Stages of God’s Visitation
Experiencing God’s presence can transform our lives in profound ways. In Matthew 21:12-17, Jesus demonstrates the stages of God’s visitation by cleansing the temple, healing the blind and the lame, and receiving praise from children. This passage vividly shows how God’s presence manifests and impacts us. Join us as we delve into the stages of God’s visitation, and learn to recognize and embrace God’s work in our daily lives.
And Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all those who were selling and buying on the temple grounds, and He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. And He said to them, “It is written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a den of robbers.”
And those who were blind and those who limped came to Him in the temple area, and He healed them. But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He had done, and the children who were shouting in the temple area, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they became indignant, and they said to Him, “Do You hear what these children are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes. Have you never read, ‘From the mouths of infants and nursing babies You have prepared praise for Yourself’?”
And He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there.
(Matthew 21:12-17)
Stage 1 – Cleansing
We see a procedure, a protocol, an order of events here, at the instance of the Lord Jesus. The first thing that happened when He entered the temple courts was to drive out those who were buying and selling. He drove them out and made them exit the space that was preserved for the glory of God.
The Lord objected to the actions of those who merchandised in the house of God but He embraced the idea of their prayer. He likened doing business there to theft – “My house will be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a den of robbers.”
Stage 2 – Healing
Afterwards, the blind and the lame came to him at the temple in the same place where merchandising was happening. After He drove the merchants out, He began to heal the blind and the lame. Those limited in sight and in walk find opportunities when those given to worshipping their bellies and mammon are removed.
Stage 3 – Our Responses
From the passage, we see different responses to the Lord. First from the leadership, the chief priests and scribes. They responded with offense, which is expected when merchandising stops. Understand that those in authority and responsible for teaching will be offended. The Bible says they were offended when they saw the wonders the Lord performed.
The second response is from the young ones. They were praising God and acknowledging that this is a visitation of God. This is the response we ought to have. And like the passage says, the Lord Jesus will lead you.
This is how God’s visitation will work. Those that want to see the glory of God must open themselves up to these different stages of God’s visitation. Expect the Lord to come and do a cleansing of that which is impure, followed up by a manifestation of His will, power and love. And He will afterwards establish His further intentions, and at some point, will leave us for a while.
What will your response be in the different stages of God’s visitation?
