Bible Passage: Mark 11:11, 15-19
(https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+11%3A11%2C+15-19&version=NIV)
If you think about it, this passage is scary. We see a zealous anger in Jesus that does not match up with the perfect, smiley, Sunday-school version that we like to box him up in. It lets us know that even though God's wrath has been set aside from us, he can still be jealous if we set up something else in his place.
Another thing that sticks out to me is the fact that this outbreak was intentional. It was not spontaneous. Jesus had seen the temple on the previous day when he entered Jerusalem (verse 11), and he looked around at everything. Yet he waited until the next day to come back and give them a piece of his mind.
It is sobering to realize that God is so passionate about his meeting place with people. Yet I realize that it is not the place that is important to him, but the people who use it. Can you imagine going to the temple of Jesus' day--the only place to experience God's presence--hoping to pray and meet with him privately, and then enter to the noise of a marketplace? You walk into the sanctuary, and try to concentrate, but all you can do is hear bleating, cooing, mooing, and bartering? It would spoil the whole experience! Imagine how God felt, having each and every personal meeting--that is so precious to him--be interrupted that way! No wonder he broke out in a rage!
Right Response
"Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies."
~1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Our hearts are now the place where God meets with us. Which means that the same passion that drove Jesus to turn over tables, drives God to jealousy toward anything that comes between him and us in our hearts. Yet in my experience, it is much harder to keep a heart clean and orderly than is a physical building!
That is why we need to let Jesus do what he did in Jerusalem: look around our hearts--his new Temple--for anything out of order, and drive it away with his authority and zeal.
This can be one of those Kingdom principles that is "easier said than done". But Jesus is willing to do it. And we are not the enemy he is driving out. Instead, he will bring in his light and banish all darkness from every corner of our soul. So letting him in should not be a scary prospect. Just be prepared: if we have set up anything in God's place, it will be hard to let go of it, but it is also necessary.
You know who Jesus is. You know that he wants the best for you. He is not selfish in demanding the highest place in our hearts. He has bought that place at a very high price. And we already gave it to him when we invited him to be the Lord of our hearts. We just get distracted sometimes. And we may not even know it. That is why it is so important to be deliberate about giving him free reign to do some rearranging in our hearts every once in a while.
Here is what I challenge you to do today:
- Let Jesus look around his temple. Humble yourself absolutely to his scrutiny. Don't just assume that you are alright as you are, and don't assume that you know everything that is coming between you and him. It can be easy to fall into that trap. But make sure that any conviction you feel is from the Holy Spirit. He knows his temple better than you do.
"You have searched me, Lord, and you know me." "Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts." ~Psalm 139:1, 23
- Let Jesus clear his temple. Take anything he points out in his scrutiny, and make sure he knows that he is more important to you. Also make sure that your flesh knows it too. Hard as it is, you know you cannot fully realize Jesus' sacrifice until he is your main focus again. In order to realize his love for us, we need to love him. And in order to love him, we need to know how much he loves us. Neither of those things can happen until the Holy Spirit has free reign once again in our hearts. The benefits far outweigh the temporary discomfort. So focus on Him and what he is giving you, not on what you are giving him.
When you have done this, your heart will truly be a house of prayer!
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