Twenty-Eighth Day of Lent

Twenty-Eighth Day of Lent

Saturday, April 1, 2017

The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple area, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant.
Matthew 21:14

Isn’t this a wonderful verse? Can’t you just imagine the lame, the halt, and the blind groping their way to Jesus, receiving the incredible touch of the Master’s hand, and running away jubilant at their healing?

We smile when little children come to the sanctuary to sing for us. Their innocent faces, their excitement at being a part of the worship service, their young voices bless us. Imagine that day when the children’s voices echoed throughout the temple area as they praised God.

Wonderful picture, right? Wrong! Not a wonderful picture to those in charge.

Those crippled people did nothing to enhance the order of worship and the dignified atmosphere so carefully created! Those little children probably didn’t even know what they were saying. There was surely no place for them in the temple!

Indignant! The Bible describes the chief priests and teachers as indignant! Heaven forbid that healing and wholeness should get inside the temple! Heaven forbid that spontaneous praise of God should come from children – inside the temple! There’s a right way to do things; this was certainly not the way!

Prayer: Father, please don’t let us get so regimented that we have no time in our service of worship for the voices of children. Please don’t let us get so convinced of how things are supposed to be done that we cannot rejoice with those who are healed – physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Amen.

And He Set His Face toward Jerusalem. . . .

A Lenten Devotional Guide
prepared for Homosassa United Methodist Church, Spring 2007,
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Coordinator