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To better understand the events of the gospel passage for today, we need to place it in context with Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem. Beginning at Luke 19 verse 29 we read: “…at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples, saying: ‘Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here.’…And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. And as he road along, they spread their cloaks on the road…”
Imagine you are a disciple of Christ on that day outside Jerusalem. As you approach the fabled seat of King David, you anticipate that Jesus will be anointed as both King and Messiah. You are ecstatic.
Returning to the account in Luke: “[And] the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!’”
You are overwhelmed. You want to rush up and fall before your Lord and King. As the colt approaches, you look into that beatific face…, and see the tears rolling down his cheeks. At first you think his tears are from an inexpressible joy, because of his triumphant entry into Jerusalem, but even the shouting of the crowd does not drown out the intense expression of his grief as you hear him cry out “…For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall lay thee even with the ground…”
You are stunned. You wonder if you heard right. In a daze, you step back from the adoring crowds, who must not have heard, and ponder the troubling words of your Lord. What could they mean? As you stumble after the ragged procession, you see, as Luke relates in the rest of the Gospel reading, that Jesus “…went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought; saying unto them, ‘It is written, My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves.’ And he taught daily in the temple.”
The events recorded by Luke seem to be happening at cross purposes. It begins with the triumphant entrance and the ecstasy of the people, but, rather than joy, Jesus expreses intense grief regarding Jerusalem. After arriving at the temple, he forcefully clears it of moneylenders, but then settles in to teach daily with much less drama. How are these disparate events related?
It all comes down to the central verse of the gospel passage: “My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves.” It appears the money changers are the thieves, but, really, all that drama over a few sheep?
The verse Jesus quotes is from chapter 56 in Isaiah. There we read: “Thus says the Lord: ‘Keep justice, and do righteousness, for soon my salvation will come, and my deliverance be revealed…’ And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord…, these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer;… for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”
Isaiah describes foreigners joining with the nation of Israel to worship God with joy when God’s salvation and deliverance is revealed, as we now know, in the person of Jesus Christ, but that is obviously not what happened on this day. Instead, Israel lost yet another opportunity to usher in the true Kingdom of God. They missed their first opportunity at the birth of Christ.
Matthew chapter 2 records the bizarre reaction of Jerusalem to the arrival of the wise men from the east, who said when they entered Jerusalem: “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” Then we read that Herod “…assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet’…”, quoting Micah 5:2 that identifies Bethlehem.
Why did no one from the leadership in Jerusalem go out to welcome the arrival of their long prophesied Lord and savior? They knew the prophesies, they studied the scriptures. Where were they?
In the Gospel of John we read in chapter 5: “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.” Why not?
In chapter 18 of Luke we read the account of the Pharisee and the publican. There we read: “Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.’” Then we read of the publican who cried out in his heart, “God be merciful to me a sinner.”
On one level we understand what is happening, the Pharisee is self-righteous and the publican is penitent, but if we dig a little deeper there is more to see. It all hinges on what it means to pray, especially for a Jew of that period.
I quote from an article on the Hebrew word for prayer and praying: One of the words meaning to pray is Palal from the parent root PL which literally means “Speak to Authority”… [And] pal has the meaning “fall”. Palal literally means to “fall down to the ground in the presence of one in authority to plead a cause.”
This word Palal also means judgment. In Old Testament times the major judicial decisions were made at the gates and entrance to the city… If anyone had a grievance they would go and “speak to authority” to obtain the justice they were looking for. The ancient Hebrew concept of a “judge” is one who restores life… We can now picture the people of the day…, falling down and earnestly asking for intervention in their situation of injustice…
Now we understand better what is happening with the publican and the Pharisee. First, the publican has come pleading before God, who is his only and ultimate Judge. With no other recourse for relief, the publican’s whole countenance is cast down before the Almighty who graciously grants him forgiveness and release from his pain and guilt.
The Pharisee, however, is his own judge. There is no need to plead his case before God. He has reviewed the evidence and concluded that he is better than the rabble, and especially better than the penitent publican. The Pharisee’s judgment is final. There is no need to consult God.
And herein lies the demise of the Jewish nation. The only legitimate theocracy on the planet has no need for God. Yes, they know the scriptures, they know the times, but they have better things to do.
Think back to our gospel reading, who are the thieves and what have they taken? The thieves are the ones who stole the prayers and judgments that belong only to God. The thieves are those who knew the scriptures and the prophesies, but rather than share the good news with the people, and certainly not with righteous foreigners seeking God, they keep it to themselves.
Paul tells us in Romans Chapter 8 that Christ came to restore his creation, and, in the process, he reclaimed prayer from the distorted theocracy of the Jewish nation, and established it as a central pillar in the Kingdom of God. The exquisite prayer that he taught his disciples in Matthew chapter 6, called the Lord’s Prayer, is a lighthouse, drawing us toward safe harbor in a loving relationship with God the Father.
