Day 41 – The Temple Courts: Shake Us Up, Lord

“My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations” – (Mark 11:17).

There was something Jesus wouldn’t tolerate. He had a deep love for hurting people and demonstrated His compassion for them. His outreach and compassion for the rejected and the lost were always on display. However, He had very little patience for the religious people and the money changers who, through their spiritual traditions and crooked practices, profited from the underprivileged. This is the second time He cleansed the temple. The first is found in John 2 at the beginning of His public ministry.

He cleanses the temple as He starts His ministry.

He cleanses the temple as He closes His ministry.

This was no accident. He meant to reveal the infertility of the Israelite style of worship. The Temple in Jerusalem was designed for prayer for all nations, and it would be known as the House of prayer. It was uniquely Jewish, yet all nations were invited. But no prayer could take place because the profiteers had completely taken over the outer courts. They made their money by charging exorbitant fees for purchasing animals for worship and for exchanging money into special temple currency.

Business was good, and this infuriated Him. The very fact that He cleansed the temple twice shows how deeply embedded this sin was in the heart of man. This small glimpse of the condition of man reveals why Jesus had to die. His death opened a direct path to God. No longer would man have to travel to Jerusalem to worship God. Our hearts are the temple in which God now dwells.

Both cleansings reveal how much God yearns for fellowship with us. He loves us so much that he will overturn the tables and shake us up so that once again our hearts belong to him.

What a Christ we serve!

He loves us too much to leave us as we are.

Shake us up, Lord Jesus. Overturn the tables of greed, sloth, pride, and lust. Do whatever it takes so our hearts will be fully in tune with You. Amen.