Day 7-Tuesday, February 20th
Shaking Us Up
Read John 2:13-22
It is a very human thing to want to take advantage of the Holy. Jesus travels to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. After entering the city, Jesus makes His way to the temple. Upon entering the temple courts, He finds, not a place of worship and fervent prayer, but rather a full-blown market filled with the stink and noise of animals, the shouting of merchants, and the exploitation of the desire of the people to draw near to God.
This was a sad reflection of the spiritual state of the nation of Israel: distracted, wealth-driven, and uninterested in spiritual things. (Would this be a good description of the state of our own hearts?)
Some have interpreted the reaction of Jesus to this scene in the temple as the rash actions of God in His fury. However, in contrast to this thinking, Jesus, with specific intention, takes the time to make a whip from cords before acting. Then, with great passion for what the temple was intended to be, Jesus clears the temple courts, overturning tables and driving out the merchants, animals, and money changers. It comes as no surprise that this was not well-received by the religious leaders.
This answer from Jesus makes perfect sense to us on this side of the cross, but it was blasphemy to the Jews who only sought to defend their own positions of influence and power.
The situation had most likely been like this in the temple courts for as long as anyone could remember, but Jesus intended to shake things up and cleared the temple courts that day. That was a day that few who were present would ever forget.
Questions to consider:
Where in our lives does Jesus need to come and shake things up, clear out some distractions, and challenge our hearts and our way of thinking?
How receptive are we to the Holy Spirit barging in and shaking things up in our lives?