Title: What the Lord Wants for the Church
Contents Today's text tells us three things that happened in the early days of Jesus' last entry into Jerusalem. In order to enter Jerusalem, Jesus rode a colt brought by the disciples from the village of Bethphage on the Mount of Olives near Jerusalem.
All the disciples who had followed Jesus from the time Jesus approached the descent of the Mount of Olives rejoiced and praised God with a loud voice over all the mighty works that Jesus had done that they had seen. They cried, "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord, peace in heaven and glory in the highest." Then some Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus,
"Teacher, rebuke your disciples." To rebuke the disciples is to stop them from doing what the disciples of Jesus are doing is wrong.” What were the disciples of Jesus doing? “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord, peace in heaven and in the highest places. is the glory.” Then why did the Pharisees ask Jesus not to let the disciples cry like that? Two things can be considered.
First, calling Jesus “the King who comes in the name of the Lord” is because he considered it a mistake that seriously challenged the faith of Judaism. Second, it can be said that it was to prevent the danger in advance, because if Israel under the Roman Empire established and praised their own king, not Herod, established by the Roman emperor, it could lead to relentless oppression by the Roman army. will be
In John 12:12-13, which tells the same story, we read, "The next day, when a great crowd who had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, they took palm branches and went out to meet them, and cried out, "Hosanna! “King of Israel,” he wrote.
Also, according to Mark 11:9-10, those who went before Jesus and those who followed him shouted, "Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David. Hosanna in the highest." In this way, calling Jesus the king of Israel and saying, “Come, the kingdom of our father David” could be heard as a slogan that incites rebellion and independence among the people of Israel from the standpoint of the Roman Empire.
The Pharisees may have feared retaliation from the Roman governor that might follow. But what did Jesus say to this? “I tell you, if these men remain silent, the stones will cry out.”
What does this word mean? The fact that Jesus is the “King who comes in the name of the Lord” and the Lord of true peace, and that the glory of God will be revealed through the salvation work that He will accomplish through His death on the cross has already come true. It is impossible to remain silent about the matter that will be known to the whole world. It is not something that will be hidden just because the disciples of Jesus are silent. This means that all the nations and people, including Jerusalem, should now know and accept Jesus Christ rightly, rejoice greatly in God's work of salvation through him, and give praise and glory to God.
The second thing that this text tells us is that Jesus looked down on the city of Jerusalem, where he would soon enter, and mourned. Jesus looked at the city and said, "It would have been good if you also had known about the peace today, but now it is hidden from your eyes. The day will come. Your enemies will build up a mound around you and imprison you on all sides, and you and the I will cast your children down to the ground, and I will not leave a stone upon a stone, because you do not know the day you will be cared for.”
In Jesus' lament there is a vivid prophecy of the utter destruction of the city of Jerusalem and the tragedy that ensued: "Your enemies will build up a barracks around you and imprison you on all sides, and they will throw you and your children in them to the ground; I will not leave it on you." Still, Jesus' sorrow for Jerusalem, who did not know what was to come in the near future, also stood in this groaning. And, most of all, what grieved Jesus was that Jerusalem did not know "the things of peace": "You should have known today the things of peace, but now they are hidden from your eyes."
What does it mean here that Jerusalem should have known about peace? This should be considered in connection with the cry of Jesus' disciples, as seen in verse 38, "Blessed be the King who comes in the name of the Lord, peace in heaven and glory in the highest." If Jerusalem would have known about peace, it should have known that Jesus Christ was the one who came as the true Lord of peace. He should have known the truth that through Jesus Christ, peace between God and us humans is made and peace between us humans is also made possible. He should have known that it was the will of God the Father in heaven to make all peace through Jesus Christ.
He should have known that through the obedience of his Son, Jesus Christ, peace would be established also with Heavenly Father, and that peace would be established in the whole world under heaven. Knowing this, he said that he had to accept Jesus Christ. But Jerusalem did not know it right away, so Jesus lamented that instead of peace it would result in the complete destruction of the city of Jerusalem.
