Holy Week: Day 2 (Cleansing the Temple) & 3 (Teaching and Confrontation)

          Song: “Jesus Is Coming Soon”l by Faith and Yeshua

Day 2 — Monday: Cleansing the Temple

 Key Scriptures:

• Matthew 21:12–17

12 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. 

13 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!”[a]

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

15 The leading priests and the teachers of religious law saw these wonderful miracles and heard even the children in the Temple shouting, “Praise God for the Son of David.” But the leaders were indignant. 

16 They asked Jesus, “Do you hear what these children are saying?”

“Yes,” Jesus replied. “Haven’t you ever read the Scriptures? For they say, ‘You have taught children and infants to give you praise.’[b]” 

17 Then he returned to Bethany, where he stayed overnight.

• Mark 11:15–19

• Luke 19:45–48

Events:

• Jesus drives money changers from the temple.

• He declares: “My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.”

Key Teaching Points:

1. Religious corruption angers God.
2. Worship should not be exploited for profit.
3. The temple was meant for prayer and access to God.

Message for Today:

• God desires authentic worship, not religious business.

• The believer’s heart is now God’s temple (1 Corinthians 6:19).

19 Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself,

Application: What tables might Jesus overturn in our hearts today?

Discussion Questions:

1. Why did Jesus respond so strongly to what was happening in the temple?
2. What does this event teach us about God’s view of worship?
3. What does it mean that our bodies are now temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19)?
4. What things today might corrupt worship in modern churches?

Application Question: If Jesus examined the “temple” of our hearts, what might He want to remove?

Day 3 — Tuesday: Teaching and Confrontation

Key Scriptures:

• Matthew 21–23

• Mark 11–13

• Luke 20–21

Events:

This was one of Jesus’ busiest teaching days.

He teaches:

• Parable of the Two Sons

• Parable of the Wicked Tenants

• Parable of the Wedding Banquet

He confronts:

• Pharisees

• Sadducees

• Herodians

He also gives: The Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24–25)

Key Teaching Points:

1. Religion without righteousness is hypocrisy.
2. God’s kingdom will include those who truly repent.
3. Christ reveals future events and calls believers to readiness.

Message for Today:

• Faith must produce fruit.

• God judges hypocrisy more harshly than ignorance.

Read: Matthew 23

Discussion Questions:

1. Why did Jesus speak so strongly against the Pharisees?
2. What is the difference between religion and true righteousness?
3. Why is hypocrisy especially damaging to faith communities?
4. How can believers guard themselves against becoming spiritually prideful?

Personal Reflection: What spiritual disciplines help keep our hearts humble before God?