This past Sunday was Palm Sunday or as some refer to it as the day of Christ’s Triumphal Entry. It was a day of fulfilled prophecy (Zc 9:9) and Jesus stated that if the people and the children didn’t praise him at this time, the very rocks would cry out (Lk 19:40; Hk 2:11). So the expectation was set, but what happened? It seemed to all fizzle once Jesus reached the temple on his donkey ride. This is where the real hype should have escalated. The temple was where kings were anointed and proclaimed (2Ki 11:12). Why did the hype all fizzle out? What greeted Jesus at the temple? Bleating of sheep and goats, the mooing of cattle, the chaos of people buying and selling. No one at the temple was looking for a king. The Jewish leaders were nowhere to be seen.

The people who yelled and sang “Hosanna,” were not saying it because of who Jesus was, but because they thought Rome was now going to be defeated. Their oppressors would be vanquished, and they would have peace. The word “hosanna” was a cry meaning, “save us.” Yet, when Jesus entered the temple grounds, he knew they needed a deeper salvation than being freed from Roman oppression. Their temple was not ready to receive him as king. They were not spiritually minded at all! All around him he saw greed and extortion. The people had to exchange their money for the temple shekel and the exchange rates were exorbitant. The merchants here were not here for helping travelers to obtain their sacrifice, but to extort money from them for that sacrifice. And who controlled all of this? The Jewish leaders who were the ultimate ones getting rich off the people’s misery. They, too, were not really interested in helping their citizens worship God, but they saw the people beneath them and a means to make money from them. They were using the Law to justify their extortion of the people. Helping the people experience God in their lives was the farthest thing from their minds.

Also, the outer area was called the Court of Gentiles. This was the only place a non-Jew could worship God. But how could they? There were people, animals, vendor stands, all creating so much noise and chaos that they could not have an encounter with God. It seemed the Jewish leaders wanted Gentile proselytes, not so they could encounter God, but for the sake of extorting them as well. The temple had evolved into a place where God could not be worshipped. No wonder this caused Jesus’ ire against them.

Jesus knew immediately that they were not ready for a king. They definitely needed saving, but not from Rome. Or that was not their immediate need. They needed true salvation: being saved from their sin. Jesus knew he needed to work on their hearts before anything else would or could be meaningful. Therefore, he drove out the merchants, moneychangers, and animals and reprimanded the Jewish leaders for their greed and unrepentant hearts. Did they heed or try to understand what Jesus was doing? No. They asked what authority he had to do what he did (Mk 11:28). That means they had no understanding of who Jesus was and only had animosity for him. They had no repentant heart and dared anyone to question their motives. Even though they knew their motives were not pure, they believed their traditions were more important than the reasons behind why their traditions had been established. They were meeting the “letter of the Law” but not the “spirit of the Law.” Jesus knew that, and that is why he was ultimately arrested and crucified and not crowned king. He knew they first needed redemption, so he willingly submitted himself to that end.

What about us today? Are we really worshipping God or are we going through the motions? Were you excited about celebrating Palm Sunday or were you anxious for the service to be over so you could do what you really wanted to do for the rest of the day? Were you, like the Jewish leaders, going through the motions to appease your conscious trying to convince yourself that you are doing your best? Or are you realizing that you first need to get your heart in line with God so that your actions will be a result of you following God’s will, not a façade to give the appearance you are on God’s side?

Let’s take the time this season to fully understand why Jesus cleansed the temple. And to realize that he wants to do the same for us today. After all, we are now God’s temple (1Co 6:19). Have we polluted it and filled it with things that should not be there? Are we trying to justify what we have filled it with rather than asking  God what he wants us to have there?

Let’s take the time and make our temples holy. It is only then that God can use us in the way he desires. Let’s also make our temple a house of prayer and praise to the One True God. Then, and only then, can Jesus be on the throne of our hearts.

