During this Holy Week, marami ang gumagawa ng religious rituals with hopes of drawing closer to God. Let’s find out in today’s devotional how we can be truly close to God.

Pumasok si Jesus sa Templo. Habang siya’y nagtuturo doon, lumapit sa kanya ang mga punong pari at ang mga pinuno ng bayan, at siya’y tinanong, “Ano ang karapatan mong gumawa ng mga bagay na ito? Sino ang nagbigay sa iyo ng karapatang gumawa nito?”

Mateo 21:23

The religious leaders knew that Jesus was making a big impact. Everywhere He went, He drew crowds of people, curious to hear Him teach. They were not happy about this. They saw Jesus as an enemy and a rival. What if the people choose to believe Jesus instead of them?

They were fuming in anger because of the authority Jesus displayed — in teaching the people, in healing the sick, and in forgiving the sinners. To get even and put an end to Jesus’ influence, they planned to ambush Him. And afterwards, to arrest Him. But He said to them, “Blind guides!… For you are like whitewashed tombs — beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity. Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness… Snakes! Sons of vipers! How will you escape the judgment of hell?” (Matthew 23:24–33, NLT)

Jesus exposed these religious for who they really were. Their religion could not save them. Dasal nga sila nang dasal pero malayo naman ang puso nila sa Diyos. They mistakenly thought that they could save their souls by following all the commands. How sad to think that the Son of God was standing right in front of them, but they never recognized Him. God, in Jesus, was so near yet they were still thousands of miles away.

God bridged the gap between Him and us by sending Jesus. Wala na tayong ibang dapat gawin kundi maniwala at magtiwala sa Kanya, at wala nang iba.

Let’s continue to meditate on the message of Christ’s sufferings, death, and resurrection, and don’t miss this opportunity to experience His power and presence. See you tomorrow as we continue our Holy Week series.