From the Edges – Morning Devotions
Pastor Calvin Cook
Lent – Day 33 – The Anxiety of Jesus
Scripture Focus – Mark 11:15-18 15 And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 16 And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. 17 And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” 18 And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching.

Are you feeling anxious. Have all the “have to” stressed you until that is all you can think about. Mending a relationship, addressing financial concerns, sickness, the development of extra things you didn’t plan on having to address. Anxiety has become very real, and in this you are not alone.

According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA), anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the United States, affecting 40 million adults aged 18 and older, or 18.1% of the population every year. I would say, we all deal with anxiety that can lead to further problems that affect our everyday. Anxiety is often hidden and affecting us in ways that are not seen or experienced by others.

On this Monday of Holy week in reading the accompanying scripture, I immediately felt the anxiety Jesus was experiencing. WoW our Lord and Savior has also experienced anxiety. However, He didn’t allow it to stew and fester, He did something about it. Jesus’s anxiety was not caused by something that causes us anxiety like finances, work, relationships, etc…. What I see and read is Jesus’s anxiety was caused by what the people had turned the temple into and in essence how they were responding to their relationship with God. Read verse 17 – “My house will become a house of prayer, not what you turned it into.“

This really speaks to me in my individual life, certainly to Church life, and stretches further and further into everything else. When we navigate away from God and fill our God inspired time and situations with everything else, then soon those things become our priority and take over in the most subtle of ways. I see it happening every day, even in the strongest of Christians, that something else takes over and draws them away from what is important and meant to be by God.

Certainly, Jesus responded to his anxiety and this thing that had happened in the Temple, by clearing it out, cleansing it! Is this what needs to happen in our life. That through true repentance we allow Jesus to enter in and cleanse out the things of life that have consumed us and taken over. Turning over our tables that we have held on to. Maybe trusting a whole lot more and allowing the move of God to stretch beyond the limits we have placed.

In hearing the Holy Spirit speak “it isn’t the problem, it is how you deal with the problem, how you allow your life to be changed and cleansed.”

We continue to Resurrection Sunday Celebration – hopefully changed and different.

Note – the account of this day is also mentioned in Matthew 21:12-17 – Luke 19:45-48
The ADAA reference is from 2022 and came from a web source. You are encouraged to check for current numbers and statistics.
No medical or counseling advice is intended in this writing. If you are experiencing Anxiety, Depression, or any type of Physical or Mental illness – you are encouraged to seek treatment with a licensed and certified professional immediately.