Installment 3 of the Holy Week article series, titled “Light in the Shadow of the Cross.”
By Wendy Kinney | Exclusive for SaraACarter.com
Today’s installment continues walking through the final week of Christ, tying Jesus’ confrontation in the temple to the silence we see in many pulpits today.
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Truth at the Temple: What Jesus Confronted—What We Won’t
On Palm Sunday, the crowds praised Him.
On Monday, He flipped the tables.
And on Tuesday—He spoke the truth without restraint.
Jesus Christ returned to the temple, not to soothe but to confront.
He faced down religious leaders who questioned His authority.
He exposed the polished veneer of outward holiness—and called it what it was: death wrapped in performance.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees…” (Matthew 23) Seven times, He declared it.
Woe to the hypocrites.
Woe to the blind guides.
Woe to those who shut the door to the Kingdom and lead others into destruction.
And then—He wept.
He didn’t weep because they rejected Him.
He wept because they were supposed to know better.
They were the teachers—the chief priests, scribes, and elders.
The ones entrusted with God’s house—yet blind to His presence.
They stood in the house of God and yet refused to hear the voice of God.
And today, we are watching the same tragedy unfold.
Too many of our pulpits are filled with whitewashed messages—polished sermons, curated tones, strategic silence.
Truth is being softened to preserve influence.
Holiness is being traded for platform.
And the very leaders who should be weeping for the persecuted Church are networking for the next conference.
Jesus Christ didn’t speak in vague generalities on Tuesday.
He didn’t hint. He didn’t hedge.
He named it. Exposed it. Rebuked it.
And then He warned what would happen if they didn’t repent.
Where are those voices today?
Where are the pastors who will speak the truth at the temple—not just from the comfort of the stage?
Where are the leaders who will call sin what it is—not out of hate, but out of love?
Where is the grief for the Church in Nigeria, in Syria, in the Congo—while Western leaders chase cultural approval?
Woe to us if we continue to sanitize the Gospel until it can’t save anyone.
Woe to us if we polish the church brand while the Bride is bleeding.
Woe to us if we trade the Word of God for the applause of men.
Jesus Christ didn’t hold back on Tuesday.
He stood in the house of God and declared the truth the leaders refused to say.
And then—He wept.
Not for Himself.
But for them.
For what they would lose. For what they refused to see. For those who would suffer because of their silence.
And today—we should be weeping too.
Because while the Western Church splits over language, lights, and relevance, the global Church is under siege.
In Nigeria, entire congregations are being slaughtered during Sunday service.
In China, pastors are disappearing—erased from their pulpits and their families.
In Syria, Christians are hunted like criminals by a regime built on terror.
In the Congo, believers are beheaded in churchyards while the world looks away.
Where is the righteous grief?
Where is the global outcry?
The same Jesus who confronted the temple leaders is still speaking today.
And His words echo through time:
“You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces…”
“You are like whitewashed tombs…”
“You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel…”
– Matthew 23:13, 24, 27
We are without excuse.
The words of Jesus Christ still echo through every sanctuary, every platform, every pulpit:
“Woe to you.”
Woe to the ones who know the truth—but won’t speak it.
Woe to the ones who build churches—but not disciples.
Woe to the ones who polish sermons while ignoring the slaughter.
Woe to the ones who seek relevance at the cost of reverence.
Because the same Jesus who warned the temple leaders did not change with the times.
He has not softened. He has not adjusted.
He is still holy. Still just. Still full of mercy—but unwilling to bless what He came to cleanse.
And today, He is still standing in the temple.
Still calling out corruption.
Still weeping for the flock.
So let the Church be warned:
Silence is not safety.
Compromise is not compassion.
And truth—real, unflinching truth—is not optional.
If we will not speak it, the rocks will cry out.
If we will not weep for the persecuted, the Lord will raise up voices who will.
And if we will not repent, judgment will begin in the house of God—just as He said.
But even in this, there is hope.
Because the same Jesus Christ who confronted with fire also called with love.
He longed to gather the people.
He longed to heal.
He longed to restore.
And He still does.
But it starts with us.
It starts in the temple.
It starts with truth.
