Temple Tantrum // Rev. Matt Kennedy // Mar 29 2026

Historians have long wondered how Jesus showed up to Israel's capital one Sunday morning welcomed as a hero, only 5 days later to be crucified like a criminal. What happened in between Palm Sunday and Good Friday? To answer the question we'll need to dig into a complex religious-political situation of a raging culture war within 1st century Judea, provoked by the crisis of Roman occupation, that created no less than four major Jewish political parties and a whole lot of controversies (Luke 19:45-20:26). What has any of that to do with us? It's not just historical curiosity. Jesus refuses to be a mascot for any of our agendas or a footnote in our manifestos. He didn't come to endorse a side, but to be seated on the throne of our hearts.This story of palms and passion illuminates what we are being saved from when we turn to Christ in faith. Salvation doesn't come from political power, money in the bank, approval of friends, the success of your cause, or the vanquishing of your enemies. It is the message that every human heart writes checks it can't cash, but the loving self-sacrifice of God in Christ pays the bill and redeems us from debts of vindictiveness, ego, greed, vanity, and hatred; from the dominion of death to the kingdom of the living.