MARCH 30 READINGS…LUKE 19
Oh no! Jesus has done it again! Some would say that Jesus was just “poking the bear”, when in reality He was just fulfilling the purpose for which He came. As Jesus passes through Jericho, and while He is there He has an unlikely appointment with a tax collector named Zaccheaus. We know that the Jewish people despised the tax collectors, and with good reason. They had sold out their own people to Rome, and not only that, they cheated their own people by over-charging them with their taxes in order to make themselves rich. Jesus tells Zaccheaus that He wants to spend some time with him, and that He was going to stay at Zaccheaus’ house. Oh, the horror, that Jesus would stay in the house of a sinner…that tells you everything you need to know about this Jesus. Yes, it does, but not from the perspective of the religious “dead-heads”. It tells us that Jesus cares about the souls of people. It tells us that He came to call those in sin, who are ready to be called, to repentance. It tells us that Jesus changes people’s lives, and the only way to do that was to care enough about them to genuinely connect with them. It tells us that Jesus has the ability to save the “worst” of sinners…like YOU, like ME!
From Jericho Jesus moves on toward Jerusalem, where on “Palm Sunday” He makes His triumphal entry. The people received Him as a King…but in just a few short days these very same people would change their verbiage from “Hosanna” to “crucify Him”! The religious leaders tried to stop this celebration of Jesus as the One who comes in the Name of the Lord. Jesus tells them that they do not have the power to stop it…for if the people became silent the rocks on the ground would cry out. Think about it, a rock is dead and lifeless, but not as dead and lifeless as the Pharisees. Dead, lifeless rocks had more life in them to respond to the presence of the Messiah than did the religious leaders. From the entry into Jerusalem Jesus went to the Temple where He drove the crooked money changers, declaring that this place was to be a house of prayer. Jesus continued to teach in the Temple area. Jesus action in driving out the money changers, and His teachings inflamed the religious leaders, but because the people were listening and wanting to hear more, they were afraid to do anything…YET!
Please share your thoughts from today’s reading.
TOMORROW’S READING…LUKE 20
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