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Jesus, the clearer of the temple.

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Jesus, the clearer of the temple.

Jesus’ first significant acts in Jerusalem are to curse a fig tree and clear the Temple courts. The two are related. Jesus’ intention is not to call the temple sacrificial system to reform, but something more dramatic: to prophesy its destruction. It is no longer fit for purpose. God’s presence will no longer reside in a building, but in the temple of Jesus’ followers’ hearts. And the atoning temple sacrifice will be once and for all replaced by Jesus’ bodily sacrifice on the cross.

In light of this, all attempts to save ourselves or our world at the altar's culture offers are futile. But when we receive the gift of God's presence at the core of our very beings, achieved for us by Jesus at the cross, we are enabled and empowered to live out the lives that offer real salvation to us and our communities. This is how Jesus saves the world.

By Ed Flint

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Jesus, the humble king.

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Jesus, the humble king.

In Mark 11:1-11, Jesus finally arrives into Jerusalem, the place that he has laid out as where he will spend his final days. By riding into town on a donkey, he is not only fulfilling the prophecy laid out to us in Zechariah 9:9, but also is subverting expectations of what it means to be a king. This approach, while completely countercultural then and now, invites Jesus' followers to walk in similarly humble footsteps.

Jesus is building with us a KIN-dom relationship -- where we become partners alongside him and continue the work that Jesus started. Through this passage, he demonstrates to us what can happen when we allow God to move, when we involve others in our lives, and when we admit that maybe we don't know best. Jesus' humility is an invitation to us to embrace the gifts we have not for our own glory or satisfaction, but for the good of others. 

By Rebekah Covington