Passion Week - Holy Monday

 

Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man. (John 2:23-25 ESV).

 

Today is known as “Holy Monday” in the modern church. Remember that yesterday in Jesus’ last week of His earthly life, He made his Triumphal Entry into the Holy City, riding on a donkey over a royal “red carpet” of palm branches and cloaks, hailed by his disciples and the Galilean pilgrims as the messianic king. Monday would be different than Sunday. Our reading tells us he knew the heart of man; he knew the acclaim of the disciples and the crowd was built on a messiah of their own imagination. They were excited about a national savior who would overthrow the despised Romans. They had no categories for the idea that victory would come through experiencing, rather than inflicting, wrath and degrading shame.

 

This was not going to be a meek and mild Monday. Jesus was about to show them that judgment begins at home, with Israel. As they walked together over the rocky terrain of the Mount of Olives, Jesus spotted a fig tree off in the distance. From external appearances, it looked healthy, but on closer inspection, the tree was barren of fruit, with nothing on it but inedible leaves. The disciples could not have expected what Jesus did next. He called down a curse on the fig tree, declaring that it would never bear fruit again (cf. Matthew 21:18–19; Mark 11:12–14). Jesus will explain this visual parable the following day. But if the disciples were viewing the tree through spiritual eyes, they would remember that in the Old Testament, Israel was often referred to as a “fig tree” (Jeremiah 8:13; Hosea 9:10, 16; Joel 1:7). Judgment must begin at home.

 

They continued walking, the disciples undoubtedly unnerved by this unexpected behavior. But Jesus was just beginning. When Jesus entered the Temple Mount later that day, he was surrounded by pious Jews who had made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem for Passover. Not only would they have to pay the Temple tax, but they would also have to purchase an unblemished sacrificial animal in the Court of the Gentiles. As Jesus looked at the moneychangers and merchants, a holy zeal and righteous indignation welled up within him. They were turning his Father’s house of prayer for the nations (cf. Isaiah 56:7) into a den of thieves to prey upon the poor Passover pilgrims and to pervert true worship (cf. Jeremiah 7:11). Jesus began overturning the tables and chairs of the moneychangers, throwing out the merchants and their scurrying customers, refusing entrance to any who carried goods for sale. From this point forward, there would be no turning back. It is an incredible example of the life we are called to live. Often I fear we shrink from the possibility that our faith might cause some inconvenience or loss of esteem from others. Today is a good day to reexamine our commitment.