(Part 2 of 2)
“When they arrived back in Jerusalem, Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people buying and selling animals for sacrifices. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves, and he stopped everyone from using the Temple as a marketplace. He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves.”-Mark 11:15-17
Upon returning to Jerusalem the next day, Jesus makes a straight line for the Temple. Jesus visit to the Temple was not out of religious obligation or custom. Instead, His visit was intentional. He came back to see something.
It should be noted that this wasn’t the first time Jesus cleared the temple:
“Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business. When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables. And He said to those who sold doves, “Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!” Then His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.” -John 2:13-17.
The Jews demanded that Jesus give them a sign to confirm he had the authority to do what He had done. It is here that Jesus revealed His future death, burial and resurrection when he declared: “Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
Jesus was moved with passion over the corruption and worldliness that had occupied the Temple. The people, specifically the religious leaders had attempted to marry the world to the presence of God and Jesus responded.
Jesus would move on from there and teach, perform miracles, heal the sick, walk on water, raise the dead, cast out demons. Three years later, He would enter that city once again at Passover and return to the place where he declared His death, burial, resurrection. He would return to the place where with great passion He rebuked worldliness and corruption and demonstrated His zeal for God’s house; only to find that they had obviously went back to their old ways of living.
Makes me wonder, how long after Jesus left the building did they immediately go back to setting up the tables? How about you? How long after Jesus upended your life (tossed out the sin and corruption in you heart and mind); after you heard the message of His death, burial and resurrection did you start setting up tables again and get back to the business of your old life.
Jesus’ stop at the fig tree was symbolic. Jesus should be returning to a people who had an encounter with Him and there ought to be fruit in their lives to show it. However, they were leafy and looked healthy but upon inspection they were barren. Jesus came back three years later to see that nothing had changed.
Are you any different than you were three years ago? Have you grown any? Have you become any more passionate? Any more committed? Have got comfortable? Have you started looking at those overturned tables and thought, it won’t hurt to set one of them back up. What is Jesus going to find in your life that he addressed three years ago that you still refuse to “clear out”. What tables have you set back up?
Can I tell you let those broken tables lie! You are God’s temple. Before we can truly embrace what Jesus did at the cross, we must clear the temple.
Pastor Scott Burr
Dayspring Community Church
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