…Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a ‘den of robbers.’”
— Matthew 21:12-13
To begin the last week of his life on earth (sometimes called Passion Week), Jesus entered Jerusalem with incredible drama. What must his disciples have thought? He rode down the hillside path as throngs of people shouted his praises, and he approached the beautiful temple on the other side of the valley. He then entered its courts and cleansed the temple. Sheep scattered throughout the courtyard, doves flew out of their broken cages, coins bounced and rolled across the stone plaza. And there was Jesus in the middle of it all, driving away the merchants who saw the temple courtyard as a great place to cash in.
Now Jesus had no problem with the sacrificial system. It’s in the Old Testament, and the principle of sacrificial giving is part of the plan of God. But when the din of human activity drowns out the prayers of the people of God, it has gone too far.
The temple as “a house of prayer” was to be a place where the worshiper was caught up with awe for the Almighty. It was a place where people could have an encounter with their Father and Lord. The hubbub of institutionalized religiosity was a poor substitute. And so Jesus entered Jerusalem at the start of that important week, and he smashed everything that did not fit with God’s character.
Sometimes God can only build after he has torn down.
Ponder This: What part of your life might Jesus want to overturn and cleanse in order for you to start over?
