Matthew 21:12-17

Matthew 21:12-17

And Jesus went into the temple and cast out all the ones who sell and buy in the temple.  And He overturned the tables of the money changers and the chairs of the ones who sell doves.  And He says to them, “It has been written: My house will be called a house of prayer, but you all make it a den of robbers.”  And the blind and the lame drew near to Him in the temple and He healed them.  But after the chief priests and the scribes saw the amazing things that He did and also the children who cried out in the temple while saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they became indignant and said to Him, “Do you hear what these ones say?”  And Jesus says to them, “Yes.  Did you never read that out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you caused praise to happen?”  And after leaving them He went away outside the city into Bethany and spent the night there.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

I don’t know about you, but whenever I’ve imagined this passage or seen artistic renditions of this passage I always envision Jesus driving out everyone.  In my mind, I picture a “cleared” temple in the end.  But my perspective is not right.  Jesus doesn’t clear the temple.  Jesus simply drives out the people who are using the temple for profitable gain.  There are still people within the temple who need healed and Jesus heals them.  Jesus doesn’t get rid of everyone.  Jesus allows those who are there because they need God to remain.

Why is it neat to see Jesus keeping those around Him who need God?  What does this say about God’s ability to be around those whose lives are sinful and in need of help?  Do you need God?

Second Thought:

 Of course, we can also talk about the negative perspective of this passage.  Jesus drives out of the temple those who aren’t there to relate with God.  There were people who saw the temple as a place to make money.  There were those who used the religious institution to make profit for themselves.  Unfortunately I think that this is a dynamic all too prevalent in the modern Western church.  There is much disillusion in the general public about the church and its insufferable need to collect money from people.  Sure, some of that money does support helping others.  But much of the money collected is used for supporting its own existence.  Jesus drives out the people who are in the temple in order to support their own existence.   The church is a place to allow people to experience the presence of God, not a place to learn to support our own existence.

Have you ever felt like the religious institutions to which you’ve belonged are more about supporting themselves than putting people in a place where they can experience the presence of God?  If so, when and why do you feel this way?  How do you think Jesus would respond to such a system?

Third Thought:

Unfortunately, the priest and scribes are there watching.  They can’t stand to watch what Jesus is doing.  They can’t stand to watch their current system intact.  They can’t stand to watch people healed as they meet God.  They can’t stand to watch other people praising Jesus for God’s work through Him.  God is on display, and they get angry.  Unfortunately, this is always true.  Anytime we do something, we are just as likely to make some people happy about our action as well as make other people upset because we’ll change their perception of the status quo.  Even the act of putting God on display will cause division among the human population – as sad as that is to say.

Have you ever experienced a negative reaction when you were just trying to be obedient to God?  How does that make you feel?  Have you ever reacted poorly when someone else was just trying to put God on display?  How did that make you feel?

Passage for Tomorrow: Matthew 21:18-22