Welcome to Holy Week 2025! Between this past Sunday and this coming Sunday, you will hear the familiar story retold once again, but this story is the foundation story for our faith, so pay attention!
If you aren’t paying attention, you may miss out on learning new lessons that help make the story even better each year! God continually reveals knowledge of Himself through His Word. Here’s a lesson I’d like to share with you that I learned this year, something I didn’t know before, something that makes Holy Week an even richer part of our faith journey.
In Matthew 21, we read the story of Jesus clearing the temple of those who were buying and selling:
Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. “It is written,” He said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a ‘den of robbers’.”(verses 12-13, NIV)
Jesus entered the temple and unleashed His temper. The holy anger of God was on full display, but what drove Him to this point? Was it simply the business being conducted, the buying and selling (likely at an exorbitant price that lined the pocket of the sellers) of animals for sacrifice? That would rankle anyone, but to the point of acting out in violence?
As I was reflecting on this passage and the emotions of Jesus, I looked into the Outer Court of the temple, where this story took place, and learned something about the significance of this Court: it was the only court of the temple open to foreigners and Gentiles.
While you can look at it and see that these groups were only able to worship God from afar, never able to approach the Inner Courts closer to the presence of God, I also realized something else. When that only Court that was open to non-Jews was cluttered with buying, selling, noisy animals, likely their dung, and who knows what else, it wouldn’t have been a very sacred place to approach God. The court would have been full of distractions, making it hard for those who were only allowed limited access to the temple to actually worship. It may have even turned away some who were seeking God in the only way they could.
In John 10:14-16, Jesus said: “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me–just as the Father knows me and I know the Father–and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd” (NIV). Jesus already knew that salvation from His death was not just for God’s chosen people, the Jews, but also for the Gentiles.
This continues to be proven over and over. One example is Acts 10, where God gives Peter a vision of unclean animals and invites him to “kill and eat.” Peter balks, declaring he has not ever eaten anything impure or unclean. God responds by saying, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” Immediately after, Peter is invited to the house of Cornelius, a Roman centurion and Gentile, and Peter goes and shares the gospel with them, even though the Law did not allow for Jews to visit Gentiles. God broke down the barriers, allowing the gospel to spread to the Gentile world.
It was God’s intention and heart that other members of His creation beyond His chosen people to have access to Himself (the “other sheep” He had to bring into the fold). In fact, when Jesus gave up His Spirit on the cross, the temple curtain that separated the Holy of Holies (where God was in the temple and where only the High Priest was allowed once a year to make atonement for the people) was torn in two from top to bottom, declaring that the presence of God was to no longer be separated from mankind but access was now available for all (Matthew 27:50-51). God further confirmed this when the baptism of the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost (Acts 2) and He poured out His Spirit on all who were willing to receive Him.
Jesus knew all of these things were coming down the line after His death. He loved the sheep–ALL of them–and seeing the temple (His Father’s house) turned into such a mess brought out His holy anger.
His mission on earth was to work on the hearts of the people. The Jews expected a conquering king who would throw down Rome and elevate them to a high position. Instead, Jesus arrived on a donkey, not a stallion. His mission was to work on the hearts within, showing a better way to live. The Jews expected deliverance from oppression, but Jesus came to deliver them from their own spiritual oppression, bringing freedom inside themselves which would allow them to thrive regardless of external circumstances.
He showed the people what mattered most to Him–which wasn’t the embellishments of the Law that came from the Pharisees and Teachers, additions that made it even harder for some to approach God. Instead, He wanted all people to be able to access Him, from Gentiles and foreigners who could enter only the innermost courts to the high priests of the Jews who could only enter the Outer Court. What mattered was that people could find their way to God. And those who were cluttering the Outer Court with their business and likely desire for selfish gain from travelers had to go.
In the midst of all the stories of Holy Week, this story shows yet another facet of Jesus’s heart for His people. There are familiar facets of God’s character that we hear often, but there are so many more waiting for us to discover them. Hearing familiar stories while learning new meanings is a way we stay open to God’s teaching and understand more and more about His heart for us, His creation.
I wish you a blessed Easter season and pray that you will take the time to keep pursuing deeper knowledge of our Creator and Redeemer. He is a bottomless fountain capable of both refreshing and nourishing your faith, no matter where you are on your journey.
Blessings,
~Lynne
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