The Twilight Zone on the Monday of Holy Week

Yesterday was a most unusual Palm Sunday and 25th birthday celebration with my grandson. I wasn’t at church and I wasn’t in Austin celebrating with my family. But, I was still present for both. I watched four beautiful church and mass celebrations via livestream and I was on FaceTime with my family. The day before, my Canadian cousin FaceTimed me so I could meet her two-year-old foster child. Tonight, and tomorrow night I will be on Zoom calls which provides for many of us to see each other, be together – while apart. Isn’t this something?

It is amazing to be in tumultuous yet tremendous times and be provided with far greater innovations than what any other generation has ever experienced when they encountered plagues, epidemics and pandemics. I’m providing a little motivation for us, lest we forget to be grateful for the blessings we have been afforded.

In the 60s there was a TV series called “The Twilight Zone”.Rod Serling welcomed us on a journey into the Twilight Zone. Each episode presented different stories where characters found themselves dealing with disturbing or unusual events, an experience described as "entering the Twilight Zone". It often had a surprise ending and a moral. Now, the phrase “twilight zone is used to describe surreal experiences -- like these surreal times we are in today.

Speaking of surreal, I think about Monday of this most blessed Holy Week of our Lord’s passion. The predominate happening on this day was Jesus chasing out the money changers from the temple. He was on purpose with every act, healing, and teaching. If we knew it was our final week of life, wouldn’t we be taking care of “loose ends”, like getting some things right that were very wrong? Wouldn’t we be giving family and friends some of our wisdom from life, encouraging and giving clear thought-out messages to help them carry on? If He knew He would soon lay down His life for us, then wouldn’t He make sure that everything He did was for our good to be used as visual references for us to follow?

On this day of Holy Week, Jesus returned to Jerusalem and came upon the shameful, greedy practices at the Temple. He was so passionate about His Father’s House of Prayer being abused. Formerly, it had been where the blind and lame came when they heard Jesus was in the Temple. As the children saw Jesus standing there and teaching, they began to shout again, “Hosanna, to the Son of David.”

On this Holy Monday, He cleansed the temple. Back to the “surreal” time we are in right now. The churches, temples, and synagogues have been cleansed, so to speak. Not only are the stores inside many of the mega churches closed, but so are the places of worship – everywhere. My take on this season that we’re in – is God is setting things straight – setting His people straight – getting His house in order. That the principal thing isn’t really about the church building. It is about His Body – THE CHURCH – being set right. Getting down to the nitty gritty of what really is most important to Him. Jesus will soon come back for His bride without a spot or wrinkle or blemish. He cares more about us than He does brick and mortar.

Today He desires to cleanse us and purify our hearts and minds so that we are more like Him – in our thoughts, our words and our actions. Maybe, this surreal time is about our Sovereign Lord getting His Body in shape for bringing the family home – sooner than later. Today I take this message personally. It is taking this cleansing of the temple as cleansing of my temple. “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own.” (1 Corinthians 10:19) The Lord cares more about the “stuff” that has cluttered up Who we are and Whose we are. It’s time to get the temple squeaky clean! This Monday of Holy Week is a really good day for cleaning house!

Holy Tuesday -- Temple Tuesday

It’s Holy Tuesday also known as "Temple Tuesday" because we read how Jesus spent most of the day in the Temple in Jerusalem -- teaching and using parables to make His points about God’s great love for His people. Jesus knew this was His last week leading up to His death, so I suspect He was determined to leave an unforgettable “last impression”. And He sure did when He chased out the money changers and those buying and selling in the Temple. Of course, Jesus was angry with those who didn't respect this holy place of worship and prayer to our Holy God. Of all the questions Jesus confronted on this day, the one that most stirs me came from a scribe who asked, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12:28,30). Jesus laid out the answer to our success in this life and hereafter.

Speaking of temples and places of worship during this Holy Week, I’ve been so caught up with the activities of my grandchildren here in Austin, that I didn’t hear about the horrific fire in the majestic Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris until I read a friend’s Facebook post. I read another article that said the blaze was now largely extinguished. One official was quoted as saying the two iconic rectangular towers were saved. Of course, it touches home because I had the opportunity to visit this magnificent cathedral in 2016 and this photo was taken in front of the towers.

“The worst has been avoided, but the battle isn’t fully won yet,” French President Emmanuel Macron said in a statement outside of the cathedral. He also expressed his sympathies to Catholics around the world, the people of Paris and the people of France. “We will rebuild the cathedral together,” Macron said, adding that France will start an international fundraising campaign to raise money for the renovations. I read this quote by Cardinal Daniel DiNardo: “We are a people of hope and of the resurrection, and as devastating as this fire is, I know that the faith and love embodied by this magnificent Cathedral will grow stronger in the hearts of all Christians.” I was inspired when I also read that some of the cathedral’s art may have been saved because of recent renovations. Last week, for instance, 16 copper statues representing the Twelve Apostles and four evangelists were removed with a crane so that the spire could be renovated. How providential it seemed that the four evangelists were the ones who detailed this Holy Tuesday in their Gospels.

As devastating as the Notre Dame fire was to a man-made structure and as magnificent and majestic it may have been, none compares to the Temple of the Holy Spirit that Jesus sent to reside in each of His followers when death couldn't hold Him and He rose from the grave. It is a Temple not made by human hands, but by a "God made flesh" Man -- Jesus Christ. Jesus promised He would send the Holy Spirit to live in us. "Do you not know that your bodies are Temples of the Holy Spirit, Who is in you, Whom you have received from God? You are not your own;" (1 Corinthians 6:19)

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for Temple Tuesday, for so greatly showing us LOVE and for sending your Holy Spirit to abide in us!