Series: Devotion

Leaders of Jerusalem are not willing. They do not recognize their God in the Man who stands before them. And so Jesus says, “You will not see Me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.

This story is bothering. The tenants have a history of murdering servants. How could anybody believe they would respect his son? They’ re going to kill him.

Jesus’ enemies have long been looking for a way to get rid of Him. But when He cleans out the temple they have turned into a marketplace, He attacks them on what they think of as their own ground.

God is urgent about gathering people into His kingdom. He wants us forgiven and brought home to Him as soon as possible. He will not be happy with any delay. He doesn’t want any of His harvest to be lost.

Do you ever feel like there’s just no way you could really matter to God? You see the greatness of the universe and the holiness of God, and then you look at yourself and—well, it doesn’t make sense. How could God care about someone as small and as messed up as I am?

As followers of Jesus, we share in His sufferings. We struggle with temptation. The Holy Spirit teaches us to put God’s kingdom first. And we lean on Jesus for strength and comfort—because He is our Savior, and He will never let us down.

Jesus’ death and resurrection is the only sign we really need. It marks Jesus as the Son of God, the Messiah God sent to save us. It shows that God accepted His sacrifice and it guarantees our own forgiveness and resurrection—for Jesus has promised to share His own everlasting life with all of us who trust in Him. That’s a sign worth having!

He’s finally behaving the way they think a good rabbi should! They miss the test.
What should they have done? Well, they could have said, “Please help her, there’s a child involved.” They could have even said, “Lord, if You do what she wants, she’ll stop bugging us and go away.” But no. “Send her away.”

Nobody is past His mercy, His love, His attention. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you have done. Jesus is here for you. His arms are waiting for you—those arms He once stretched out on a cross, for you.