Christian Living
John 2:14 is laden with many incongruous words. Temple, …. merchants, ….. selling, ….dealers, ….foreign exchange, ….. aww!
“In the Temple area he saw merchants selling cattle, sheep, and doves for sacrifices; he also saw dealers at tables exchanging foreign money.“
John 2:14 NLT
All but one of these words relate to commercial activities. Temple, is apparently the odd word out.
This is very instructive…
How is it that a Temple, a place of worship is totally submerged in all manner of trading? Here are my few guesses…. prevalence of a spirit of religion, lack of godliness, greed, loss of the fear of the Lord, etc
If we want to recreate the scene at this temple; a priest and a few faithfuls chanting prayers and hymns inside the temple, while a vast majority of temple-attendees are littered outside totally immersed in trade….
Picture your local Church? Any resemblance to the John 2 Temple? Do you see people buying, selling, networking, forming cliques, etc? No? What about those laundering money through the Church; those that run companies parallel to the Church, fronting the local Church as their only business? Anyone like that in your space? No? Look again! Do you see the ones with businesses, companies, farmyards, schools, estates built in the name of one family member or the other but privately funded by the Church? Do you see the ones who strategically assign and allocate Church projects as reward systems to their cronies or to quarters with guaranteed kickbacks?
In all of this, temple-members are ceaselessly manipulated into bringing more supplies for ‘the work of the Lord’…. as a means of gaining God’s blessings, increase and promotion.….. ‘buy this sanctified goat for your sacrifice’, ……. ‘use this anointed handkerchief to wipe your face’, …..’this is the special turtledove that will release your abundance’, …. All lies and beguiling indulgence.
If you can identify with any of the groups listed above, if any of them describes you by any chance, Jesus’s response in John 2:15-16, is still His response to you today ….‘Not in my Father’s House’!!!
“Jesus made a whip from some ropes and chased them all out of the Temple. He drove out the sheep and cattle, scattered the money changers’ coins over the floor, and turned over their tables. Then, going over to the people who sold doves, he told them, “Get these things out of here. Stop turning my Father’s house into a marketplace!”
John 2:15-16 NLT
A temple is a sacred place of worship and should be used as such. However, I do not believe that Jesus’s fury was exactly that there was some trading going on around the place. I mean people who spend long hours serving in a temple may need to purchase water, drinks, snacks, food etc at some point. This can be made available and accessible in an organized manner. I believe Jesus’s extreme display of anger was because of the misplaced priorities displayed regularly by the temple-attendees.
Set your priorities right, seek godliness, imbibe the fear of the Lord, be a true worshipper, run away from religion and traditions of men, resist beguiling tendencies, hold fast to integrity and excellence, be transparent and accountable, FEAR GOD.
Happy Wednesday!