The third thing that the text tells us is that Jesus finally entered the city of Jerusalem and was the first to cleanse the temple. When Jesus entered the temple, he drove out the merchants and said to them, “It is written, My house will be a house of prayer, but you have made a den of robbers.” In the temple in Jerusalem there were money changers who sold animals for sacrifice and those who wanted to change money to buy sacrifices. However, these merchants used to sell at a higher price than the normal price. He was used to extortion almost like a robber.
So the temple became like a den of robbers. The temple, where people had to come to God to pray, became a marketplace for those who were obsessed with filthy lust for riches. In the temple, the crowing of animals and the chatter of the merchants must have been louder than the prayers. Jesus was angry about this.
In Mark 11:15-16, which tells the same incident, Jesus overturned the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those who sold doves, and did not allow anyone to bring anything into the temple. Some may question what right Jesus had to do so. But by doing so, Jesus declared before all that He was the true Lord of the temple. He revealed his authority as the Son of God who came to restore true faith to God's people Israel.
What is revealed through these three events in today's text? Jesus wanted Jerusalem to receive Him as the true Prince of Peace sent by God. Not as a political Messiah, but as the true Messiah who will achieve peace with God and peace between humans. This meant that Jesus did not enter on a majestic horse, but on a colt. Jesus wanted Jerusalem to know right away what is about the true peace that God is making through Jesus Christ. With that feeling, he looked down at Jerusalem and wept.
Jesus wanted Jerusalem to be a city where right prayer and faith were established in a clean temple. He wanted the house of God, which had been disturbed by greedy merchants, to be clean. Above all, Jesus wanted the people of Israel to regain their right faith. That is why Jesus entered Jerusalem and was the first to enter the temple and drive out the merchants.
But how did Jerusalem respond to this desire of Jesus? Forgetting all the words of truth that Jesus preached and taught and all the wonderful miracles he performed, they captured him, handed him over to Pilate, the Roman governor, and pressed him to be crucified and killed. They rejected the gospel of true peace that God intended to give through Jesus Christ and caused their own destruction and destruction. Although it had a beautiful and magnificent temple like a fig tree with leaves but no fruit, it turned the house of God into a den of robbers.
The stories of today's text do not stop with the stories of the past of Jerusalem, which is now in the land of Palestine. I think it has deep spiritual and practical meaning for us today. We need to know that our Lord has the same wind he had for Jerusalem at that time for us today. Today, it is no exaggeration to say that Seoul is the New Jerusalem on this earth. The largest churches in the world are all gathered in Seoul. God's will to use the Korean church and this people as the kingdom of priests in the 21st century is clear. Considering the country's economic power and number of people, it would not be wrong to say that Korea is the world's largest Christian missionary country.
However, we need to examine whether the Korean church, which can be said to be the modern Jerusalem, is not fully receiving the Lord. Rather, we should be soberly examining whether we are betraying the Lord, handing over to the powers of the world, and nailing ourselves to the cross. We must reflect on whether we are trying to go another way, forgetting that Jesus Christ is the true King of this earth and the true and only way to peace. It is necessary to sternly reflect on whether the Korean church is the Korean church where Jesus looks down and groans and weeps.
Today is the foundation day of our church. Our Saemoonan Church will celebrate its 120th anniversary next year. Our church is a church that is asked to represent and symbolize the Korean church whether we like it or not because of its historicity. Therefore, all that the Lord desires of the Korean church may be more earnestly desired by this church. We should be the ones who rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that the Lord has done to our church over the past 119 years. We must become the ones who immediately receive Jesus Christ, our King and the Lord of true peace. No matter what pressure and obstacles may come, you should not stop testifying to him. We must not remain silent about the Lord's life and his true triumph.
We must not make the stones cry out the words that we should cry out. We must be those who seek peace in, by, and for Jesus Christ alone. We will have to build a house where Manmin prays. We should not become a church where the voices of those who greedy for all kinds of profit are louder than the voice of prayer. We must build a church where true faith lives and breathes. It should be a church where the Lord is always with us and Himself cleanses us. I believe that is what the Lord wants for our church celebrating its 119th anniversary.