Monday Devotional
Main Text: Matthew 21:12-22
It has been well said that death focuses the mind. As one thinks about death, the human tendency is to be drawn to what is supremely cherished. Indeed, the prospect of death tends to reveal a person’s most foundational character traits. At the practical level, a historical survey of man’s normal response to death will raise a soul-penetrating question for us to consider: “What would you be most concerned about during the final days of your life?”
While there is certainly much to learn from the final week of Jesus’ life, the events that occurred on Monday are worthy of our careful attention. Specifically, we discover how Jesus boldly confronted the impure and unbiblical behavior that was occurring in the Jerusalem temple (Matthew 21:12-13). Not only did Christ intend for these actions to fulfill Old Testament prophecy (Isaiah 56:7; Jeremiah 7:11; Matthew 21:13), but knowing that Matthew would eventually write a Gospel, Jesus also desired for Christians to learn a powerful truth about what should be treasured most in this life.
As the celebration of Passover was approaching, the Jewish people needed to purchase materials to make their temple sacrifices and worship the living God (Numbers 28:16-25). Everything that the Jews needed was being sold in the temple, along with a unique form of money that could be used to obtain the necessary items (Mark 11:15-18; Luke 19:45-47). However, the sellers were charging the buyers far above what they should have been. In doing so, a money making scam was created and God’s special place of worship had been corrupted.
With righteous anger, Jesus responded to this troubling scene by cleansing the temple. As the holy son of God, Jesus was zealous for the purity of worship because the Father requires worship to be conducted in spirit and truth (Hosea 6:6; John 4:23-24). Despite His upcoming crucifixion and eventual ascension into Heaven (1 Corinthians 15:3-8), Jesus could not allow the worship of God to remain defiled (Matthew 15:1-11). Even as death inched evermore closely, Jesus’ ultimate priority was to see God glorified through proper worship. Will this likewise be our mindset in the face of death?
Dewey is a licensed and ordained minister in the Southern Baptist Convention. He was raised in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, is happily married to Beall, and is a proud father of Isabelle Ruth. Dewey played college baseball at Western Texas College, receiving the Associate of Arts degree in General Studies. Following his time at Western Texas College, Dewey would continue as a student-athlete at The Master’s University, earning the Bachelor of Arts degree in Christian Ministries. Upon completion of his undergraduate work, Dewey went on to acquire the Master of Arts degree in Biblical Studies from The Master’s University, as well as the Master of Theology degree in Historical Theology from Campbellsville University. Dewey is currently a doctoral student at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, with an emphasis in Christian Worldview and Apologetics. Over the last decade, Dewey has served local churches in a variety of ways, focusing on next generation ministries. He has experience teaching children in AWANA, serving as youth pastor, as well as leading college students and young adults. He is also passionate about personal evangelism, and has led groups in gospel outreaches in cities around the country. To strengthen his service to the church, and in conjunction with his seminary studies, Dewey has participated in several academic fellowships and cohorts. He specializes in the disciplines of apologetics, biblical theology, historical theology, and systematic theology. Dewey is also actively involved with Covenant Confessions—a ministry of Covenant Baptist Theological Seminary. Today, Dewey serves as the Associate Pastor of Next Generation and Outreach at Metro East Baptist Church (Wichita, Kansas).
You can follow Dewey on Twitter @SlaveofChrist17
