In a liturgical year, Passion Week is the week prior to Easter. It is also known as Holy Week.
The week can be divided into Palm Sunday, Holy Monday, Holy Tuesday, Holy Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday.
Holy Monday is about how Christ cleansed the temple. After his triumphant entry into Jerusalem, Jesus cleansed the temple and showed the power of the King.
Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who were selling and buying in the temple. He overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold doves. He said to them, 'It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer'; but you are making it a den of robbers.' (Matthew 21:12-13)
Passages in the Bible about Holy Monday are located in Matthew 21:12-17, Mark 11:15-19, and Luke 19:45-48.
Many pastors preach about cleansing, both in the church and heart, this day.
One pastor took the opportunity to call on Christians to cleanse the church. He decisively pointed out that there is a problem in the church today. Leaders of the church can't tell what belongs to the church and what belongs to them. He said, "The biggest crisis in the Chinese church today is that the leaders can't tell what is theirs and what belongs to the churches. They call things the church's in front of believers and everyone applauds them loudly; but, behind everyone, they treat everything as their own. Believers who see this would weep quietly.
There are also pastors who hope Christians can rethink their faith. Christians should imitate Christ when they see sin in the church and point it out.
In addition to appealing for a cleansing of the church, some pastors hope believers can cleanse the temple inside themselves. Pastor Wang Haiqiang from the Fengtai Church in Beijing once shared that pride, greed, hatred, and other sins are all in everyone's hearts. Only by cleansing the sins inside themselves, just as Jesus cleansed the temple, will God enter into the hearts of Christians. In this way they become the temple of the Holy Spirit and have eternal joy and peace.
The questions for us to answer and contemplate are the following: Is the temple of our heart filled with filth? Do we care about the church's condition? Do we dare point out sin in the church?
Translated by: Grace Hubl
