166. Monday in Holy Week.
Lord, cleanse our hearts, and teach
our lips to show forth thy praise. Amen.
Matthew 21, 10-16. And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? And the multitude said, This is Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee. And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves; and said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves. And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them. And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the son of David! they were sore displeased, and said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea: have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?
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Though the meekest of all kings, Christ is nevertheless filled with fiery zeal against wickedness, and does not tolerate ungodly men within the borders of his kingdom. The gentleness in which he deals with the afflicted who wish to be cleansed of their sin is no more pronounced than is the sternness with which he drives out of his church all self-confident and impenitent sinners. He does not crush the broken reed; but he brings low the proud and the stiff-necked. He that will not humble himself shall be cast out; for the kingdom of Christ is the home of humility and meekness and love. He heals the blind and the lame, and the Hosanna of babes is sweetest music to him; but he whips the money changers and traders out of his house, and the haughty scribes he rebukes with the two-edged sword of the word. The temple of burnt offerings is destroyed, and in its place is erected a temple of living stones, a temple in which God is worshiped in spirit and in truth. Let it be fully understood that only such as repent and become little children shall enter this temple. Humility and faith secure admission, while the doors are shut against the worldly, the vain, and the self-righteous. In a great house there are, to be sure, not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; but the former are unto honor and the latter unto dishonor. The tares are, indeed, allowed to grow in the field together with the wheat until the harvest; but they do not belong there, and they shall in due season be separated from the wheat with merciless severity. Let each of us examine himself and find whether or not his heart has been made humble and is cleansed in the blood of Jesus, thus enabling us to give the answer of a good conscience toward God, and to worship him in spirit and in truth; for none other shall be able to stand before him on the day of judgment. Jesus gave himself for us, that he might save us from the ways and works of the devil; and he let water and blood flow from his side for the purification of his peculiar people. Shall we not, then, follow holiness, and be zealous of good works? Now then, by the power of the blood of Christ, leave the ways of darkness; be not unequally yoked with unbelief. Purify your soul in the obedience of truth; let your heart be a holy temple, and your whole life a stainless service devoted to him whom “zeal for the house of God hath eaten up!”
Grant us this grace, merciful God, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
Return, O holy Dove! return,
Sweet messenger of rest!
I hate the sins that made thee mourn,
And drove thee from my breast.
So shall my walk be close with God,
Calm and serene my frame;
So purer light shall mark the road
That leads me to the Lamb.