Mark 11:15-19
The Lord Jesus found people selling and buying goods in the Temple.
He found others exchanging currency.
He found still others walking through the Temple grounds on their way to other parts of the city.
*******
To most people, the things that were taking place at the Temple were necessary and fine.
They certainly were convenient.
Most people had no problem at all with the system and the way things worked.
However, the Lord Jesus had a real problem with what was going on at the Temple.
*******
The Lord Jesus came to the Temple that Monday morning knowing exactly what He would find.
He had been there the day before and had seen what was happening.
He came back this morning to do something about the situation.
*******
He entered the Temple and began to turn over tables, drove people away and refused to allow some to pass through the Temple.
*******
This wasn’t the first time the Lord Jesus had done this at the Temple.
The first occurred the previous Passover (John 2:19).
*******
The Lord Jesus once again came to the Father’s House and sought to restore it to a place of worship, holiness and spirituality.
The house of God was not designed to be a place of commerce.
It was to be a place devoted to the worship of Almighty God.
It was to be His house where He alone was to be worshiped.
*******
But the Temple was no longer God’s house.
It had become a house devoted to the needs of men.
This angered Jesus!
*******
The Temple was designed as a house of prayer.
The needy could approach God in that place.
The true believer could come to the Temple and pray to God, and God promised to hear their prayers (2 Chron. 7:15).
*******
Now, it had become a marketplace.
There was no way a person could pray, much less meditate on the things of God.
This angered Jesus!
*******
Like robbers, the High Priest and his followers had hidden themselves away in the Temple, seeking to hide their wickedness under a cloak of holiness.
Like thieves, these men were waiting for the foolish to enter the Temple so they could take their money.
*******
When the Jewish leaders heard about what the Lord Jesus did, they were resolved to put Him to death.
They would succeed, because before the sun sat that Friday, Jesus would be dead and buried in a borrowed tomb.
*******
Some thoughts.
The Lord Jesus found people selling and buying goods in the Temple.
He found others exchanging currency.
He found still others walking through the Temple grounds on their way to other parts of the city.
*******
To most people, the things that were taking place at the Temple were necessary and fine.
They certainly were convenient.
Most people had no problem at all with the system and the way things worked.
However, the Lord Jesus had a real problem with what was going on at the Temple.
*******
The Lord Jesus came to the Temple that Monday morning knowing exactly what He would find.
He had been there the day before and had seen what was happening.
He came back this morning to do something about the situation.
*******
He entered the Temple and began to turn over tables, drove people away and refused to allow some to pass through the Temple.
*******
This wasn’t the first time the Lord Jesus had done this at the Temple.
The first occurred the previous Passover (John 2:19).
*******
The Lord Jesus once again came to the Father’s House and sought to restore it to a place of worship, holiness and spirituality.
The house of God was not designed to be a place of commerce.
It was to be a place devoted to the worship of Almighty God.
It was to be His house where He alone was to be worshiped.
*******
But the Temple was no longer God’s house.
It had become a house devoted to the needs of men.
This angered Jesus!
*******
The Temple was designed as a house of prayer.
The needy could approach God in that place.
The true believer could come to the Temple and pray to God, and God promised to hear their prayers (2 Chron. 7:15).
*******
Now, it had become a marketplace.
There was no way a person could pray, much less meditate on the things of God.
This angered Jesus!
*******
Like robbers, the High Priest and his followers had hidden themselves away in the Temple, seeking to hide their wickedness under a cloak of holiness.
Like thieves, these men were waiting for the foolish to enter the Temple so they could take their money.
*******
When the Jewish leaders heard about what the Lord Jesus did, they were resolved to put Him to death.
They would succeed, because before the sun sat that Friday, Jesus would be dead and buried in a borrowed tomb.
*******
Some thoughts.
- The Lord Jesus’ business is serious business. It is high time His people treated it that way!
- The whole issue in the Temple was a problem of the heart. The Jews had abandoned authentic, spiritual worship for something more convenient and for something of their own making!
- When the Word of God is read, we should hang on every word, seeking to absorb it all. When we sing, we should open our mouths and sing. When we listen to singing, we should seek to find God in the words. When we hear preaching, we should seek God’s message for our life. When we pray, it should become a corporate event, as we attach our “Amen” to the words of the prayer being prayed.
- We are to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to fill the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God, and to devote the will to the purpose of God.
- Empty worship was the trouble at the Temple the day the Lord Jesus visited. Empty worship brought divine judgment to that Temple.
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