Jesus Clears the Temple

"And as he taught them, he said, "Is it not written: 'My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations'? But you have made it 'a den of robbers.'" Mark 11:17.

Yesterday was Palm Sunday, the anniversary of Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, and the beginning of what is known as Passion Week. Passion Week is the week leading up to Jesus' crucifixion (commemorated on Good Friday) which culminates with Resurrection Sunday, or Easter. As I am preparing myself for the holiday, I am spending time in the Gospel of Mark, reading about the events of Passion Week. Today I read Mark 11:12-19, which corresponds to the Monday before his crucifixion. As I was reading, I was struck by the passage from Isaiah that Jesus quotes in verse 17. It is an interesting dichotomy: A teaching vandal. Jesus is overturning the tables of the money changers and the benches of the people selling doves for sacrifice in the court of the Gentiles. This was an area reserved for Gentiles (non-Jews) to enter the temple. The Jews had allowed this area to become a noisy, smelly marketplace. Jesus was rebuking the Jews and was teaching the people that God had intended to make a place for the foreigners to worship God, a 'house of prayer for all nations.'

Isaiah 56:6-7 says: "And foreigners who bind themselves to the LORD to serve him, to love the name of the LORD, and to worship him, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant--these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations." Essentially, Jesus is revealing not only that the temple of God has been defiled, He is showing that the Gentiles are being shut out of the blessing. They are not being shown God's love or His offer of protection and acceptance. They are being taken advantage of in this context.

I love that Jesus is disciplining His people and revealing the truth of God's Word to the Gentiles. What does God's Word reveal as the response of the people? They are 'amazed at his teaching' (v. 18). This fits in very nicely with the topic of suffering that we learned about at this past weekend's Bible conference. Suffering has purpose, and sometimes, that purpose is discipline.

May God's richest blessings flow over you,

Jennifer