Day 39, Mark 11
Good day everyone! Get Fired up because JESUS is “entering” in and shaking things up in Jerusalem!
I see three believable points in this chapter:
- House of Prayer
- Believe and Receive
- Rebelling against Authority
1- House of Prayer- Jesus enters Jerusalem and the Hosanna are flying — everyone is fired up and so happy! Offering Jesus their coat and singing His praises!
How quickly the tables turned! And oh Jesus turned them –
Sometimes Jesus has to overturn things in our lives to get us to listen!!!!
Maybe we are holding on to something or practicing our faith and believing a false teaching or not believing in all His teachings -
- and so He has to wake us up!
Now I am sure that this is not the first time that anyone ever brought up that this might not be so just — what they were doing at the temple changing money and charging for it!
But what JESUS enters in this time — He goes for it! He just turns everything over! He makes a statement…
He says to them — don’t you get it? I’m not telling you something new… and so JESUS quotes the scriptures — Isaiah 56:7, and Jeremiah 7:11
“My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples”
and then he says — “But YOU HAVE MADE IT A DEN OF THIEVES”
Now “house” here would refer to the temple -
- for us reading it today it refers to our church, our homes (domestic church) and our hearts — where Jesus lives in us — we are temples of the HOLY SPIRIT!
The heart is of course very important to remember here!
Our Church — I heard a great homily this past Sunday about how we should really respect the church as a place of prayer by being reverent and silent and not bother people who are praying in church –
- really respect it as a holy place — too many churches turn into halls — where massive conversations break out and there is no room for prayer!
Our Homes — One thing that all Catholics can fall into is not having your house as a place of prayer — It’s like the person who only exercises at the gym and so if they don’t go to the gym they don’t exercise —
NOW we have to have our homes resemble the same kind of peace and serenity as the main church — our homes should be extensions of the ONE church!
So is there a peaceful place where you can pray — are there reminders in your home like crucifixes or holy pictures — the same way you might hang up pictures of loved ones — you would want to hang up your holy family!!!
If your home is cluttered and or is not taken care of — then there will be lack of peace –
I’m not talking about expensive items inside — but clear uncluttered — modest living with order –
a place of prayer in the home –
Our brothers and sisters in ecclesial communities, Protestants, Evangelicals who don’t have a Church with the blessed sacrament there don’t go to the building – the church to pray — so many have to have a place in their home to pray —
Now we in the fullness of truth… know that prayer before JESUS in the blessed sacrament is so fruitful so of course we want to be there -
- but we also must have a place to pray and an environment in our homes that foster lifting the mind and heart to God in prayer.
Heart — Here we are at the heart of the matter! Is your heart a house of prayer?
Is your heart a peaceful dwelling place for the Lord Most High? Is it a place where you can see and hear Jesus?
Is your heart a place were silence can bear fruit for prayer?
Remember that your heart as a place of prayer is most important as you are a temple of the HOLY SPIRIT!
I remember a song I loved when I first came back to church and still do!
“Come and make my heart your home,
Come and be everything I have and all I own,
Search me through and through,
Until I become a Home for you”
Now I am not sure if that last line is right… so if you know the right words let me know…
but you get this idea — great song huh?
So important that we make a house of prayer in our churches, homes and hearts!!!
2- Believe and Receive!
We had a parish priest years ago that would pray for us and lay his hands in prayer on us — Just like we read Jesus doing… and I can recall him saying “Believe and Receive”
I always was so engaged when he would say this… and had no idea that it was directly from the mouth of JESUS!!!
Check this out…
When the apostles… early in the morning… pass the fig tree again and see it withered – Peter REMEMBERED —- made present —- and called to Jesus and said — look at the fig tree you cursed!!!
JESUS SAYS,
“Have faith in God.
Amen, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain,
‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,
and does not doubt in his heart
but believes that what he says will happen,
it shall be done for him.
Now let’s stop right there! We see here right away that if we don’t doubt in the heart — and we believe — whatever we say will happen? This is amazing!
Jesus continues…
Therefore I tell you, all that you ask for in prayer,
believe that you will receive it and it shall be yours.
There it is believe and receive– you know I think that as a people many of us have trouble receiving — you know we are all into being independent!
These are strong words from the Lord aren’t they? Can we stand on these words?
NOW THIS Really Fired Me UP — seeing this next part —
In our conference call last night we spoke about forgiveness — and I had no idea that it would be here!!! Total confirmation! This sounds just like the Our Father and the way that the Lord teaches the disciples how to pray…
to forgive!
“When you stand to pray,
forgive anyone against whom you have a grievance,
so that your heavenly Father may in turn forgive you your transgressions.”
WOW I love it when you can see all these word together the way Jesus said them!!!
All together this makes so much sense!!!
Believe and receive and don’t forget to forgive!!!
What would happen if we all decided to live like this?
These words are worth reflecting on over and over!
3- Rebelling Against Authority -
So now we see the Authority of Jesus questioned — so the Scribes and Chief Priests have questioned Jesus about everything else — but now this…
Now they go for the heart of the matter — they just bottom line it…
They say… “BY what authority are you doing these things? OR who gave you this authority to do them?”
OH WOW — Jesus answers with the U TURN — He says I am going to ask YOU one question and — if you answer me then I will tell you by what authority I do these things!
Then He says, “Was John’s baptism of heavenly or of human origin?”
The Scribes and High Priests found themselves in a logical dilemma — meaning they were stuck in their own thinking -
– if they said heavenly they would be agreeing with Jesus — and if they said humanly they were afraid of the crowd —
so fear and rebellion — what a combo!
When they said they didn’t know — that was it — JESUS would not answer!
And so we see it loud and clear — rebelling the authority of Jesus and His teachings leads to hardness of heart!
We must submit our intellect to all Jesus teaches us and then let HIS LIGHT penetrate our rebelliousness in what ever area it is!
Because where did we see rebellion first begin — In the garden with Adam and EVE!
Where is the first place we experience rebellion?
– in our homes with our sons and daughters! – in our hearts!!!
WE truly must transform into fully obedient children – this takes the power of patience and grace!
Jesus please help us to be obedient servants and give us the grace to submit to your truth!