But let’s be honest, when Paul tells us in the 5th chapter of his First letter to the Thessalonians that we should: “Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks…” What does that mean? How do you pray without ceasing? Can you walk about crying out with grief to God about your sins, and rejoicing at his forgiveness all day long?
Mother Teresa said prayer is “as necessary as the air, as the blood in our bodies, to keep us alive—to keep us alive to the grace of God.” God bless Mother Teresa, but I am no Mother Teresa. Some have said that prayer is not just a religious imperative, but a human reflex. What are they talking about?
In the New Testament, a couple of Greek words invoke a similar notion to the Hebrew sense of intense pleading, begging and entreating of one that is an authority. Such as the leper imploring Jesus to heal him in Luke 5:12, or the father’s desperate plea to Jesus to cast a demon out of his son in Luke 9:38.
But there is another concept for prayer as well. In Romans 9 Paul says: “For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh…”. The Greek word for “wish” that Paul uses is the basis for the verb “to pray” and the noun “prayer” in many passages including our gospel reading.
The Greek distinguishes between “wish” and “pray” essentially based on who the “wish” is directed toward. In a sense, when we sincerely express our wishes to God that is literally prayer. But what is a wish? It is a hope for the future. And we always have hope regarding the future.
For me, four truths were reinforced when I realized that the root of prayer is bringing our “wishes,” specifically, our hopes and concerns about the future, and laying them before God.
First, God is a person. This is totally obvious, because scripture tells us that, but who isn’t intimidated by the thought of bringing their puny, little “wishes” before the almighty God of the universe? However, God is not just A person, he is the very definition of “person.” Remember, we are made in HIS image. He is more “person” than any of us, in fact, God is three persons who are in perfect harmony and communion with one another. There are no hidden agendas, no irritation, and no confusion between the persons of God. Best of all, God has all the time in the universe to hear from us at anytime, and about anything no matter how big or small.
Second, God is the only one who CAN fulfill our hopes for the future. We think of “making a wish” as being childish and trivial, but God never considers our sincere prayers to be trivial. God always addresses our “wishes” that we bring to him in prayer, even if its not the way we expect. God wants to hear from us. And, guess what, because we always have hope for the future, you actually can pray without ceasing.
Third, prayer draws us closer to God to know his will. God has a much better idea on how to meet our needs than we do. A friend told me once that their church had an annual event out of doors, and each year they prayed that God would bless their event with good weather. That did not always happen, and finally they realized that what they should be praying for is asking God on which day they should schedule the event. God does not have to hear our prayers to know what we want. But praying will enlighten us on the will of God.
Fourth, whether believer or unbeliever, everyone makes wishes, and all have hopes for the future. However, unbelievers have no expectation their wishes will be heard or acted on. Before you believed, did you ever have despair that no one knew or cared or could do anything about some situation? As an unbeliever, we are trapped by the limits of our fallen natures and our unbelief. But when we believed we were freed from our self-centered wishes. Now, we are free to wish for what God desires, which leads to life eternal.
In Matthew chapter six Jesus tells us: “…your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
Paul reminds us in Philippians chapter 4: “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
To summarize: God wants us to bring all our hopes and concerns to him in prayer no matter how big or small. God wants to hear from us. Only God can and will address our prayers. When we bring our wishes to God in prayer, we are drawn closer to him, which frees us from our sinful natures to desire the perfect will of God.
Knowing that God wants to hear our prayers helps, but we all still want to know how best to pray. Obviously, scripture should be the foundation of our prayers, but how and where do you start? Let’s take a look at the bulletin insert, which is actually an ancient prayer aid. (See the link below for more information on the Prayer Wheel – and ancient aid to deeper prayer.)
The intent of the Prayer Wheel is to pray by following a path that begins with a phrase from the Lord’s Prayer and proceeds down through each successive lower ring until you arrive at the center, which is God.
For example, if you begin right at the top of the wheel, in the quadrant with the Celtic cross, we read “Holy is thy Name.” From there, we proceed straight down through “Wisdom” and “Incarnation” until we arrive at the Beatitude: “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” Note that “Children of God” is directly below the word God and in line with the word Peacemakers.
A simple prayer based on the above path starting with “Holy is thy Name” could be:
Father, thy name is holy, above all that we can know or contemplate apart from your revelation. In thy infinite wisdom, thy very Word, your beloved and only begotten Son, entered into this world as one of us, to reveal thy infinite majesty to us. He is our Peacemaker that enables us to enter into thy everlasting presence as adopted sons and daughters. We are humbled and grateful. We pray, show us the way of everlasting peace in you, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Link to a description of the Prayer Wheel including a pdf download.