Monday, August 15, 2011

Matthew 21:14-17

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14 And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple and He healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He had done and the children who were shouting in the temple, ``Hosanna to the Son of David,'' they became indignant 16 and said to Him, ``Do You hear what these children 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 FOR YOURSELF'?'' 17 And He left them and went out of the city to Bethany and spent the night there.

Note the sharp contrast between the children and the chief priests and scribes:

FIRST--The chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things Jesus did for the blind and the lame, yet became indignant and offended by it.

SECOND--The children saw the same thing and were praising Jesus as the promised Messiah-Hosanna to the Son of David.

What's the difference? The chief priests and scribes are in denial over their dependence upon God and His Messiah. In fact, God and His Messiah will easily mess up the "good thing" they had going for them. Whereas the children have no position to mess up, but are totally dependent upon God and welcome His Messiah. Take it one step further and note the desperate ones-the blind and the lame-who feel their dependent and desperate need to come to Jesus.

There are two ways to live your life: 1. You can be open, humble, eager to learn, and ready to listen.

2. You can be closed, prideful, defensive, and in denial and that's not a river in Egypt!