____________

Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

There is a unique offering of a red heifer that was made to prepare water for cleansing (Nu 19:1-22). The ashes from this sacrifice mixed with water was used to cleanse anyone who encountered death in some form or fashion. The priest who oversaw the sacrifice, the one who burned the animal, and the one who gathered up the ashes each had to wash after their duties were fulfilled before he could enter the city, and he remained unclean until the sun set. The Jewish rabbis taught that this sacrifice was a great mystery because those clean became unclean producing the ashes that made the unclean clean.

There were several specific requirements for this sacrifice and they all parallel the actions Christ did on the cross and what he accomplished doing that for us.

The animal had to be a heifer (female). This was the only sacrifice that required the animal to be female. Other sacrifices were male or could be either male or female. Yet this one was specifically required to be female. Christ’s body is the Church, his bride. The heifer was required to be female because life comes through females; also, all those in Christ become his bride.

The animal also had to be without defects or blemish, and had to be completely red, likely symbolizing blood. The animal could never have been under a yoke. We know that Christ never submitted himself to anyone but God, the Father. The entire body of the animal was sacrificed. According to the Jewish Midrash (something akin to a Jewish scripture commentary), the heifer was brought to the place of sacrifice on her own, that is, she went voluntarily to the Mount of Olives to her place of sacrifice. Christ offered himself willingly for us as well.

The heifer was sacrificed outside the camp, just as Christ was crucified outside the city of Jerusalem, and the heifer was forced to face west (toward the tabernacle). In the Midrash we read, “A causeway was made from the temple mount to the Mount of Olives, being constructed of arches above arches, each arch placed directly above each pier as a protection against a grave in the depths, whereby the priest who was to burn the cow, the cow itself, and all who aided in its preparation went forth to the Mount of Olives” (Misnah Parah 3:6). This allowed the priests to go across the Kidron Valley and over the cemetery at the foot of the Mount of Olives without becoming defiled or unclean.

This offering symbolized a one-time sacrifice. Although, technically, it had to be repeated when the ashes eventually ran out. We can see this symbolism as only nine sacrifices of this type were ever made from the time of Moses until the first century (about a 1500-year time span). Jesus himself was the tenth. The number ten represents completion of a divine order. Christ died once for the sins of mankind: past, present, and future. The heifer was a one-time thing (until the ashes ran out, of course), and symbolized a one-time sacrifice that was for the entire congregation and allowed perpetual cleansing going forward–just as Christ forgave all our sins as a one-time sacrifice.

The blood of the heifer was sprinkled seven times toward the tabernacle (or temple when it was erected in Jerusalem). The entire tabernacle/temple was a representation of Christ and his work of atonement. The number seven is a number representing perfection. Christ was the perfect fulfillment of all the symbolism of the tabernacle and its furniture.

The animal was burned with cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet wool. In total, these items represent humility: the removal of pride (cedar), the need for cleansing (hyssop), and the removal of sin (scarlet wool). Christ was the only human devoid of sin. Only he was without sin and only he could save all of humanity.

Christ blood was the atonement for our sin and the drink offering for us. Priests became unclean when they performed the ceremony of sacrifice – the priests are representations of Christ who became unclean as he took on the sins of mankind. Christ was made clean (righteous and glorified) before he entered the city again.

We are continuously made clean by our confession of our sins and cleansed by the Holy Spirit. John tells us, “If we confess our sins God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1Jn 1:9).

The ashes of the heifer when mixed with water would make one clean from having touched death–Adam plunged all mankind into death separating all who came after from God. Christ brings us back from spiritual death into his light where we can dwell with Him forever.

This sacrifice therefore represents our need for continual cleansing.

As you can see, Jesus Christ fulfilled all eight of the required sacrifices and, in essence, fulfilled the whole of the Law of Moses. The Old Covenant wasn’t cancelled; it was fulfilled. Christ created a New Covenant with his blood because the Old Covenant did not need to be followed any longer because he completed it.

Where exactly was Jesus Crucified? Join me next time for that discussion.

____________

Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens