Jesus and his disciples entered Jerusalem the day before in a triumphant parade surrounded by shouts of “Hosanna!”, “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

When the religious leaders told Jesus to make the people hush, the Son of God replied, saying even if the people stopped their praise, the rocks and stones themselves would rise up and sing.

After a night in Bethany, Christ and his disciples returned to Jerusalem to find money changers charging exorbitant fees and taking advantage of the poor who had come to offer their sacrifice to God at the temple. Merchants sold inferior animals at inflated costs. The commonness of a market replaced the holiness of the temple.

And Jesus was mad.

At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry he encountered the same thing. (John 2:13-16) At that moment, Jesus took the time to braid strands into a whip before he cleared the temple. Possibly he was counting to ten?

During this second incident there doesn’t seem to be the pause between anger and action. Jesus knew his present time on earth was coming to a close. He knew by the end of the week Judas would betray him, he would be handed over to the religious leaders, beaten beyond recognition, suffer unimaginable pain, be crucified, and pay the penalty for our sins by drinking the cup of his Father’s wrath.

My question for each of us is this…are we like those money changers who defiled God’s holy temple?

How do we treat the things of God? Of Jesus?

Do we revere the Holy Scriptures, read them, take them into our heart and apply them to our lives?

Do we regularly attend worship services with other Believers and praise our Lord’s name?

Or do we treat God’s house as nothing more than a social gathering, a place to network to further our careers? A common market place to buy and sell commodities?

We will all be held accountable for how we treat the holy things of God.

The next time Jesus clears the temple, he may not pause to braid a whip.

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When they arrived in Jerusalem, Jesus went to the Temple and began to drive out all those who were buying and selling. He overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the stools of those who sold pigeons, and he would not let anyone carry anything through the Temple courtyards. He then taught the people: “It is written in the Scriptures that God said, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer for the people of all nations.’ But you have turned it into a hideout for thieves!”

The chief priests and the teachers of the Law heard of this, so they began looking for some way to kill Jesus. They were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching. Mark 11:15-18 (GNT)

I wish you well.

Sandy

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