Scripture
Our verse for today comes from Matthew 21:14, ” Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them. “
Background
One might expect to read such a verse as this one about Jesus all throughout the gospels. And in fact there are numerous passages describing the healings that Jesus performs. But this particular instance involves some unusual circumstances. How many of you have learned through the years when to give your spouse some space? Which of us doesn’t know when it’s a bad time to approach our boss for a favor? And how quickly do our kids pick up on when they need to make themselves scarce around mom or dad? When we are aggravated about something, or the boss is in a bad mood, or someone in the home has had a bad scene, the mood is usually such that everyone walks around on eggshells, and no one dare ask for anything from the offended one until it blows over. But is that the case with Jesus and these blind and lame? Our Lord had just ransacked the temple, throwing furniture and scattering money all over the floor. He single-handedly shut down all the vendors and publicly scolded them for their treatment of His Father. And so, what better time for these blind and lame folks to come up to Him and ask for some help, right?
Application
If we were there, I can imagine us cringing as we watched them approach Jesus. Expecting Him to behave like us, we would be shaking our heads, feeling sorry for these pitiful saps as we feared the type of response their unfortunate timing would get. But Jesus goes and pulls a Jesus on them. Rather than spew His venom on those around Him, His righteous anger was spent on the greedy commerce, and He did not allow it to turn into a sinful mood that punished those who next encountered Him. His compassion never left Him, for even His cleansing of the temple was God’s hand reaching out to draw the hard-hearted back to Himself, an act of love for those who clearly didn’t want it. But we do let our moods do damage, don’t we? We’ve seen the carnage. But now we’ve seen our Lord show us the way. So call out to Him, even before the ill-timed victim arrives. Let His compassion be waiting there for them instead.
Charge
As we seek Him today, ask God to carry you through the ups and downs that will come your way today. Anticipate the downs, and have the Lord close by, regardless of the situation.
Rich Holt / Originally Published on : BCWorldview.org
Also published on : Medium.com.
