JESUS ACTED ON GOD'S WORD
MATTHEW 21:12-16
MATTHEW 21:12-16 NKJ
12 Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. 13 And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ”
14 Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant 16 and 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 babes and nursing infants
You have perfected praise’?”
The gospel of Matthew was written especially to those who were Jewish. He quotes much more Old Testament scripture proving that Jesus was the Messiah. We don't see the same amount of Old Testament scriptures in the other three gospels.
In these verses, we see Jesus refer to the scriptures as a basis for His actions. He first disrupts the temple business of buying and selling. The traditions of that day had reduced the temple into a scam that took advantage of people, and Jesus was not happy about it. As a side note, everyone who thinks that Jesus was soft and weak must have skipped over these verses. He was a one-man wrecking crew who drove out all those who bought and sold. Timid weak souls don't do that.
Later, when questioned about His behavior, Jesus referred to the scripture Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:11.
When the chief priests and scribes were upset with what Jesus was doing and with what children were saying about Him, he again went to scriptures. He quoted Psalm 8:2.
So Jesus was not only the fulfillment of scripture. He lived by the scriptures. The scriptures were the basis of His actions. I imagine the religious leaders of that day were frustrated trying to pin wrongdoing on Jesus. He would just look at them and ask, "have you never read?"
APPLICATION
Since Jesus is not only our Lord, He is also our example, it's good for us to learn from Him. If He depended on the scriptures as a basis for His actions, we would do well to follow His lead.
The more we read and renew our minds with God's word, the stronger we become. And we find that our actions when based on scripture are based on a solid foundation.
So we use scripture to govern our thoughts and words. God's word gives us insight as to how to treat our spouse, kids, friends, and enemies. God's word is God's wisdom, and it can add so much to our lives. Start where you are and begin incorporating the scriptures into your life. It sure worked for Jesus.
PRAYER
Thank You for Your Word, Father. And help me base my life on the solid rock of Your living Word in every area.