.
We continue asking the Lord to reveal his purpose in coming to earth, and to give us a clearer picture of who he is.
On this Monday of Passion week, we follow Jesus to the temple in Mark 11:15-19 (ESV):
We continue asking the Lord to reveal his purpose in coming to earth, and to give us a clearer picture of who he is.
On this Monday of Passion week, we follow Jesus to the temple in Mark 11:15-19 (ESV):
Scripture
15 And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 16 And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. 17 And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” 18 And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching. 19 And when evening came they went out of the city.
Devotional
Why did Jesus come?
“To seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10)” is a pretty good answer.
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” (Matthew 5:17) is another.
In today’s passage we see a side of Jesus we don’t often emphasize: Jesus came to purify.
He begins with the temple because the corruption in his Father’s house was glaring and needed correction first.
Sometimes we imagine Jesus as someone who only came to bring peace—someone who was always “nice” and never offended anyone. But that is not the whole picture. Certainly Jesus is the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6), but his words and actions offended many.
The religious leaders were offended.
The merchants selling animals were likely offended.
Anyone benefiting from the system was offended.
Why?
Because Jesus confronted the people’s distortion of God’s commands. He called them to change.
In fact, everyone who encountered Jesus faced a decision: continue as they were, or change.
To come to Jesus is to change. He doesn’t leave us where we are– he calls us to come closer.
Consider today how Jesus wants to change you from the inside out.
Are there things in your life you have assumed are acceptable to God, like the chief priests and scribes allowed the temple to become a “den of robbers”? Perhaps we even excuse certain things by saying, “That’s just what church is nowadays.”
The cleansing of the temple was important, but it points to something greater. Jesus came not only to cleanse a building, but to purify a people through his life, death, and resurrection.
Open your Bible today and ask the Lord to meet with you. Ask him to reveal areas of your life that need to be surrendered so you might walk in his ways.
“To seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10)” is a pretty good answer.
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” (Matthew 5:17) is another.
In today’s passage we see a side of Jesus we don’t often emphasize: Jesus came to purify.
He begins with the temple because the corruption in his Father’s house was glaring and needed correction first.
Sometimes we imagine Jesus as someone who only came to bring peace—someone who was always “nice” and never offended anyone. But that is not the whole picture. Certainly Jesus is the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6), but his words and actions offended many.
The religious leaders were offended.
The merchants selling animals were likely offended.
Anyone benefiting from the system was offended.
Why?
Because Jesus confronted the people’s distortion of God’s commands. He called them to change.
In fact, everyone who encountered Jesus faced a decision: continue as they were, or change.
To come to Jesus is to change. He doesn’t leave us where we are– he calls us to come closer.
Consider today how Jesus wants to change you from the inside out.
Are there things in your life you have assumed are acceptable to God, like the chief priests and scribes allowed the temple to become a “den of robbers”? Perhaps we even excuse certain things by saying, “That’s just what church is nowadays.”
The cleansing of the temple was important, but it points to something greater. Jesus came not only to cleanse a building, but to purify a people through his life, death, and resurrection.
Open your Bible today and ask the Lord to meet with you. Ask him to reveal areas of your life that need to be surrendered so you might walk in his ways.
Prayer
Lord, thank you that you are the God who changes us from the inside out.
Thank you for not leaving me where I was, but for showing me what is true, right and good.
Purify me, Lord. Radically cut out the things in my life that are not of you, so that I may look more like your Son.
Thank you for not leaving me where I was, but for showing me what is true, right and good.
Purify me, Lord. Radically cut out the things in my life that are not of you, so that I may look more like your Son.
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