A Prayer of Praise for the Righteousness of Jesus This Holy Monday
By Emma Danzey
“And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, ‘It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers’” - Matthew 21:12-13
We know a lot about Palm Sunday and Good Friday, but what is Holy Monday? Heather Adams from Bible Study Tools shares that on Holy Monday, Jesus went back into Jerusalem and cursed a fruitless fig tree, wept over the city, and cleansed the temple.
Ponder this, the King of the World comes in riding on a donkey in humility on Sunday. Then, our great High Priest enters the temple the next day and turns over the tables. Holy Monday reminds us of the worthiness of our Savior. He was faultless, and people had taken His house of worship and made it about selfish gain. In thinking about all of the legalism and hypocrisy the Pharisees had been partaking in, it grieved Jesus. His people were supposed to love Him, but He was instead ignored as Messiah and would be chosen over a murderous criminal to take the cross a few days later.
There is a clear verse in Ephesians 4:26 that says, “Be angry and do not sin. Don’t let the sun go down on your anger.” Jesus was angry, but his actions were not sinful. It is hard to believe because we often like to take the love and compassion of Christ while ignoring His holiness and sovereignty. Ponder this, He has gone into the place that was supposed to be His home, where God resided in the Holy of Holies, and the people were making a business out of His home. They were taking advantage of God for personal gain. They made it a place of robbery. They took away the attention and purpose on the Lord, and they prevented the people from connecting with Him and placed a barrier in the way.
We see this in the time when Moses brought the Ten Commandments down the mountain, and the Israelites had crafted the golden calf to worship as an idol. Moses broke the commandments and went back up the mountain a second time. As we pray about the righteousness of Jesus, we can thank Him for His holiness and his gift of forgiveness to those who believe in Him. We, too, have made His house about selfish gain. We have sinned against Him, and we deserve His wrath eternally. However, by grace, we have been saved through faith. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
Let's pray:
Dear Jesus,
We praise You for Your righteousness this Holy Monday. We could not be obedient to the law. We failed miserably. We could not even keep one command. However, You came, and in your faithfulness to Your Word and to us, You gave us new life and hope. As we reflect on Your anger that was perfect and righteous, help us to take our sin seriously. Enable us to be intentional to think about the ways that we have sinned against you by sins of omission and sins of commission.
We have not followed You. We have turned to our own fleshly ways. We have committed spiritual adultery against You as our Groom. Please forgive us. Please help us not to stay there. Give us the conviction by Your Spirit, the foundation of Your Word, and the support of community to propel us into lives that fully honor You. Help us to look more like You, Jesus. Thank You for turning the tables that day. For giving us an eternal reminder that You flip our legalism and our deceptions on the ground and everything is leveled by the cross. All have sinned and fall short of Your glory. All deserve death and hell. But You came in Your holiness, and Your righteousness became our own. Thank You for Your great mercy on us. Thank You for being righteous for us and then placing it upon all who believe in Your name. Amen.
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