May 26 2025

Monday May 26

Luke 19:45-48– Remembering the Sacrifice for Freedom

45 Then He went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it, 46 saying to them, "It is written, 'My house is a house of prayer,' but you have made it a 'den of thieves.' " 47 And He was teaching daily in the temple. But the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people sought to destroy Him, 48 and were unable to do anything; for all the people were very attentive to hear Him.

Welcome to Pastor's Chat. Today is Memorial Day. Have you ever noticed we don’t say “Happy Memorial Day”? During Christmas time we might say, “Merry Christmas” or “happy holidays” and so forth as we celebrate the season. But we don’t celebrate Memorial Day. Memorial Day is not a day to be happy; it’s a day to remember the great sacrifice many made so that we might live in a free country.

I trust today that you’ll take time to remember that freedom is not free. Over one million people in our country paid the price of giving their own lives. They made the ultimate sacrifice. “Greater love has no man than this, than a man lay down his life for his friends.” These people laid down their lives for their friends, their family, their country, and their God.

America is a great place to live. With all the problems, difficulties, divisions, and strife we might have, it’s still the greatest place on planet Earth that God has blessed us with to be citizens in and live in. The freedom we enjoy is not free; a great price was paid for it. We need to remember that today. Today take the time to go to a memorial service. I’ll be going to one this morning with some local veterans and active military guys right here in my own neighborhood. There are other services in your community that you can choose to attend. Please, in some way today, remember and take time to honor those who died for our freedom. If you know someone or a family that gave a son or daughter to service and maybe sacrificed their life, give them a call. You can let them know you’re thinking about them today. You can pray for them, and take that time to remember.

It’s interesting to note how this ties in to what we are studying here we are in Luke chapter 19. Jesus has already told us that He has come to seek and to save that which was lost. For Jesus to seek and to save that which was lost, He had to die. He had to die on an old rugged cross. He had to pay the ultimate sacrifice. He had to lay down His life for His friends, and He did that for you and for me.

Oh, my friend, what a great sacrifice Jesus made. Did you ever think of the difference between the sacrifice Jesus made, and the soldiers and those in our military made as they laid down their lives for our country. Yes they made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. But what kind of freedom is that? The freedom to live in homes we want to live in, work jobs we want to work, go where we want to go, travel as we like to travel. We’re free to choose our vocations. There are so many things we are free to do.

But Jesus didn’t die to set us free to do what we want to do. Jesus died to set us free to be able to do what we ought to do!  And that is to live a life that honors, glorifies, and pleases Him and to enjoy the fullness of life—eternal life, God living within us. Oh, my friend, Jesus paid that sacrifice so we could be free from the guilt, the shame, the penalty, and the power of sin over us! We are set free by His sacrifice to do what is right and good. We are free to forgive others because we have been forgiven!

As we’re looking at Luke 19, the very last verses of the chapter, where it says in verses 45-48, “Then Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it, saying unto them, ‘It is written, My house is a house of prayer, but you made it a den of thieves.’” He was teaching daily in the temple, but the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people sought to destroy Him and were unable to do anything, for all the people were very attentive to hear Him.” 

This is interesting, and we’ll talk more about this tomorrow, but I believe this is taking place on Monday morning. Remember, on Sunday morning, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a colt, a donkey, and as He rode in, the people celebrated, cheered and yelled, “Hosanna in the Highest.” Jesus wept over the city. And then Jesus goes back to Bethany where He spends the night. The next morning, Monday morning, Jesus goes into the temple to cleanse it. Just like we have our problems in America today, they had their problems in Jerusalem in those days. Jesus denounced the wickedness and the evil of the religious leaders who were using the temple to make money. Oh, my friend, not much has changed over the years. We will talk more about this tomorrow.

Today, remember it is Memorial Day. Please take time to remember those who gave and made the ultimate sacrifice for the freedom we enjoy in our country today.

God bless!