The Authority of Jesus

Matthew 21:12–22 ESV

And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.” And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, “ ‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?” And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany and lodged there. In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once. When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?” And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”

Flipping Tables

Church should be a place to connect with God, a place of prayer and comfort.

Our bodies are now the temple of God. What tables do we need to flip over?

Jesus kicked out the den of thieves then turned the temple into what it should be, a place of healing.

Jesus Praised

Those who had no agenda, children, saw these miracles and praised God. That’s as it should be.

The priests and scribes were upset that Jesus was being praised, not as it should be.

Jesus was ushered out of the temple, not as it should be.

Fig Tree

Even the Earth is not as it should be, not as it was meant to be.

Adam and Eve were given every plant to eat, except the one, and here was a plant with no fruit.

Jesus cursed the fig tree because it was not as it should be.

If you have faith and don’t doubt. Why do we continue to doubt?

Our Savior

Jesus had the authority to set things right in the temple

Jesus had the authority to receive honor and praise

Jesus had the authority to over the Earth

Jesus still has that authority and always will

Have you given Jesus authority over your life?

Is He still just a comforting thought?

Have you let Him flip some tables over in your heart and mind?

How shall we live

It’s okay to be disgusted by the world, but we have a living hope.

Be the light in the darkness

Show those around you what should be by your example

Give Jesus authority over your life