Deut. 9:4-12
Heb. 3:1-11
John 2:13-22
John 2:13-22
13The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. 15Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” 17His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 18The Jews then said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” 19Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20The Jews then said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21But he was speaking of the temple of his body. 22After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
This scene is one that used to bother me. I am more comfortable with Jesus as Good Shepherd gathering the sheep together or as a Healer or Teacher. Here, though, we find the fulfillment of Malachi 3 “the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight—indeed, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts. 2But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?”
The Temple in Jesus’ time was the center of religious life for devout Jews. There were many rules and regulations, including the demand that all sacrifices had to be perfect and flawless. This created a profitable business in the Temple courts for those who exchanged Roman money for Jewish coin and sold spotless birds and lambs. Real worship of God became obscured by the rules.
That can happen to us as well. Have you ever felt that you can’t pray because you don’t know the ‘right words’? Do you hesitate to participate in a worship service that’s a little different than you are used to because you might do the ‘wrong thing’? I think God cares more for our hearts and intentions than the words or the posture.
13The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. 15Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” 17His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 18The Jews then said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” 19Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20The Jews then said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21But he was speaking of the temple of his body. 22After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
This scene is one that used to bother me. I am more comfortable with Jesus as Good Shepherd gathering the sheep together or as a Healer or Teacher. Here, though, we find the fulfillment of Malachi 3 “the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight—indeed, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts. 2But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?”
The Temple in Jesus’ time was the center of religious life for devout Jews. There were many rules and regulations, including the demand that all sacrifices had to be perfect and flawless. This created a profitable business in the Temple courts for those who exchanged Roman money for Jewish coin and sold spotless birds and lambs. Real worship of God became obscured by the rules.
That can happen to us as well. Have you ever felt that you can’t pray because you don’t know the ‘right words’? Do you hesitate to participate in a worship service that’s a little different than you are used to because you might do the ‘wrong thing’? I think God cares more for our hearts and intentions than the words or the posture.
In the El Greco painting here, the vendors are appalled by Jesus' actions. Within the temple of our lives, many things can come between us and worship. Those things need to be cleansed so we can draw near to God. We need to explore what comes first in our lives in order to regain intimacy we may have lost through following the rules and forgetting the love.There’s a little poem called Priorities that I clipped out of a catalog once upon a time:
When I reach the end of my days,
a moment or two from now,
I must look back on something more meaningful
than the pursuit of houses and land and machines and stocks and bonds.
Nor is fame of any lasting benefit.
I will consider my earthly existence
to have been wasted unless I can recall…
…a loving family
…a consistent investment in the lives of people
…and an earnest attempt to serve the God who made me.
And there’s no better time than now
to access the values which are worthy of my time and effort.
Are there places, in your life, that you feel God calling you to look at? Jesus comes indeed to heal and to teach, but sometimes healing involves cleansing and changing our lives. Rarely do we like it when it happens, but our souls are healthier for the experience.
For your journal: Write a prayer that invites God to show you what needs to be cleansed in your heart and life. Be ready to have God act. Sit quietly with the prayer and if things come to you, jot them down in your journal for meditating on.
