By: Dale Weckbacher
Mark 11:15
And they came to
Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and
those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the
money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons.
(ESV)
After the triumphal entry with people showering accolades
upon Him, Jesus enters Jerusalem and goes to the Temple. This was not unusual for Jesus would have
often entered the Temple to pray since it was His Father’s house. However, this time is different with Jesus
not praying when entering the Temple but driving out those selling animals for
sacrifice in the Temple and the tables of the money changers. Those that were earlier giving Jesus
accolades believing he would go in and overturn their Roman oppressors may have
believed Jesus was driving out the wrong people, wanting Him to end their oppression. However, Jesus was at the right place for his
main issue was not with the government but the hypocrisy of the religious
leaders of his time (Matthew
23:1-36; Luke 12:54-56; Luke 13:10-17).
The account of Jesus entering the Temple is also symbolic of
the work of Christ in the temple of the hearts of those making Jesus their
savior. The temple of our hearts has sinful
habits and thoughts that require driving out by Christ. Our hearts also have idols that could take
the place of God in our lives that Jesus must overturn for us to have intimacy
with God by making Him supreme in our lives.
Since our hearts are in what we treasure (Matthew
6:21), it is vital for believers to allow Jesus to drive out or overturn
the tables in our hearts representing anything we treasure more than
Christ. The pattern of the Lord’s Prayer
supplies a blueprint for allowing Jesus to perform His transforming work of driving
out and overturning by showing us the need to,
1)
Worshiping God so he has prominence in our
thinking (Matthew
6:9) – Life is full of distractions, especially in the digital world of
cell phones, social media, and the Internet.
While the Bible is one of the things available on these devices, these
devices and the digital world have potential distractions. These distractions can rob us of time thinking
about and worshiping God representing a table Jesus must overturn. To overturn this table, we must make time by
disconnecting from the digital devices, making time to focus on Jesus in
worship, meditating on what He has done for us.
2)
Focus on the Glorious future we will enjoy with
God (Matthew
6:10) – In addition to distracting us, the prevalence of digital media
exposes us to instantaneous news feeds.
These news feeds are mostly negative, causing us to focus on what is
wrong with the world and not the glorious future Jesus has in store for
us. Those that previously gave Jesus
praise may have become distracted by seeing Jesus drive out those selling
animals in the Temple, believing they were helping poor people have something
to sacrifice at Passover (Leviticus
5:7). This is because they were
selling pigeons which were the animals the poor would sacrifice (Mark
11:15). However, Jesus’ calling them
robbers indicates they were probably profiting by gouging the poor through
charging them an exorbitant price for the animals (Mark
11:17). However, this may have led
to some believing Jesus was a fraud and when urged to call for Jesus’
crucifixion for blasphemy, may have believed they should go along. If they had instead focused on what Jesus
said would occur in Jerusalem they may have understood the stage was being set
for Jesus to be sacrificed as the Lamb of God by the chief priests and scribes
(Mark
11:18).
3)
Trust God for provision, forgiveness, and
deliverance (Matthew
6:11-13) – One of the aspects of living in a free society is the belief
that one achieves success through their own efforts. This attitude of rugged individualism is not
inherently evil but becomes an idol in one’s life when it causes them to believe
they can provide for their needs in life and do not need God. Matthew
6:33 reminds us to first seek the kingdom of God, placing God first in our
lives so God can supply all we need. However,
we must also forgive others as Christ forgives us (Matthew
6:12). Placing God first also means
trusting God for deliverance from evil and temptation (Matthew
6:13).
When we receive Jesus as our savior, we receive
justification, inherit eternal life, and escape the condemnation of God (John
3:16-17). However, we still live in
fleshly bodies in a corrupt world and have the need for transformation to free
us from conformity to the world (Romans
12:2). In other words, we need to
invite Jesus into the temple of our hearts to drive out and overturn the tables
of our conformity to the world. This
begins by inviting Jesus into the temple of your heart. If you have not done so, I invite you to let
Jesus in for he sits at the door of your heart knocking (Revelation
3:20) by praying with me,
Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned (Romans
3:23) and know that the penalty for my sin is death (Romans
6:23). I ask you to forgive me of my
sin and cleanse me as you promise in your Word (1
John 1:9). I believe you died, spent
three days in the grave, and resurrected from the dead and now declare you Lord
of my life.
I encourage those that just prayed to find a church or Bible
study teaching the Bible. You should
also practice the spiritual disciplines of daily study and meditation of the
Bible and daily prayer to ensure God has prominence in your heart. Also, follow the pattern of the Lord’s prayer
to maintain a focus on worshiping God, the glorious future of eternity with
God, and learning to trust God for forgiveness (1
John 1:9), provision (Matthew
6:33), and deliverance (Matthew
6:13). May God bless everyone
reading this post.
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