Resurrection Week April 7

Prayer or Profit?
 
Matthew 21:12-15 Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. 13 “It is written,” he said to them, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a ‘den of robbers.’” 14 The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple area, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant.
 
THIS scene at the temple demonstrates the eternal conflict of personal desires against God’s gracious provision. A space in the temple court called the Gentile Court designed for prayer for non-Jews was being used, instead, by priests and merchants seeking profit. The priests forced people to buy “approved” animals for sacrifice. And even more, they required those animals be purchased with high-grade silver coins. Of course, pilgrims coming from the countryside and far off countries were forced to fulfill these greedy demands if they wanted to complete the sacrificial rites in the temple. In addition, many blind and handicapped people were at the temple hoping to receive offerings from people who came to worship. The offerings were few. In short, one can say the prayer place was a profit place. Men who worshiped money neglected those whose lives depended on offerings.
    In response, Jesus cleansed the temple. He removed the sin to reveal God’s mercy as the true riches to be gathered at the Temple’s court of prayer. 
    But money has a hard hold on man’s hearts, doesn’t it? The priests and teachers were angry. They became more determined to remove the Lord from his temple.
 
Jesus Teaches: Matthew 5:7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy .