Matthew 21:6-11 (NLT)

The two disciples did as Jesus commanded. They brought the donkey and the colt to him and threw their garments over the colt, and he sat on it. Most of the crowd spread their garments on the road ahead of him, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Jesus was in the center of the procession, and the people all around him were shouting, “Hosanna, Son of David! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in highest heaven!” The entire city of Jerusalem was in an uproar as he entered. “Who is this?” they asked. And the crowds replied, “It’s Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

Matthew 21:12-14 (NLT)

Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out all the people buying and selling animals for sacrifice. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves. He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves!” The blind and the lame came to him in the Temple, and he healed them.

John 2:18-21 (NLT)

But the Jewish leaders demanded, “What are you doing? If God gave you authority to do this, show us a miraculous sign to prove it.”

“All right,” Jesus replied. “Destroy this temple, and in three days, I will raise it up.”

“What!” they exclaimed. “It has taken forty-six years to build this Temple, and you can rebuild it in three days?” But when Jesus said “this temple,” he meant his own body.

Hebrews 10:20-22 (NLT)

By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.

1. A “house of prayer” is a place where humanity can access God.

Matthew 21:13 (NLT)

My Temple will be called a house of prayer, but you have turned it into a den of thieves!

Matthew 26:55 (NLT)

Am I some dangerous revolutionary, that you come with swords and clubs to arrest me?

Matthew 27:44 (NLT)

Even the revolutionaries who were crucified with him ridiculed him in the same way.

2. The people sought to bring God into their situation, while Jesus sought to bring the people to God.

3. God’s grace is activated when we acknowledge our need and move towards Jesus. It remains dormant in our self-sufficiency!

Matthew 5:3 (NLT)

God blesses those who are poor in spirit and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.

Matthew 21:14 (NLT)

The blind and the lame came to him in the Temple, and he healed them.

4. Scripturally, repentance means changing our minds, acknowledging our needs, and turning from our way towards God’s way.

Matthew 21:18-22 (NLT)

In the morning, as Jesus was returning to Jerusalem, he was hungry, and he noticed a fig tree beside the road. He went over to see if there were any figs, but there were only leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” And immediately, the fig tree withered up. The disciples were amazed when they saw this and asked, “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?” Then Jesus told them, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and don’t doubt, you can do things like this and much more. You can even say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. You can pray for anything, and if you have faith, you will receive it.”

Genesis 3:6, 7 (NLT)

The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful, and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So, she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. At that moment, their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So, they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.

5. Through the cross, Jesus annihilates both the power of sin in our lives and the shame of sin that comes from our failures!

Matthew 21:21, 22 (NLT)

Then Jesus told them, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and don’t doubt, you can do things like this and much more. You can even say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. You can pray for anything, and if you have faith, you will receive it.”