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Tuesday, September 11, 2018

Cleansing the Temple {Matthew 21}


September 11, 2018


Sometime we can be so familiar and comfortable with these Scripture readings, that we are unaffected when we read or hear them.  And so I pray that you are seeking to be changed every day by these teachings from Jesus.

The past few months have had me turned inside out.  No, nothing has been a big burden, but I knew each time I had to write a post that the Lord was leading me somewhere.  And it seems my heart is His desire and I believe there are still rooms I haven’t allowed God to control.  And so as I prayed for God to change me and show me what needed His attention, I was lead to Jesus cleansing the Temple.

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Clearly Jesus was angry at what He found in the temple, and He takes drastic measures to cleanse it.  Not only was there money trafficking in the exchange of money for the temple tax, and the selling of animals, but also the extortion and racketeering that went along with it.

But this is a different Jesus than what we imagine Him to be.  So often we think of Him as loving and understanding, that He lets us get away with anything.  It’s like He tells us, “It’s alright – it doesn’t matter.”  Many people think Jesus is that way.  But clearly the action we see here of Him cleansing the Temple is His anger.  He drove the people out of the Temple.

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The disciples realized and we must as well, that our hearts have to refuse to put up with impurities.  God does not compromise with evil.

Anyone can come to Jesus no matter how wrong and evil they have been – murderers, prostitutes, swindlers, liars, perverts, drunkards, bitter-hard-hearted cynics, religious hypocrites, proud snobs – anyone who realizes there is something wrong in their life, and that something has gripped them, and they want to be free, can come to Jesus.  “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”  Matthew 11:28

Here’s what we have to understand – Jesus is not going to leave you the way you are.  He’s not going to settle for the clutter, compromise, extortion, and racket – whatever may be defiling and corrupting the Temple courts.  He may leave you alone for a while.  I think many of us have experienced this or are experiencing this right now.  Just because He loves us and deals with us patiently, we tend to think that He’s going to let us get by with some of the comfortable, but wrongful habits we have built into our lives.  If we mistake that delay for acceptance, we are in for a surprise!  If we refuse to deal with what He puts His finger on, one day we will find Him coming with flaming eyes and we will find all that traffic in immorality is driven out whether we like it or not.

It’s like the Pharisees - they make their outward actions look good, but allow sinful habits – pornography, a bitter, unforgiving spirit towards another, an evil lustful habit, a private indulgence, to be hidden in their lives.  Yes, without a doubt, one day, these people will discover that their Lord has changed His attitude towards them.  He is no longer tolerant, understanding and patient.  And their world falls apart.  All that evil they thought was hidden has been exposed.  “What I tell you now in the darkness, shout abroad when daybreak comes.  What I whisper in your ears, shout from the housetops for all to hear!”  Matthew 10:27

Many people involved in the traffic in the Temple were unaware that there was anything wrong with it.  Money-changing was necessary.  Selling animals was necessary.  But that could have been carried on outside the Temple.  But through the years, it crept inside the Temple until people were unaware that anything was wrong with the practice.  But our Lord knew.  He refused to compromise with it, or put up with it, and forced the issue so people saw what God saw when He looked at the Temple.  We are dealing with a God of reality, a God who cannot be fooled, a God who will always deal in loving forgiveness with anyone who does not defend his evil.  When we admit it, when we come asking to be cleansed, and freed, He never turns us away, He never deals with us harshly.  But when we come justifying our actions, excusing them, fooling ourselves, we find Him refusing to commit Himself to us.