“After Jesus had gone to Jerusalem, he went into the temple and looked around at everything. But since it was already late in the day, he went back to Bethany with the twelve disciples.” - Mark 11:11
I’m curious...
Jericho, if we walk, is 20 miles from Jerusalem...all up hill...a strenuous 8 hour journey. Google Maps does not suggest we take a route that directs us through Bethany...the detour adds about 90 minutes to our trip. Our biblical account tells us Jesus took the detour.
We know this because scripture tells us “Jesus and his disciples reached Bethphage and Bethany near the Mount of Olives (Mark 11:1). Logic suggests they planned to spend the night there after they returned from Jerusalem that evening. They probably dropped their gear and enjoyed a meal before completing the journey to Jerusalem.
No mention that they spent the night. The next sentence says... ”When they were getting close to Jerusalem, Jesus sent two of them on ahead. He told them, “Go into the next village. As soon as you enter it, you will find a young donkey that has never been ridden. Untie the donkey and bring it here. If anyone asks why you are doing that, say, ‘The Lord needs it and will soon bring it back.’”
The triumphal entrance, into the Holy City, that we celebrate this Sunday unfolded after a very long and exhausting day. He couldn’t skip it since it was a prophetic event but...we can imagine Jesus might have been eager to get beck to Bethany for a warm meal and a well earned night of sleep. But...he didn’t. He went to the temple.
Why? It was the end of the day and nothing was happening there. We’re told “he went into the temple and looked around at everything. But since it was already late in the day, he went back to Bethany with the twelve disciples”. I’m going to suggest Jesus had a purpose for this since it’s improbable he did anything purely on whim.
Let’s remember Jesus had already told his disciples...3 times...he was going to die.By this point nothing was a mystery to him even though he was fully human as well as fully God. So, this temple was God’s “home away from home.” The temple was built as the earthly residence for Jehovah. As Jesus prepared for His ordeal at Calvary, it’s possible he made this visit to “look around” and remind himself just why this supernatural event...God becoming human...was necessary and to fortify himself for the events to come. What more comforting place to do that than at home, in the “House of God”, with his father? We don’t know how long he was there but...he looked at “everything.”
What did he see?
He certainly saw the Holy of Holies, the resting place of the Ark of the Covenant and the Ten Commandments. This was the singular sacred geographical spot on earth where Humankind was given opportunity to attain peace with God through the annual sacrifice of the High Priest. You Kippur...the Day of Atonement...meant exactly that; it was the day the ritual sacrifice atoned for every sin we have committed. And, by implication, during the three hours the High Priest was performing his duties, “Satan could not condemn man before God.”
I can only imagine what went through our Lord’s mind. He must have been thinking “Father, we made all this pretty clear. How did it get so complicated? We told them how to live. We told them the consequences of disobedience and clearly outlined what it takes to remediate the consequence of sin. This temple is proof that they understood all of it.” Yet, what we failed to comprehend was that Yom Kippur was just one day out of 365. When the high priest exited the Holy of Holies the purity of our souls began to tarnish...a reminder that our holiness was not a function of our own selves but a function of God accepting the sacrifice of the high priest on our behalf. This required the high priest to lay his hand upon the offering, while killing it, as an acknowledgement that we deserved to die for our sin but God, in his grace, accepted the blood of an animal instead.
So Jesus, 5 days from now, became an eternal offering...the spotless Lamb of God. By offering himself as atonement for our sin he also became our High Priest. We are told in the book of Hebrews that He now dwells in the Holy of Holies, in Heaven, continually interceding for us. Yom Kippur has become a perpetual event. There is not a moment in time when His offering does not perfectly mitigate our sin. God has accepted his son’s offering and we are eternally redeemed. Satan cannot condemn us.
As a child I used to sit in the chapel at Saint Paul Bible College (Crown College) where my dad and mom began there life of service to Christ together. Even as a young boy that place held a sacred aura for me. Years later, as a student, I would sit in that same chapel beside Mali and pray we would have the ability to continue a path my parents began. It was the right place...the place where it all began for the Thompsons. It helped my put everything in perspective. It helped me find purpose and meaning
I believe Jesus wanted to visit the place where it all started and the place where he would finish it. Put it all in context. Remind himself that, as clear as he had made it for us, it was only he that could put an end to it all. He deliberated today and delivered it on Easter.
I often wish I could go back to where it all started but the old chapel is gone. As is the Holy of Holies. By the grace of God he has created a new temple, within me, where God can dwell. I don’t have to look back. I can look forward...eternally...at peace with God.
Live like it means everything because...it does.
Live boldly out there today...
