Mark 11:15 Then they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves; 11:16 and he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. 11:17 He was teaching and saying, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” 11:18 And when the chief priests and the scribes heard it, they kept looking for a way to kill him; for they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was spellbound by his teaching. 11:19 And when evening came, Jesus and his disciples went out of the city.
This is a passage if you are like me we don’t like to think about…
I mean really who wants to talk about a Jesus who forms a whip from cords and then drives animals and people out of the temple, and overturns the tables of the money changers, and here in Mark he won’t let any one carry anything through the temple.
Were not these animals needed for sacrificial worship? These things that were happening here had been happening for a long time. The selling of animals for worship was not a new thing. People traveled long distances and did not want to bring or could not bring animals with them for worship. Maybe even Jesus’ mother and father when he was presented with their 2 turtle dove sacrifice bought them in the temple.
And the money changers were necessary because they were not allowed to have graven images and the coins most people had would have had the image of the leader of the country they were from on them, so it had to be exchanged for money that could be used in the temple. This was all nothing new…
So why does Jesus do this?
Because Jesus sees deeper than the surface, and the reasons people say they do the things they do. Jesus sees the heart and the intent. Jesus sees our motivations…
It is not that the system is not needed, but it has been corrupted by human greed and desires. It is no longer being handled in the right way or done for worship. It is now done for profit.
What is the motivation in our lives and what makes us do the things we do? Do we do it to make a dollar, or to show forth the love of God?
aSacredRebel 