April 5th Palm Sunday…
Hello I'm pastor Greg of Calvary
Reformed Church also chaplain Greg with the 110th wing in Battle Creek Michigan.
We know that this week Sunday within the church worldwide Christians Catholic and
Protestant Christians celebrate Palm Sunday. It's the time in which we, as a Christian community celebrate the time when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the donkey.
The disciples were going from Jericho which is lower up to the higher elevation of Jerusalem, and they walked past I'm sure many vineyards such as what we have around us today. And as
they're walking through the vineyards prior to going Jesus had asked the disciples--- a couple of them to get him a donkey / colt and they did.
He rode into Jerusalem on that Colt on what we celebrate is Palm Sunday. Some respects
At that time of him saying I am the King ---I
am the king of kings
I love the aspect that he came in on
that Sunday Palm Sunday to because that
is the day that the Jewish people were
choosing their lambs for the Passover
meal for later on in the week.
Jesus rides in, and says I am the Lamb of God who will give his life for you. Also, within the vineyards we have the reality that he says I am the vine you are the branches when we abide in him he gives us Grace.
We all know right now there's a lot of
different things going on for our lives----
not just here within our area of Texas
township -- Kalamazoo city – Michigan --
the united states but the entire world ---
we're facing something that we as a
generation have never faced before, and
yet we know there is power and strength
and there is hope in our Creator hoping IN
the king of kings.
I want to teach today not on Palm Sunday
itself but on the next day after Palm Sunday. A day that sometimes we overlook, Mark chapter 11 says this to us on the, next day as they were leaving Bethany Jesus and the disciples he
is hungry so he saw a fig leaf and he
went out to it but there were no figs on
him and he said may no one ever eat of
this fruit again and the disciples heard
him say this.
This interesting because after what we're going to look at what takes place in the temple he goes back and the thig tree had died. (Here’s a side note--is THAT my prayer during this time of what we're walking through as people our faith will not die but that our faith will grow within our lives.)
But here's what I want to share today Jesus here in Mark, says on reaching Jerusalem, Jesus
entered the temple area and he began
driving out those who were buying and
selling there he overturned the tables
of the money changers and the benches of
those selling doves and would not allow
anyone to carry merchandise to the
temple courts.
I find it interesting because God in the Old Testament had set up a sacrificial system with the doves and the lambs the unblemished lambs. Part
of the aspect of the selling within the temple was to assist the pilgrims who came to Jerusalem to do that sacrifice which they were called to do.
But the religious leaders had a scam going on, all about money not about faith but about money. They were charging exorbitant prices for the lambs for the doves they were charging an exorbitant amount of exchange for the monies for
the temple money to be given as an offering.
Jesus here says no he threw them all out and he says, “no as it is written in the Old Testament the Book of Isaiah my house will be called a house
of prayer for all people but you have made it into a den of thieves:
At that point the chief priests and the teachers of the law began to look for a way to
kill him. This was not the first time they wanted
to kill him, they have done this a few other times before but now they were adamant about bringing him to death, but they were afraid of him because the crowd was amazed at his teaching.
A couple ideas I want to bring out about the temple of God the temple there within Jerusalem.
The first is as Jesus said the house of God was called to be a house of prayer a house of
Prayer. We know that in earlier in Mark chapter 1, it talks about that every Sabbath Jesus would go into a synagogue a local place of worship with Jewish people for time of Prayer.
We know that he was led into the desert for forty days of fasting and time of Prayer. Maybe right now we have that time of Prayer
Maybe we're being led into the desert for a time of Prayer within our lives. So the temple the Temple of Jerusalem it was a place of Prayer
It was a place of God's presence. We know that from first Kings 8 it talks about the fact that
that when the temple was made, the Old Testament temple the presence of the glory of God came into the temple and it was so heavy the glory of God and it was so full that the priests could not do the work, because they could not see.
God's presence was there ----don't you ever
feel it maybe when you're in a worship service and you feel the presence of God ---in the worship service. We see that the temple is called to be a place of prayer place of God's presence
It's also a place of power ---place of power. The Old Testament in the temple they had the Ark
of the Covenant which had the Ten Commandments which had had some mana, which had had Moses as staff symbolizing the power of God.
The power of God
We also know that the temple is called to
be a place of praise a place of praise.
2nd Samuel, when King David is able to
take the ark back into Jerusalem back to
the temple area that he was wanting to
be constructed. King David dances before the Lord in celebration.
Maybe when we get back into our local
† Churches--- dance in celebration in God's temple. So the Old Testament temple the New Testament temple that Jesus goes to is called to be he says it's a house of prayer
† it's a place where God's presence
† is it's a place that shows God's power
† But also a place for praise
The last thought here, is it's a place for all
people Jesus quotes from Isaiah 50:6 all foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord who served him to love the lord's name to worship him all those who call in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ --God the Father--- the Holy Spirit my house will be called a House of Prayer for All
Nations
For all people-- okay I'm talking about the temple and yet we need to make a transition here because I am the temple of God if you've asked Christ into your life you're the temple.
Paul says to us in 1st Corinthians 6 but
whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. Your body ---my body is a temple of the Holy Spirit when we've asked Christ into our lives. Who is in you!! Whom you've
received from God ---you are not your own you are bought with a price therefore honor God with your bodies friends.
We don't have the Jewish temple anymore but we have the temple of Our Lives Paul says that we are the temple of God. We right --now we have a time to say we have extra time to be in prayer.
Last week I had the short teaching on breath prayers now is the time that we can actually do
longer prayers. And I know that prayer is very powerful I've already heard of some individuals that have been prayed for and that they are they are being brought back to health through the virus through the power of the Holy Spirit.
We're called to understand God's presence that wherever we are -----the body of Christ is going--- Because if you are the temple of God, if I'm the temple of God ----the presence of God is with me with you and it goes wherever we are.
There's God's power the great physician who
healed Jesus Christ who healed who brought people back to life --- who healed the lame who Bartimaeus on the way to Jerusalem for Palm Sunday---- who was blind Bartimaeus comes to Jesus. Jesus says what do you want and he says to be to see.
Jesus says your faith has opened your eyes.
up your eyes by faith we see now my
faith but he faith that the power of
Jesus Christ gives us my body my temple
is called to be a place of Prayer it's
called to understand God's presence in
my life it's called to have that power
of God it's also called to offer praise
Palm Sunday when the religious leaders
went to Jesus and they said tell your
disciples to be quiet and Jesus said to
them if they were quiet even the rocks
would cry out look look around the grape
fields God's sanctuary I'd say even the
grape fields would cry out of who Jesus
Christ is and give him priests you and I
are called to give praise to the Lord
Jesus Christ we are also called to know
that his temple is for all people for
everyone who calls on the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ will be saved and we
are brothers and sisters together and we
celebrate that fact I just have a little
closing thought for it to think about we
Know that we use soap and water to clean and right now we are washing our hands
and sanitizing our hands multiple times
a day ----- sanitizing our countertops taking---
care of all of those things around us so
that we can kill the virus.
But have you thought the only way that we have that eternal salvation this with the blood of Jesus Christ ----which cleanses our sins. We become that temple of Christ as we ask him within our lives ---to walk with us when we understand that our lives are called to be:
† a life a prayer
† to be the presence of God
† to show the power of God
† to all people
† to offer him praise and
† to know that our lives are called to be an open Bible to other people to draw them to Him
And it's only through Jesus Christ our sins are forgiven. Friends, may you may I allow
God's Spirit to work in my life your life --the Holy Spirit to grant us Grace and Peace, Amen.
