The Second Day of Passion Week

The Second Day of  Passion Week (Author: JZ, Translator: YZ)

Introduction:
On the second day, Jesus and His disciples left Bethany and headed for the temple in Jerusalem. Seeing a fig tree by the road, He went up to it, but found nothing on it except leaves. The fig tree lost its value because it had no fruit. After that, Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all those who were buying and selling there, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves.  He wouldn’t allow them to turn the temple into a filthy trading place, and said to them:” My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a ‘den of robbers.’” Jesus cleared the temple so that people could truly honor God. However, the unbelieving chief priests and the teachers of the law not only did not obey the authority of Jesus, but instead sought to kill him.

Key Events:

Events/Facts	Location	Matthew	Mark	Luke	John
1 Jesus cursed the fig tree	On the way to Jerusalem	21:18‐19	11:12‐14
2 Jesus cleansed the temple for the second time	Jerusalem	21:12‐16	11:15‐17	19:45‐46
3 the chief priests wanted to kill Jesus	Jerusalem		11:18	19:47‐48
4 Jesus spent the night on the Mount of Olives	the Mount of Olives		11:19	21:37‐38

Key verses:
Matthew 21:12-13  My house shall be called a house of prayer
12 Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. 13 And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’”

Meditation:
When Jesus was about to be crucified, His heart still remembered the temple of God. Jesus reminded us through Isaiah 56:7 that "The house of God must be called a house of prayer for all people." The temple of God was the dwelling place of God's glory. It was also where people met God and worshipped God. Now, the temple of God had become a den of robbers! Although bustling  there was no spiritual reality in the temple, like the fig tree who had luxuriant foliage but didn’t have the fruit it should have. In the same way, today we are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in us. We hope that today's verses will remind us to cleanse our hearts so that we can become God's joyful home.

Hymn ： Refiner's Fire