God, the invader of his own territory

Suddenly the temple, that sacred, orderly, space, the apex of religious worship and the pinnacle of religious power was in turmoil. Jesus, the so called gentle Jesus, was creating chaos. acting alone, disregarding the dismay of his companions, the outrage of the priests and the bewilderment of frightened pilgrims he began to empty out the merchandise of religion. Tables full of money were up-turned so that their contents mixed and spilled on the ground. Tethered animals, waiting to be sacrificed were untied, and their tether cords turned into a whip with which to drive them through the crowded temple into the street. Why did no one stop him? We know there were temple guards, where were they? What about the priests, were they reluctant to contaminate their ceremonial robes? What about the merchants of religious commodities, surely they were not helpless against this one man.

When it was over, Jesus thundered out his explanation: It is written: "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations, but you have made it a den of thieves."

"A house of prayer for all nations." What a dream! Religion is an easy tool with which to separate nations. Religion is used to incite people to kill in the name of God. Religion blindly practiced makes leaders so blind that they lead their followers into evil. The preachers of religion delight in making laws about the way the Almighty must be served, thus producing a harvest of guilt where God intended righteousness. Freedom is not a holy word to religious leaders; freedom is thought to be an enemy which will change the security of tradition. Some religious leaders even, storefront preachers, demand unquestioning obedience to their own interpretation of the will of God bringing man down to the level of herded animals.

Standing up in the middle of the temple mess, Jesus, the itinerant preacher. dares to remember God's dream and identifies God's hope. The temple shall be a house of prayer for all nations.

So it shall come to happen. Because God said it would be so. All nations shall be united by the praise of Allah rather than killed by the anger of the prophets. All nations shall be united by desiring the simple basic laws of Moses and Jesus, and there will be no more need of religious lawyers to help us evade laws or condemn the forgiven. All nations will be united in the equity of the rule of God and will no longer satisfy their wants at the expense of others. Peace the dream of God will happen, but all the efforts of the religious will not be able to place God on the throne. He will do that himself, when he is ready.

The temple that Jesus purified, only lasted for 30 or 40 years after his death; not even the ruins remain. Now each man's heart is a temple for God, if he is given entrance. When God has no entrance the Spirit of God continuously whispers around the hearts of humanity. And repeatedly Jesus must clean out the extremities and lies of every man's religion. He enters, often invited, but sometimes unexpectedly to expose mixed motives, discover deceits and unmask cowardice. Since he has done it in the temple of our hearts we are not afraid, but very uncomfortable, when he does it in the gatherings of our various religious groups. Whether we can stand upheaval or be ruined by it, God continues to save his worship by changing it's patterns, opening eyes gone blind and identifying self-indulgence. God has a dream.

One day all nations will agree, one day we will not be worried about how to portray what we inwardly perceive. The laws of God will have become as pleasant as the laws of breathing and eating. Until that time let the religious not shrink from God's correction. Let them not obstruct the visitation of the itinerant preacher when he disrupts whatever has become corrupt. Knowing that God is merciful, let us not fear the anger of God the destroyer of evil.

Who is this?

It is Jerusalem, during the seven day festival of Passover. Pilgrims have come to Jerusalem from distant places. Frequently they have been met by the citizens of Jerusalem, who came down the road to welcome them and escort them into the city. Together greeters and greeted sang sacred songs as they journeyed towards Jerusalem, enraptured by their first sight of the great temple that Herod had built for the worship of God.

On the day that we are reading about, while the pilgrims are preparing for worship in the temple, they hear it whispered that 'He' is coming. As people hear this, women children and men rush out of the town eagerly, laughing and excited. Who are they going to meet?
In order to find out the pilgrims follow the crowd. On the way they receive snippets of information. "This is the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee." 'He is a teacher." "He is the healer; he brought a man back to life after he had been dead for three days. The man who was dead is still alive and some of us have seen him, he lives just two miles from the city.'
As the procession comes into sight, people begin to rip off their cloaks, laying them down on the road to make a welcome carpet for the prophet to ride over. People wave huge palm leaves, shouting loudly, "Save now, save now" children jump and dance around clapping and shouting.

The man they are cheering looks very ordinary, none of his followers carry a banner, and he has no emblems on his robe, no uniformed retinue walk beside his horse, which is not a horse but a young donkey. This is Jesus. He is not smiling and acknowledging people like a celebrated person would, he does not ride with the proud posture of a monarch, actually who could do that while riding on a donkey? He does not wave and smile at the crowd around him. There seems something almost grim and determined about his expression, but what is he determined about?

Jesus stops riding and gazes at the city, the crowd stops and waits, and is suddenly amazed. The man they are giving a delirious welcome to is crying. Crying aloud in public. These are no quiet tears, like this man is reputed to have shed at the grave of his friend. No; these tears are accompanied by loud, lung wrenching sobs. The kind of sobs people weep in the time of tragedy. What is he weeping about? He is weeping about Jerusalem, city of heartbreak, scene of tragedies past and more to come. But why weep about the city, is he not the miracle worker, can he not remedy all and any of Jerusalem's tragedies?

"If only you knew,” Jesus says, speaking to the city he is looking at, "if only you knew what makes peace for you, but it is hidden, and your peace will not come, because you did not recognize the visitation of God."

He resumes riding and the mystified crowd moves with him. Those going in front and those following behind shouting out "Blessed is the coming reign in the name of our father David." As they come near to the city the priests come out and tell Jesus to keep the people keep quiet. Jesus gestures at the rocks around the city and says, “If the people keep quiet the rocks will shout out.” Nobody knows what he means.

During the days of the great feast of Passover Jesus remains in the neighborhood, sleeping in the little town of Bethany and returning daily to preach in the temple. He preaches in the various courtyards, and even called out loud in the temple itself. Making incredible statements like, “Whoever believes in me, living water will flow from his inner being.” Telling meaningful but not understandable stories about tenant farmers and vineyards, and visiting princes. Again and again people ask, “Who is this?” "Who is he really? They do not know, but on their answer to that question hangs their peace and their future.


Sources:
Wikipedia.org (Passover)
Alfred Edersheim: Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah. Pub Eerdmans
Wept over it: Luke 19:41
Who is this? Matthew 10: 10

Hymn. (This is not a link) Go to: http://www.cyberhymnal/. Look for title: Hosanna, Loud Hosanna.