When he had come into Jerusalem,
all the city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” The crowds said, “This is
the prophet, Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”
Jesus sat down opposite the
temple, and saw how everyone put money into the treasury. Many who were rich
put in much. A poor widow came, and put in two of the smallest coins. He said
to his disciples, “This poor widow gave more than all the others; they gave out
of their abundance, but she, out of her poverty, gave all she had.”
Jesus entered into the temple of
God, and drove out all of those who sold and bought there, and overthrew the
money changers’ tables and the seats of those who sold the doves. He said to
them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you
have made it a den of robbers!”
The blind and the lame came to
him in the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the
scribes saw the wonderful things he did, and the children who were crying in
the temple, “Hosanna to the son of David!” they were indignant, and said to
him, “Do you hear what these are saying?”
Jesus said to them, “Yes. Did
you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of babes and toddlers you have brought
praise?’”
He left them, and went out of
the city to Bethany, and camped there.
They came again to Jerusalem,
and as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, scribes, and elders
came to him and asked, “By what authority do you do these things? Who gave you
this authority?”
Jesus said to them, “I will ask
you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these
things. The baptism of John—was it from heaven, or from men? Answer me.”
They reasoned with themselves,
saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven;’ he will say, ‘Why then didn’t you believe
him?’ If we say, ‘From men’” the people who believe John was a prophet will
attack us.” They answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”
Jesus said to them, “Neither do
I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
Reflection
Many of those who gave in the
temple did so from questionable motives, and those who facilitated their
offerings were absolutely corrupt. As Jesus sought to change this, he was
accused of acting without the proper authority. Have you ever been involved in a protest? Have you ever done something you believed was right even though it went against official policies and procedures.
Prayer: Give me the boldness
I need, Lord, to do what you’ve called me to do when it upsets those in charge.
Yes. Speaking truth to power has been something I've been led to do at various times in my life since childhood. I've also made choices that were socially/religiously taboo at the time yet morally necessary. There have been consequences to those choices but there would have been greater consequences had I not acted on what was my soul's desire. One can say no to God but good luck trying to sleep until one does what the soul/Spirit gently but persistently instructs.
ReplyDeleteWell said.
DeleteI was once told I was evil because I chose to drive to Saginaw in the middle of the night to pick up a woman who was being released from jail and put out on the street at 5am, an hour and a half away from her home, with no one in her family with the financial resources to go get her. I never understood against me, but I would do it again.
ReplyDeleteThat was supposed to say: I never understood that judgment against me...
Delete