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MARKETPLACE IN THE WORSHIP PLACE
"Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were
buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and
the benches of those selling doves. 'It is written,' he said to them,' 'My
house will be called a house of prayer,' but you are making it a 'den of
robbers.'" (Matthew 21:1-12-13).
Jesus entered Jerusalem to
begin the last week of his life on earth (sometimes called Passion week) with
incredible drama. What must his disciples have thought? He rode down the
hillside path with throngs of people shouting his praise, and then,
approaching the beautiful temple on the other side of the valley, he entered
its courts and "cleansed" the temple. Sheep scattered through the
courtyard, doves flew out of broken cages, coins rang out as they scattered
on the stone plaza, and there was Jesus in the middle of it all, driving away
the merchants who saw the temple courtyard as a great place to cash in.
Now Jesus had no problem with
the sacrificial system. It's in the Old Testament, and the principle of
sacrificial giving is part of the plan of God. But when the din of human
activity drowns out the prayers of the people of God, then it has gone too
far.
The temple as "the house
of prayer" was to be a place where the worshiper was caught up with awe
for the Almighty. It was a place where the people could have an encounter
with their Father and Lord. The hubbub of institutionalized religiosity was a
poor substitute. And so, Jesus entered Jerusalem at the start of that
important week, and smashed everything that did not fit with God's character.
Sometimes God can only build after he has torn down.
Ponder This: What part of your life might
Jesus want to overturn, to cleanse, in order to start over?
  
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