HOST: Ron House
SPONSOR: Start2Finish
And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.” And 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 that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, “ ‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?” And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany and lodged there.
As I read this passage, it strikes me as interesting that the Jewish leaders were more interested in what some children were saying than in what Jesus was doing. He had created havoc in the temple by running out the merchants who had set up shop there, condemning their corruption and wrongdoing. He had then proceeded to heal all who came to Him with infirmities. Surely these actions were worthy of the Jews’ attention and reaction. But they had become accustomed to ignoring the great works of Jesus. They had made a habit of closing their eyes to His righteousness, compassion, and power. To recognize those things would force them to acknowledge Him. They chose rather to concentrate on what they considered to be the blasphemous language of children. Their words were words that could be used to accuse Jesus, to build a case against Him. Though the words were true, they could be used by the unbelieving Jewish leaders to condemn Jesus. So they chose to focus on what they wanted to see and ignore the truth.
Why were the Jewish leaders so upset by the children’s words?
Don’t forget to pray and have a great day!