John 2:13-22

John 2:13-22

And the Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus ascended into Jerusalem.  And He found in the temple the ones who sell cattle, sheep, and doves and the money changers who sat there.  And after making a whip out of rope, He drove everyone out of the temple also with the sheep and the cows and He scattered the coins of the money changers and He overturned the tables.  And to the ones who sold doves He said, “Carry these things away from here.  Do not make the house of my Father a house of economic business.”  His disciples remembered that it is having been written, “Zeal for Your house will completely consume me.”  Therefore the Jews replied and said to Him, “What sign do you do for us because you do these things?”  Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.”  Therefore the Jews said, “Even in forty-six years this temple was built, and you in three days will raise it up?”  But that one was speaking of the temple of His body.  Therefore when He was being raised out of the dead His disciples remembered that He said this thing and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus spoke.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Do not make my Father’s house a place of economic gain.  It’s such a simple and basic message.  The temple is to be a place to worship God.  There is no higher priority than worshipping God.  Financial arrangements can be done elsewhere.  Worldly socialization can be done elsewhere.  Business planning can be done elsewhere.  There is one top priority for the house of God, and that is worshipping the Father.  Jesus is completely consumed by the assertion of this reality.

When you go to your place of worship, is the worship of God your top priority?  What often takes over that place of priority?

Second Thought:

The Jews ask for a sign.  They see Him acting in all kinds of authority and power and they really don’t want to get in His way.  Who wants to step in front of what appears to be a crazy madman on the loose?  But on the other hand, they need to do something to keep control of the temple.  So they attempt to speak to Jesus.  They ask for a sign.  What’s neat is that Jesus doesn’t scold them here.  He gives them the sign!  He tells them that when His temple is destroyed then it will not stay destroyed for any more than three days.  He gives them the truth.  Of course, they don’t realize it.  They don’t grasp it.  Even when they kill Him and He is raised into new life they reject it.  When Jesus teaches publically, it is usually confusing and through a parable.  Only the faithful will do what it takes to maneuver through the parable and gain understanding.  Everyone else will fail to grasp it, fail to inquire more deeply, and go back to their life apart from God.  Here is another great example of how Jesus teaches in parable in the world and only speaks plainly to His disciples.

Are you like the Jewish leaders?  When you come across something you don’t understand, do you pursue understanding or just let it go over your head?  What things should you pursue?  How do you know the difference?

Third Thought:

 I love the ending of this passage.  John doesn’t keep Jesus’ death a secret for a reason, even though we’re only in chapter 2 of his letter – not even 1/10 into his writing.  He tells us that it was when Jesus died that things made sense to the disciples.  Well, to be more precise when Jesus was raised into life after He died.  God’s power is so completely awesome that we quite frankly don’t often get it until after it’s done and we sit back and say, “Whoa, I don’t believe that just happened the way that it did.”  Even the small things frequently work out this way.  So often we as Christians operate under a “We need to plan it out and then work the plan” mentality.  With God, it usually is best to take on a “I’m going to prepare myself the best I can to be ready to see and understand God’s hand at work after He’s done working” mentality.  We need to be ready to do our part in what God is doing.  But quite frankly we don’t usually fully understand our part until after the fact and after God has already worked.

Do you agree with this point?  In what way can this point be very scary?  In what way can this point be quite comforting?

Passage for Tomorrow: John 2:23-25