Holy Week- Monday-Cleansing The Temple

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And He began to teach and say 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 ROBBERS’ DEN.” Mark 11:17

One of the most overlooked events , I believe ,is the cleansing of The Temple. Now this wasn’t a one time event, as Jesus cleansed the Temple at the beginning of his ministry (John 2) and he also cleansed it at the ending of his ministry (Mark 11). What was the significance? What was Jesus trying to teach us here?

First you need to understand what the Temple was and its purpose. The Temple was the only place on Earth where Gods presence existed at this time. If you wanted to worship God, you needed to come to the Temple. The Temple was the only place where the atonement of your sins could take place. If you wanted to make atonement for your sins, you needed to come to the Temple. The Temple was where the High Priests lived, you couldn’t receive atonement or come into the presence of God without the High Priest.

Jesus fulfilled all of this at the cross. The Temple was a foreshadow of Christ to come! Jesus said he would Destroy this Temple in 3 days and then raise it Up (John 2:19) He was talking about himself, his death and resurrection! Jesus fulfilled The Temple, Jesus is our atoning sacrifice, Jesus is our High Priest!

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 1 Corinthians 6:19

Jesus was cleansing the physical Temple from sin as an example to cleanse our temples from sin. The Temple of God in Israel had become corrupted, they used it more like a marketplace to make money than a house of worship, does this sound familiar with our Churches today? Jesus was making a statement, we need to worship God in Spirit and Truth (John 4:24)

When you become Born Again, your body is now the Temple of God, the Holy Spirit lives inside of you! God does not tolerate sin in the Lords House as he doesn’t tolerate sin in your body! Cleanse your temple! Amen!

Palm Sunday

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Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. Zechariah 9:9

Palm Sunday is the celebration of Jesus entering Jerusalem as our King fulfilling the prophecy from Zechariah. Notice Jesus decided to ride a donkey instead of a horse, this was to show his humility and he is the “Prince of Peace”, many Jews were hoping for Jesus to wage war against Rome but God had a different plan.

During his arrival, everyone laid down palm branches, what did this symbolize? The palm branch in Roman culture symbolized victory. However the Palm branch was symbolic in Egyptian culture to symbolize eternal life. Both meanings are very fitting for Palm Sunday

(Matthew 21:9) “And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest”

Hosanna means “Please deliver us” or “I beg you to save”. Everyone was desperately waiting for coming of our Messiah; Jesus fulfilled the promise and prophesies. This is part of what makes Palm Sunday so special and spiritual.

(Psalm 118:26) “Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD.

This is the Psalm the people sang while Jesus entered Jerusalem, everyone knew Jesus was the Son of God, the Messiah promised from the Old Testament scriptures.

So this Palm Sunday remember Jesus is coming again soon, lets rejoice and sing in anticipation of our Messiahs return in Jesus name Amen

Mark 9- Help Our Unbelief

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And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit; And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not. He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me. Mark 9:17-19

As we know Jesus is the Lord of Lords, he is Master over everything natural and supernatural. Demons tremble and are in submission to Christ, so when they brought a demon possessed boy to Jesus, they said “we could not cast him out” Why? Do they believe this demon is greater than Christ? Do they believe Jesus is unable to heal?

Jesus called them “a faithless generation” ouch, think about all the miracles and healings these people have witnessed already, yet they still lacked faith in Christ. Do we really believe that Jesus is Lord over everything? 

And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming. And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child. And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us. Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” Mark 9:20-23

The demon tormented the boy for a long time, the man asked Jesus to have compassion on them, remember Jesus demonstrated his love and compassion on the cross! While the suffering of this present life is difficult, the weeping and gnashing of teeth in eternity is even more frightening. Jesus had compassion on us and delivered us from sin and death

Jesus said “If you can believe, All things are possible” I know to many this sounds like a bumper sticker or cliche, but this is the spoken words of our Lord Jesus Christ, believe it!

And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief. When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him. Mark 9:24-25

“Lord , Help me with my unbelief” This should be the battle cry for all Christians, Help us Jesus to overcome our lack of faith and understanding. Jesus rebuked the demon and left the boy immediately, because Jesus is Lord and God

Help us Lord with our Unbelief, deliver us from our present sufferings in Jesus Name Amen!

