The Heart of Worship - Matthew 21:1-17

Many churches have split over the so-called worship wars. Do we worship in a “traditional” or “contemporary” style?

We’re often told that a church’s livelihood hangs in the balance and one little mistake will destroy a church. Because at the end of the day, success is always defined by numbers. How many folks were in the worship service?

How many people walked the aisle? Those “church metrics” have been pounded into our brains to the point we accept it as irrefutable truth.

But what if all of that is wrong? What if our metrics are wrong? Is it possible that church metrics could head in the right direction but we miss God completely?

God gave the commandments in order to show us our need for Him. Interestingly, the Pharisees took that same law and determined they didn’t need God because they could do it on their own. Could that be the church in America? We have figured church out to the point we no longer need God.

Our passage reminds us that worship isn’t about what God can do for you or offering God religious acts.

True worship is buried within the hearts of believers. And that is something that cannot be measured.

Look at verses 1-11 with me.

Worship isn’t about what God can do for you (vv. 1-11)

This passage is commonly referred to as Triumphal Entry. Interestingly, this is the beginning of the Passion Week. Jesus returned to Jerusalem in order to die on the cross. And in this passage of Scripture Jesus is being received by the people as King.

We get a brief glimpse of Jesus’s divinity when he tells his disciples to grab this young donkey and what to say when its owner objects. Then Matthew quotes the Old Testament prophet Zechariah 9:9 in verse 5. Zechariah prophesied of the coming king descending to Jerusalem on the back of a donkey.

The imagery here is very important. Jesus is fulfilling prophecy, being exalted as king, and yet, he’s riding to Jerusalem on the back of a donkey. He exalted as the king of kings, and yet he’s humbly riding on this beast of burden.

He’s exemplifying what he’s been telling the disciples over and over again: In order to be great you must become a slave. In order to be first you must be last.

Great power comes in the form of great humility. He’s the Savior of the world riding on a lowly donkey.

The people greet Jesus and praise him. They shout, Hosanna to the Son of David.

Hosanna simply means “save now” or “save/pray.” The word Hosanna basically combines two concepts: Worship and prayer. If you ask God to save you, isn’t that a prayer?

These folks are praying to Jesus as he rides by, “Save now!” “Save me!” “Save us!”

Jesus was being received as the Messiah. The one who was promised in the Old Testament that would save the world. Son of David is a messianic reference. So, they laid their coats and branches down for him to walk across.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, is actually a quote from Psalm 118. That’s the Psalm that states, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” It’s a statement that Jesus uses in reference to himself. In other words, the person who was going to save the world would be rejected by his own people: the Jewish people.

The Jews had a major problem: They didn’t know what they needed to be saved from. The Jews thought they needed to be saved from the Roman Empire. They thought the Romans were their problem and they needed to reestablish an independent Jewish nation.

But they really needed to be saved from their sins. And even in the midst of this praise there are some who come onto the scene questioning His authority. Questioning his worthiness to be praised.

Look at verses 10-11. People ask, “Who is this?” Notice it’s not the Pharisees or Saducees this time, it’s the whole city. Everyone is asking, who is this?

It might seem innocent, but these are the same people that in a very few short chapters will be shouting “Crucify him!”

It’s pretty obvious that the Jews worshipped Jesus because they thought he could do something for them. They thought he was going to overthrow the Roman government and reestablish the Jewish nation!

Jesus wasn’t necessarily worthy of praise in and of himself - he was worthy of praise because they thought he could give them what they wanted.

Jesus was a means to an end - not simply the end.

Isn’t that often the case for us as well?

We praise God, acknowledge salvation in Christ, and then expect something from God in return. We think if we live “Christian” lives then God will owe us.

We’ve reduced Christianity to “good marriages,” “healthy relationships,” and “generic kindness.”

And we think Jesus is the ticket to these things. Have you ever wanted the things that Jesus can give you more than Jesus himself? In essence, we’re totally capable of falling into the same trap as the Jews at the Triumphal Entry!”

In other words, Jesus is worthy of praise because he can do something for me!

What happens when you don’t get what you want? Is it because Jesus failed you?

That’s what the Jews thought. They praise him here, and shout “crucify him” all within the same week.

They abandoned Jesus because he didn’t give them what they wanted. What about you? Are you willing to abandon Christ if he doesn’t give you what you want?

Jesus does do something for you. Look at verse 11. The crowd from the Triumphal Entry calls Jesus a prophet. And he was a prophet.

He told the world the will of God concerning their salvation. He came to save sinners. That’s what he came to do. If that is all you get from Jesus Christ, is that enough?

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Often we fail to worship God properly not just because we think he can give us what we want, we also often think we can earn God’s favor with our religious acts.

Worship isn’t about offering God religious acts (vv. 12-17)

It’s interesting, because the first eleven verses take place outside of the temple - the house of worship - but verses 12-17 take place within the temple.

During the course of his ministry, Jesus actually cleanses the temple twice. He did it at the beginning of his earthly ministry and at the end of his ministry. Here, in our text we see Jesus’ second temple cleansing.

The first temple cleansing is recorded in the second chapter of the gospel of John.

