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!

Matthew 21:12-13

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12 And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. 13 And He said to them, ``It is written, `MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER'; but you are making it a ROBBERS' DEN.''

This was a real problem within the Temple. It was not simply selling CDs, DVDs and books in the back of the room as most churches do or through their church bookstore nor is it the many sign-up, register and pay booths we have at our local churches. This was a real defrauding of the people!

1. Each animal was presented for inspection to see if it was acceptable for a proper sacrifice. Not only did they have to pay the inspector, but they inspectors tended to reject most of them and offer to sell a better specimen back to them at a high price. Or, if a person didn't have an animal to sacrifice they were gouged when they bought one from the Temple authorities.

2. There was also a Temple tax that was imposed upon everyone who came to the Temple feasts. This tax was to be paid in exact half-shekels and nothing else, therefore there was a third offense.

3. In addition to being gouged, those who were from out of town had to get their moneychanged to pay for the sacrifices. In the exchange transaction there was also a gouging of sorts going on. Because of the vast amount of pilgrims which journeyed to Jerusalem for Passover from foreign lands outside the land of Israel where collections would not already have been made, the revenue from such a conversion of money would have been immense!

They were stealing money from those whose pure intentions were to come to the Temple and make sacrifices to the Lord.

All in all, it seemed to Jesus that this had the spirit of a busy swap-meet, a major distraction away from coming to worship the God of gods. Anything that brings this spirit with money and the exchange of monies is most demeaning to the holiness of our God. So, Jesus cleaned up a bit!

What would Jesus do at your church service?

Matthew 21:1-11

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1 When they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, ``Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to Me. 3 ``If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, `The Lord has need of them,' and immediately he will send them.'' 4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: 5 ``SAY TO THE DAUGHTER OF ZION, `BEHOLD YOUR KING IS COMING TO YOU, GENTLE, AND MOUNTED ON A DONKEY, EVEN ON A COLT, THE FOAL OF A BEAST OF BURDEN.' ''

6 The disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them, 7 and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their coats on them; and He sat on the coats. 8 Most of the crowd spread their coats in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road. 9 The crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting, ``Hosanna to the Son of David; BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Hosanna in the highest!'' 10 When He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, ``Who is this?'' 11 And the crowds were saying, ``This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.''

NOTE all the players in this drama of Jesus presenting Himself as God's Messiah:

1. A donkey and her colt. Jesus will use whatever is necessary to demonstrate Himself to those who need Him.

2. The owner or care-taker. Jesus is looking to use all that we have to show Him off.

3. Jesus' disciples. Jesus' disciples are always hanging out with Him as they enjoy the many field trips.

4. Crowds going ahead of Him. These may be the curious, but certainly the interested. This is all God requires-that we be interested!

5. Those who followed Him. Jesus continues to draw a crowd in every nation who will lift Him up and honor Him as the Messiah-Hosanna, Son of David!

This pageantry happens 24-7-365. Each of us has a role to play in this daily drama. What part are you playing? I want to encourage you to find your place in the life and teachings of Jesus. He will present Himself to everyone. Will you participate?

Matthew 20:29-34

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29 As they were leaving Jericho a large crowd followed Him. 30 And two blind men sitting by the road, hearing that Jesus was passing by, cried out, ``Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!'' 31 The crowd sternly told them to be quiet, but they cried out all the more, ``Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!'' 32 And Jesus stopped and called them, and said, ``What do you want Me to do for you?'' 33 They said to Him, ``Lord, we want our eyes to be opened.'' 34 Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes and immediately they regained their sight and followed Him.

What a powerful contrast! Jesus just finished handling personal ambition by James and John, giving them a new definition of true leadership. NOW, 2 blind men have nothing but their blindness, their vulnerability, their cry for mercy to the only One Who could restore their sight-the Messiah. Jesus' question to them is curious. He's speaking with 2 men who are obviously blind and asks them, "What do you want Me to do?" Again, this is in contrast to the two brothers who wanted something from Jesus-position in the kingdom. Their answer has nothing to do with anything unreasonable, but they ask for a healing of their brokenness-their blindness-their need.

Jesus' response to James and John was to re-teach them what leadership is all about. Jesus' response to the 2 blind men was to be moved with compassion, touched right in their area of brokenness and they regained their sight, then they followed Jesus from that time on.

So, what is it you want from Jesus? To be more comfortable or to have a more convenient or prominent position with Him or to have Jesus meet you at your level of brokenness. One will get you another lesson or sermon. The other will give you the healing touch of Jesus.

Matthew 20:20-28

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20 Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to Jesus with her sons, bowing down and making a request of Him. 21 And He said to her, ``What do you wish?'' She said* to Him, ``Command that in Your kingdom these two sons of mine may sit one on Your right and one on Your left.'' 22 But Jesus answered, ``You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?'' They said* to Him, ``We are able.'' 23 He said* to them, ``My cup you shall drink; but to sit on My right and on My left, this is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by My Father.''

24 And hearing this, the ten became indignant with the two brothers. 25 But Jesus called them to Himself and said, ``You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them and their great men exercise authority over them. 26 ``It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, 27 and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many.''

John Calvin calls ambition, "a concealed flame." It exists in each of us, striving for acclaim, power, position, and attention. The concealed flame of ambition can be easily fueled when losing sight of the cross for visions of personal glory. If those closest to Christ fell prey to ambition, then we too must guard against its grip on our lives.

In my experience it is not just ambition that is the problem. The most extensive problem seems to be an optical one-THE BIG "I". So far in recent days in Matthew we've seen a man whose wealth had become his god and therefore came between him and following Jesus. We now see 2 brothers desiring certain positions in the kingdom-on the right and on the left. When it's all about ME, then it just isn't about JESUS.

Without a doubt the greatest disappointment to me has been watching men and women be more concerned about themselves and their conveniences than about spreading the movement of Jesus and His kingdom. There is more interest in a certain musical bent, the dazzle of a beautiful facility, the promotion of another program, the crowd--all giving a false sense of spirituality to spectating rather than participating! My heart continues to be broken by good people who want to sit in comfortable positions such as James and John, good people with a twisted perspective on what's most important.

Jesus makes it absolutely clear that we are hear, not to be served, but to serve. To be great in the kingdom is to find your position as a servant-that's a participator, not a spectator! So, are you in the stands watching or on the field in the action?