Coming Kingdom and Cleansing the Temple

This morning I am looking at a couple of different verses having to do with Jesus' triumphant entry to Jerusalem and His following actions.  Lately, I have been reinvigorated in my study about the Kingdom of God, and this morning I felt like I received some new thoughts.  I am looking at two sets of verses from Mark's and Matthew's gospels  The first come from the Gospel of Mark 11:7-11 NIV:

[7] "When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. [8] Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. 

[9] Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, “Hosanna! ” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” 

[10] “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!” 

“Hosanna in the highest heaven!” 

[11] Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve."

Followed by Matthews account of what Jesus did once in Jerusalem, found in Matthew 21:12-16 NIV:

[12] Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. [13] “It is written,” he said to them, “ 'My house will be called a house of prayer,' but you are making it 'a den of robbers.' ” 

[14] The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. [15] But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant. 

[16] “Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him. 

“Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read, “ 'From the lips of children and infants you, Lord, have called forth your praise' ?”

Both Mark and Matthew have the same order of events, but they each included something unique that was not found in the other synoptic Gospel's so I wanted to highlight those today.

In Mark's Gospel, He records one of the phrases that were shouted, as "Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!" which definitely caught my eye!  Jesus had been preaching about the coming Kingdom of God, and Mark records eleven times He spoke of this Kingdom, prior to this parade.  This particular phrase is only found here in Mark, in all of the New Testament, however it is directly related to the Messianic prophecy found in Isaiah 9:7 NIV: "Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this."

It is my belief that this cry echoed the misunderstanding of what the Messiah would accomplish.  They thought that Jesus was coming to claim the throne, and establish an earthly kingdom, like David's Kingdom, and this was the parade that was getting things started. I imagine, there was some consternation, as Mark records Jesus, once he arrived in Jerusalem, just looking around and then leaving, having done nothing.  This should have been their first clue that Jesus was about something completely different then they thought.

Regardless of the exact timing, it is clear that Jesus' next steps, once in Jerusalem, was the clearing the temple.  I can't imagine the amount of turmoil and confusion this must have caused in the temple, and clearly the pharisees and temple leaders were upset.  As Messiah, I would have imagined that this seemed like a logical step for Jesus to make in the eyes of the people.  He was clearing out the temple that is supposed to be dedicated to His Father, and ultimately pointing to Him.  

What I love about Matthew's account is that he adds that then the blind and lame came and Jesus healed them!  This is exactly what Jesus normally did when proclaiming the coming Kingdom, He healed people as a sign of the New Kingdom reality!  It appears to me that Jesus cleansed the temple so that He could do in it what was supposed to happen in the temple, Healing and miracles, God's presence manifesting in His people!  Matthew records that children were shouting in the temple courts after witnessing the miracles that Jesus was performing!  Isn't that just the complete opposite of what the temple had sounded like before?  Instead of the shouts of people selling doves and changing money, there were shouts of of joy, as Jesus healed the lame and restored the sight to the blind!  

Is it safe to say that the spirit of religion only allows business transactions meaning nothing and completely ineffectual in the pursuit of righteousness?  

If I was going to draw these together into a point of reflection and then action,  I would say that as the time draws near to the actual coming of Jesus earthly Kingdom, His second coming, we will see something similar.  There will be many who misunderstand what this means, looking for some change in the political structure of the world!  There will be many who resist changes, especially in the church and because of this, there will be a cleansing of the Temple, now the global Body of Christ.  The Lord will increasingly demonstrate the reality of this Kingdom through miracles, signs and wonders, and the Body of Christ will be filled with shouts of joy and praise!  We live in an interesting time of partial expression and experience, of a final reality of God's Kingdom, and I believe that the word spoken by Isaiah will be fulfilled perfectly in time. 

"There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this." (Isaiah 9:7 NASB).

So, let us look to the Lord!  Let us give ourselves to the proclamation of the Kingdom, and demonstration of the Kingdom reality!  Let us pray for a cleansing of the Body of Christ, that we might truly represent the Kingdom of God, present already!  Let us pray that the House of Lord, the global church would be filled with shouts of joy and praise!  Let us pray for the hastening of His Kingdom into our midst!

Amen and Amen!