A clean conscience is perhaps one of the most stress-free states of living one can achieve. The blessings of God come with no dirty baggage, no laundered money. They are clean. Enjoy them with no regrets. He wanted you to have them. Nobody was hurt in the process so you don’t have to worry.

As Moses and Aaron made their way back to the top of Horeb the people could hear the ‘sounds’ of God. It seemed to them that they were listening to thunder and they saw flashes of lightning. Whether or not they heard audibly God’s words for themselves is a matter of debate.

We come to this passage with joy and our hoorays because we know even more fully what the palm branch wavers were celebrating with their hosannas. It looked to them like Zechariah’s prophecy (Zech 9:9) was being fulfilled and their prayers for liberation by a king were being answered. We know that this was the King of Kings coming to set in motion the next piece of God’s plan of salvation – expressed through unconditional, self-giving love on the cross.

If people watched a silent movie of the last year of your life what could they conclude about what is important to you?

In today’s passage, Jesus’ dramatic rampage speaks loudly and clearly about what he is “for” and what he is “against.” Even without hearing the words of judgment that he shouts, clearly he’s dead set against the commerce that is being allowed.

Someone has said that a text taken out of context can be a pretext for anything! So we need to be careful to consider Jesus’ challenge to the disciples about “mountain moving faith” within the setting of the ongoing story.

Here’s the deal. “Mountain moving faith” is rooted in an authentic, growing relationship with the Lord.

In the memoirs of Pierre Van Paasen there’s a story about Nazi storm troopers who seized an elderly Jewish rabbi and dragged him to headquarters, to a room where another Jew was being beaten to death. Then, stripped naked, he was ordered to preach the sermon he’d prepared for the Sabbath. The rabbi asked for his yarmulke, and the Nazis, grinning, agreed. Poked and prodded by his captors, the trembling rabbi delivered, to the cries of his dying neighbor, a sermon on humility.

Christ suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried, and descended into hell (compare Romans 10:7; Ephesians 4:9).

Imagine Christ’s descent into hell: demons in an ecstasy of glee—strutting and parading, gloating and cackling as they celebrate the death and demise of the Son of God. Then Satan arrives amidst thunderous applause. There’s backslapping and high-fives; congratulations for finally winning what they believed to be the ultimate victory.