Daily Devotions
In the temple [Jesus] found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. And making a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And He poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. And He told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make My Father’s house a house of trade.” (John 2:14-16)
Would you expect to find an animal market in the middle of the temple courts? I wouldn’t. Flies, stink, the sound of sheep baa-ing—how is anybody supposed to worship with that going on right next to them?
So Jesus cleans it out. God’s house is not going to be a marketplace if He has anything to say about it! And He pays the price—because the temple authorities get their revenge when they crucify Him later.
But that isn’t the only temple Jesus cleans out. As Paul says, “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16). God knows my heart needs a good cleaning—and I expect you would say the same.
So Jesus provides it. But this time, the whip doesn’t fall on the guilty parties. No, it falls on Jesus Himself, during His suffering for us. He takes our sins and evil and carries them away, destroying them at the cross. Through His death He takes them out of the world forever. And now that He has risen from the dead, He gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit—God living in us, in peace and joy forever.
WE PRAY: Lord, live within me always. Amen.
Reflection Questions:
* Why were there animals in the temple?
* Why did the temple authorities care what Jesus did?
* Pray silently: What is one specific thing you’d like Jesus to clean out of your heart?
Lenten Devotions were written by Dr. Kari Vo.