July 10 Jesus Cleans House

Luke 19:45-46 Then he entered the temple area and began driving out those who were selling. 46 “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be a house of prayer’; but you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”
 
THE Jerusalem temple had several courts, or places where different groups of people assembled. One was for Gentiles. Although Gentiles could not worship with the Jews, they could come to the Gentile Court to hear the Scriptures taught. In the evangelical church, we might look at this as our outreach ministry to teach our unchurched neighbors.
    What then would happen to our outreach if it became focused on the culture, more about business and politics than God? Would non-Christians enter church and essentially hear the same things they heard from the world? Would there be room for the gospel if merchants came to sell their goods in your church and people came to buy? Even more, what if you invited people to come to your church to learn of Jesus, but, instead, these newcomers learned they had to change money into a certain currency with an unfavorable exchange rate, so their offerings would be accepted? How do you think people would respond, too, if a church official told them, “To worship here, you need our version of the Bible. You can only buy it here, and it costs $100.” Your outreach ministry would quickly die. Even worse, your guests remain separated from the Living God.
    In essence, that’s what Jesus confronted. The temple’s Gentile Court had become a marketplace to sell animals for sacrifice, to exchange currency into the accepted form and to do all forms of business. The sellers and the buyers distracted and prevented many who truly desired worship in this place. This temple economy filled the temple authorities’ pockets. There was no room to speak of God.
    Is it any wonder Jesus passionately acted against this apostasy, this sin against God’s Word? Once again, Jesus stridently acts to restore and revive the true temple worship. The business of the temple then and the business of the church now must be about the work of God.
 
Prayer: Lord God, I pray we remove the culture from your church to receive your Word into our hearts. I pray all who enter your sanctuary know that it is your house. Amen.