And the Jews’ passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem,
John 2:13
Dear Church and Friends,
When Jesus arrived at the Temple in Jerusalem he found things out of order. The Temple was still there, the altar, the priests doing their ministry, the fire, the water, the incense burning but still things were not right.
And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: (John 2:14). These things were not out of place, the animals and the money were all a part of the worship of God. The problem was they had gone from elements of worship to hindrances to worship. They cluttered the Temple. Their importance was changed into a way to make a nice profit. Oxen, doves, money, and sheep are somehow changed. The money-changers pervert the order of things into disorder.
What is it that the Savior finds in us? What trappings of religion distract us from serving God? Remember we are the Temple of the Holy Ghost. What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). What if He came today to inspect His Temple?
He, of course, does come to oversee matters in His church. Once the problem(s) are identified the next steps are still the same. And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables; (John 2:15).
- A scourge: The Lord of the Sabbath has a right to make a tool for judgment. He has a right to walk into the Temple and decide what stays and what goes. He will weigh the motivations of the heart; not with scales of the merchants, but with the scales of heaven. By his Word he will judge and make the final determination about what stays and what goes.
- of small cords: How large could he have made it? But he didn’t, it was of small cords. This shows us the great mercy of the Savior. His judgment always comes tempered with mercy. Imagine the fate of those selling in the temple if he had unleashed all of his wrath. Imagine our fate if he should do it to us. Mercy always restrains his hand. He remembers that we are but dust. Yes, he make a scourge, but it was of small cords.
He only drove out that which he found to be out of order. Neither the worshipers in the Tempe, the priests doing their service, or the Temple and its furnishings were disturbed. His whip was small enough to cleanse just those things that cluttered and blurred God’s house.
As we approach Holy Week, search out your own heart for those things that Jesus would reject and drive out.
Music: Jerusalem by CityALight
Prayer Requests: Please pray for the missionaries supported by the Annie Armstrong Mission Offering.
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Craig’s Catechism: The Fourth Part of Our Belief
- Question 274: What is the Church which we confess here? Answer: The whole company of God’s elect called and sanctified.
- Question 275: Do we believe in His church? Answer: No, We believe only in our God.
- Question 276: What do we then believe of His church? Answer: That it was, is, and shall be to the end of the world.
All my best,
And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.
John 2:17
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