Notice that the actual temple cleansing in our passage only takes place over the course of one verse - verse 12. Verse 13 quotes Jesus concerning it, but Matthew only uses a sentence to describe the physical event.

Verse 12 says, And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons.

At this time, businessmen had set up shop inside the temple. The idea was simple, folks would come to the temple from all over needing animals to sacrifice to God and these businessmen would have the animals right there in the temple.

And this business was being conducted right in the middle of the temple!

There were various courts within the temple. Non-jewish people were allowed to worship in the outer-court, while the Jews worshipped in an inner court - and these business folks were buying and selling in the outer court.

So imagine the scene - there’s business flying all over the place, transactions taking place, all the while, these gentiles or non-jewish people are trying to worship.

It would be so distracting for those who are truly here to worship. But it’s more than that - it’s making a mockery of the worship of God.

Keep in mind, these folks were out to make a profit. They were over-charging for animals. They were exchanging money at a profit. It wasn’t about worshipping God, it was about lining their own pockets.

In light of that, it’s easy to see why Jesus would be outraged. The House of God had become a place of business. He was disgusted by it.

Verse 13 implies that folks opposed Jesus and questioned his authority and he quoted Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:11.

He doesn’t appeal to his own authority, which he had, he appealed to God’s Word as his authority. God’s House, the temple, was supposed to be a house of prayer, a place of worship, and yet, these dishonest businessmen had overtaken it. They were robbing people who were going there to worship God.

But notice something absolutely amazing in verse 14. In the midst of his hot anger, we still see his overwhelming compassion. He heals the blind.

If there was ever an inconvenient moment for Jesus to heal someone, wouldn’t this be it? Wouldn’t it have been perfectly reasonable for Jesus to say, “Look guys, this isn’t the right time.”?

Doesn’t Jesus healing blind men in the midst of his anger almost fly in the face of the point that he’s trying to prove?

His healing shows us the depth of God’s compassion. The depth of his grace. Even in the midst of his wrath, there is still grace. Isn’t that amazing?

But look at what happens next: The religious leaders are angry at Jesus. They’re angry over the cleansing of the temple. They’re angry that Jesus would heal blind men. But there’s something that’s making them even angrier - the fact that children are praising the name of Jesus. They were saying, ““Hosanna to the Son of David!” In other words, “Save us, Messiah!”

The religious leaders rejected Jesus Christ, but these little children embraced him! Jesus even quotes Psalm 8 to show the religious leaders that children will praise Him.

Over and over again, Jesus uses children shame the religious leaders. These little children could identify the Messiah but the religious scholars were totally blind.

Temple worship was about a million things: it was about making money. It was about maintaining Jewish culture. It was about appearances and “raising your family right.”

It was about everything except praising God, which was the entire reason the temple was built!

There’s an amazing application from this passage to our modern churches. What would Jesus do if he walked into a modern evangelical church? What would he think of megachurches? What would he think of Good Shepherd? Would he be disgusted at what he saw?

Consider this: The buyers and sellers were operating in the temple in order to make worship more convenient. That was their goal! People didn’t need to bring their own animals to the temple because they could pick one up on the way in.

They were compromising what God intended in order to make their worship more convenient. Is that true for the modern evangelical church?

Too often convenience and “doing what works” is the driving force behind everything a church does. So we focus on branding, lights, sound, and music. It might even work, folks might come in droves. But what difference does it make if it’s gospeless? Could our churches be filled with people offering religious acts to God for worship? Sometimes we think that simply showing up is enough.

I certainly believe this is true for many evangelical churches, but I think this is even more true for our hearts.

It’s easy to call yourself a Christian while your life is missing the power of God’s Word. We could be christless Christians. And we so quickly abandon our faith for “what works.” We’re often willing to search the internet before we’re willing to go to God’s throne in prayer.

Maybe before Christ can cleanse any church he needs to cleanse your heart and my heart.

Maybe revival has to take place in each of our hearts before revival will take place in our churches. We need the child-like faith to carry it out and see it through.

Worship isn’t what God can do for you. Worship isn’t religious acts.

Recently, I listened to an interview with Matthew Redmen about how he wrote the song, “Heart of Worship.” Maybe you're familiar with the song.

“I’m coming back to the heart of worship and it’s all about you, it’s all about you Jesus.”

He said that through a series of circumstances at the church where he leads music, he realized that worship had become about the sound, the quality of the band, and the overall experience for him.

He realized in the midst of doing all these things for the church he was missing God. It began a “back-to-the-basics” moment for him, because he realized that his heart was the key to true worship.

Worship has never been about the music. It’s never been about the order of worship. It’s not about the experience. Worship has always been about the content of your heart. When you long for Jesus Christ to reign more in your life tomorrow than he does today - that’s when you’ll experience true worship.

Jesus worshiped perfectly. He wasn’t interested in what God would do for Him - so much so that He went to the cross. He wasn't offering God religious acts - He offered Himself. Considering that sacrifice and the grace of God to send His only Son to die for our sins should bring us to our knees and ignite a desire in us to worship Him rightly!

Let’s pray together.