Unempowered and Angry

The blind and the lame came to Him in the temple complex, and He healed them. When the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonders that He did and the children in the temple complex cheering, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant.
(Matthew 21:14-15 Holman Christian Standard Bible ®©)

There are times for all of us when we are the “victims” of Jesus’ rattling of our habits or comforts or religion. When Jesus overthrew the money-changers’ tables in the temple, He had just made what we call His “triumphal entry” into Jerusalem on a colt as Israel’s King.

His actions, both of displacing the money-changers and then of displacing sickness and blindness, were testimonies of His authority as King. “Son of David” was an acknowledgement of His authority to sit on David’s throne as a Kingly heir.

These presents of evidence of His authority over “the way things are” struck the hearts of Jerusalem’s leaders with fear and anger. Such encounters will make us fearful and unsafe if what we honor as authority is anything other than His crown.

When things change without our permission, when someone younger than us is suddenly in charge, when we don’t know what will happen next, we are out of control. That is best on days.

Learn to discern His leadership. Learn to dance with His leadership. Learn to leave the temple or anywhere else when He does. Don’t worry about what gets washed away in the storm of change when He is the wind and rain.

Keep your eyes on Him. He is the Compass.