This is Me: Finding My Voice

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

12 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. 13He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”

14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. 15But 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, 16and 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’?” 17And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany and lodged there.

Jesus Curses the Fig Tree

18 In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry. 19And 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.

20When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?” 21And 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. 22And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”

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So today is Holy Monday. And when I read this, I was in a cafe working on this screenplay. It’s been hard doing things not for monetary gain. Even when I have been writing, the back of my mind is thinking of what if someone buys it? What if it’s Oscar-nominated? What if I become famous? And that isn’t the point. The point is to process a fear that I have and remember that God is with me. And not to be afraid of starting and being bad. Because I’ve never taken a class. It’s another way to put God above all the riches and treasures.

Anyways, so reading this verse. When people talk about Jesus flipping tables, it’s to highlight how justified anger is ok. But there was a specific part of the verse that really stood out to me today, “…it is written, my house shall be called a house of prayer”. And yea. When we break apart what prayer is, it’s ultimately talking with God and having a relationship with God and building and developing it. I think Jesus is saying that the house will be a place where people strive to have a relationship with God. And, more importantly, he died on the cross so we can have a personal relationship. Even today I was thinking that by dying, Jesus made a way for us to have eternal life through the resurrection.

The other verse made me think of fear and faith. The disciples were amazed at how he was able to make a tree stop giving nutrients, and he was like you have to have faith and not doubt. It convicted me a little, to be honest. I’m on the prayer team and sometimes when people come up to me with a prayer request, I doubt God can really do it, especially if it’s been a long time. So I’m going to stop doubting my power and authority with God. I have authority for mountains to be moved. I need to have faith and not doubt. Help my faith to be stronger than my doubt.

But I’m thinking of this in relation to Jesus dying. He’s trying to impart all these lessons before death. It reminds me of how parents try and prepare you for life before you become an adult. Jesus was dropping gems about faith and reverence and holiness. And he’s still teaching us because he’s alive. But I can imagine the disciples not realizing the importance of the moment.

Slow me down, Jesus, to see the lessons in the moment. To be present.