Todays readings.. Genesis 32&33, Psalm 36, Matthew 21

“THEY WERE INDIGNANT”

Today’s chapter in Matthew (21) is full of drama and thought-challenging incidents.  The opposition to Jesus caused by his popularity had reached fever pitch. The religious leaders were afraid to take any action against him because his popularity had become so intense.
We read of his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, “the crowds that went before him and that followed after were shouting ‘Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!’” [v.9,10] Jesus then enters the temple (where the religious leaders normally reign supreme) “and drives out all who bought and sold in the temple.  Jesus denounces them, “ … you make it (the Temple) a den of robbers.” [v.12-13].

Next, “the blind and the lame came to him in the temple and he healed them.”  Drama upon drama, “but when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did they were indignant”  [v.15]  Their spiritual blindness had become absolute, they were so sure that they knew all the answers, their mindset had created total spiritual darkness. 

Two particular thoughts occurred to us from this incident.  Firstl , there are mindsets today: there is the total conviction that there is no God, that everything that exists sort of created itself, even  though ever more remarkable things have been uncovered in research by the men of science, making it impossible, it seems to us, for the rational thinking mind to even start to think there was no creative Master Mind behind it all.

Yet when we affirm there must be because of the vast array of evidence of most marvellous design – the atheist is indignant just as the High Priests were.  The second thought is, as we shall read in the next day or two; how fickle human attitudes are that have no depth to their understanding or belief, convictions are shallow – they are seen to be worthless..  Many of those who joined in the shouts of ‘Hosanna’ were soon to be persuaded to cry ‘Crucify Him’!!     

So we must earnestly ask ourselves, how deep is my own conviction?  Are we affected to some degree, however slight,, by those who scoff at our faith and are “indignant “ when we try talk to them about it. Are we earnest – in creating within ourselves “the full assurance of hope and faith?  Read Hebrews 6 v.11 and 10 v.22