Drive out darkness and overturn immorality

Matthew 20:29-21:22 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed Him. ³⁰ And two blind men sitting by the road, hearing that Jesus was passing by, cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” ³¹ The crowd sternly told them to be quiet, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” ³² And Jesus stopped and called them, and said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” ³³ They said to Him, “Lord, we want our eyes to be opened.” ³⁴ Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes; and immediately they regained their sight and followed Him.

21 When they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, ² saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to Me. ³ If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.” ⁴ This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:

⁵ “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold your King is coming to you,
Gentle, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”

⁶ The disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them, ⁷ and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their coats on them; and He sat on the coats. ⁸ Most of the crowd spread their coats in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road. ⁹ The crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting,

“Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest!”

¹⁰ When He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, “Who is this?” ¹¹ And the crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee.”

¹² And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. ¹³ And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a robbers’ den.”

¹⁴ And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them. ¹⁵ But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He had done, and the children who were shouting in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they became indignant ¹⁶ and said to Him, “Do You hear what these children 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 for Yourself’?” ¹⁷ And He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there.

¹⁸ Now in the morning, when He was returning to the city, He became hungry. ¹⁹ Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it except leaves only; and He said to it, “No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you.” And at once the fig tree withered.

²⁰ Seeing this, the disciples were amazed and asked, “How did the fig tree wither all at once?” ²¹ And Jesus answered and said to them, “Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it will happen. ²² And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”

Today’s text says:   When He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee.” And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a robbers’ den.”   The religious leaders had allowed God’s temple to become a place of business; a place of profit not of prayer. Of all the things that were said and done about and against Jesus, this stands alone as the time that He displayed anger. That’s what righteous anger looks like. It is not directed toward what hurts or offends ourselves, but rather righteous anger is against what offends God. We today should not think that we have righteous anger toward political views that differ from ours. Even if our rights are being affected, that does not make it righteous in the eyes of God. We should though have righteous anger toward the things both political and social that offend God. We should be righteously anger over the immorality in our culture and society. We should be righteously angry at the politicians, lawmakers and judges who condone and conspire in the murder of millions of unborn babies. We should in every way possible, drive them out of their places of authority.

The text continues:  Now in the morning, when He was returning to the city, He became hungry. Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it except leaves only; and He said to it, “No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you.” And at once the fig tree withered. Seeing this, the disciples were amazed and asked, “How did the fig tree wither all at once?” And Jesus answered and said to them, “Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it will happen. And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”   Prayer is our greatest and most effective weapon against the darkness of our culture and society. We need not physically overturn tables or violently throw people out.  Romans 12:21 says:  Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.   2 Corinthians 10:4-6 says: The weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete.  If we will faithfully fight the spiritual darkness in our nation and our culture in the spiritual realm, if we have faith and do not doubt, all things we ask in prayer, believing, we will receive. In Matthew 16:18-19 Jesus says:  “Upon this rock (the revelation that Jesus is the Christ) I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”  We need to stand against the gates of Hell. We need to bind darkness and immorality in our culture and our nation. We need to loose the light of Christ and His righteousness over our land.

What of us though, along with the revelation that Jesus is the Christ, what must we do to stand against the powers of darkness? Look again at what it says:  Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a robbers’ den.”  1 Corinthians 3:16 says:  Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?  What is it in our own lives that Jesus would drive out? What must be overturned, that we would be holy and righteous in God’s sight?   In Psalm 139:23-24 it says:  Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.  We need to invite God to come in and drive out and overturn anything and everything in our lives that would hinder our power in prayer. We need to invite the Holy Spirit to lead us and guide us.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit, like the psalmist I say:  Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way. Then I will stand against the darkness in our nation and culture in Your righteousness. With the keys to the kingdom of heaven, I will stand against the very gates of Hell. I will ask and You will do it.  Amen.