Mark 9- The Transfiguration

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And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them. And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them. And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses: and they were talking with Jesus. And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. Mark 9:2-5

Today we take a look at the event of the Transfiguration of Christ, this event reveals many things to us. First we see Jesus transforming into his glorified state, he immediately turned white as snow, this is similar to when the Apostle John saw Jesus in Revelation also how Daniel saw Christ in Daniel 7. There should be no mistake to the Apostles that Jesus is the one who was prophesied by Daniel, Isaiah, Ezekiel, ect

Also we see Elijah and Moses standing with Jesus, for those who believe in soul sleep, how is this possible? Its obvious Elijah and Moses are alive and well, as we remember Elijah was actually raptured to Heaven. But also Elijah and Moses represent two important things here, Elijah represents the Prophets and Moses represents the Law

This is a revelation of the New Covenant, Jesus fulfilled the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 5:17) Having Elijah and Moses standing with him is obviously very significant

For he wist not what to say; for they were sore afraid. And there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him. And suddenly, when they had looked round about, they saw no man any more, save Jesus only with themselves. And as they came down from the mountain, he charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen, till the Son of man were risen from the dead. Mark 9:6-9

Again we see our Heavenly Father confirming Jesus Christ the Son , “This is my beloved Son, listen to him” If you needed anymore confirmation that Jesus is the Christ or the New Covenant has come, I don’t know what to tell you. Notice the similarity between when Moses was on Mt Sinai when he received the Ten Commandments and this scene now

Jesus again prophecies about his death and resurrection, Christ does this over and over again throughout his ministry, yet the disciples never seemed to grasp it. Here again he says “Don’t tell anyone till the Son of Man has risen from the dead” Sounds pretty straight forward.

The transfiguration is just another glimpse into Gods Kingdom and a look at the Risen Christ who reigns forever and ever Amen!

Mark 8- The Passion of The Christ

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And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he spake that saying openly. And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him. But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men. Mark 8:31-33

The hour is coming for Christ to go to the cross and pay the penalty for our sins and give us eternal life. Jesus prophesied about his death and resurrection multiple times throughout his ministry. Still the disciples often didn’t understand what Jesus was saying to them. They didn’t understand the Christ was also the Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world

Peter didn’t understand this either, and actually rebuked Jesus! Imagine that rebuking The Lord, Jesus in turn called Peter Satan and told him to get out of his way. What was going on here? Peter didn’t understand God’s plan for salvation, so instead of him trusting in The Lord, he devised his own plan, does that sound familiar? Often we don’t understand the ways of The Lord so we make our own way. 

But its important to understand that Jesus is the only one who could deliver us from our sin, nobody else could go to that cross and pay the debt for our transgressions. This is the gospel message

And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Mark 8:34-37

Jesus has some heavy lessons here for us, if you really want to be a Christian “Deny yourself, Carry your cross, and follow Jesus” How many Christians are really doing this? When modern day Christianity seems to be more “Self-Centered” than “Christ-Centered” its time to repent and turn to The Lord, carry your cross meaning suffer and endure, and have faith in Jesus Christ

Many people want to be rich and famous, what does that profit you when your soul is going to Hell? The pleasures and traps of this world are temporary and won’t bring you salvation, only Christ can give you salvation, follow him with all your heart, mind, and soul

Is there anything worth selling your soul for? Temporarily you might think so, but eternity is a long time to be wrong, Christ has died, Christ is Risen, Christ will come again for you! Amen!

Mark 8- Unleavened Bread

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Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, neither had they in the ship with them more than one loaf.And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have no bread. And when Jesus knew it, he saith unto them, Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? perceive ye not yet, neither understand? have ye your heart yet hardened? Mark 8:14-17

Jesus has just completed feeding 4,000 people with just 7 loaves of bread, notice the symbolic number of 7 for completion. However the disciples were upset because they forgot to take the leftover bread with them to eat later. Jesus became very annoyed with their lack of faith, here they just witnessed an amazing miracle, and yet they are already worrying about their next meal

Jesus said to them “Why don’t you understand, why did you harden your hearts”? The disciples know Jesus provided bread for 4,000 people and yet they worry about where their next meal is coming from, does this sound familiar? We know Jesus is Lord, we know he defeated sin and death, so why do we doubt he will provide for us?

The bread here is symbolic of sin, notice the disciples are worrying about real bread and Jesus references for the leaven bread of the Pharisees, the leaven is symbolic of sin, that’s why communion is supposed  to have unleavened bread

Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember?When I brake the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? They say unto him, Twelve.And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? And they said, Seven.And he said unto them, How is it that ye do not understand? Mark 8:18-21

Jesus references the two events of feeding the multitudes with only a few loaves of bread, the disciples all witnessed these miracles, even ate, yet they already forgot and are low on faith. How does this happen? It happens to all of us, our flesh overcomes us with fear, worry, and anxiety, we need to cling to Jesus, we need to remember what he has already done for us!

Jesus asks “How do we not understand”? Jesus wants to know what is our excuse, why do we keep doubting him? We need to truly trust in Jesus with all our mind, heart, and soul. Not just say we are Christians but truly live it, Amen!