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Tuesday, December 5, 2023
Matthew 21:12-22
And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 13 He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”
14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, 16 and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read,
“‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies
you have prepared praise’?”
17 And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany and lodged there.
18 In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry. 19 And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once.
20 When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?” 21 And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. 22 And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”
Thought for the Day
For the Jewish people, Torah (the Law) and the Temple were two pillars of their faith. The Temple, however, was not being treated with the respect that it deserved. In the outer court of the Temple there were traders who, probably at an exorbitant price, were selling animals for sacrifice and exchanging regular money for the special coinage required in the Temple. I suspect Jesus had seen them and been upset by their presence every time he had visited the Temple but now was the time to do something about it. He had come as the Anointed One into the city on a donkey, the royal beast, and now as the Anointed One, the Messiah, he would do something about his Father’s house. Then, as far as the authorities were concerned, he added insult to injury by healing the blind and the lame there in the Temple, men and women who because of their disability were not supposed to be there. The children had picked up the shouts of those who welcomed Christ as he rode into Jerusalem, here at last was the Son of David come to claim his crown. The scene for all that followed was not set. The Coming of the King into our lives is magnificent but is can also be very upsetting. Jesus’s ministry, especially in that last week of his life, required great courage – and he showed it.
Thanksgiving for the Day
We give thanks to God that his Son cleansed holy places and healed those whose lives were broken.
Intercession for the Day
We pray that we might allow Christ to do his cleansing work in us.
Collect for the Day
As we rejoice in the gift of this new day,
so may the light of your presence, O God,
set our hearts on fire with love for you;
now and for ever. Amen
(An Advent collect from Common Worship)
Readings for the Day
Isaiah 11:1-10, Psalm 72, 2 Peter 1:12-21, Matthew 21:12-22
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