And they come to
Jerusalem: and he entered into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold
and them that bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the
money-changers, and the seats of them that sold the doves; and
he would not suffer that any man should carry a vessel through the temple.
Insights: For a season we are
moving away from our subject of unity within the body of Christ and beginning
to focus our attention on the Passion of Jesus, otherwise known as,
Easter. Jesus knows it is His final week
on earth. And just like you would, if
you knew it was your final week, He wants to share with His disciples the most
important truths He has to give. So, we
are going to look over these next several weeks at some of Jesus’ final
teachings. Today we read in these verses
just following His triumphal entry (even though in another gospel the
indication is this occurred on Monday) that Jesus entered the temple and began
overturning the tables and herding out the animals. Later on in the week we are going to
understand the importance of this in more vivid detail, but for today, what I
want you to recognize is the erroneous fixation these “servants” of the temple
had. Their
story is that they were providing a much needed service for those coming to
offer sacrifices at the temple. Never
mind they were gouging people with exorbitant prices. These money-changers were allowing their
greed for financial gain to distract their hearts from true worship, which was
the purpose of the temple. This line of
reasoning naturally takes us to the question regarding ourselves. In our modern day worship centers, what
things distract us from genuine worship?
Remember, these money-changers were very religious people. The Scribes and Pharisees supported and even
endorsed these people, but their hearts were far from God. Do we ever allow our “jobs” at church to take
more of a precedent than God Himself?
Are we ever clock watchers and lunch contemplators instead of authentic
worshippers? Are we ever judge and jury
as to the format, style and programming of the church instead of humbling
ourselves before a mighty God? All of us
are guilty from time to time regarding distractions in worship. The problem becomes invasive when these distractions
become the dominant pattern of our worship and not the exception. Let us strive to allow nothing to hinder our
worship of the One True God. Let’s give
Him the praise and glory He rightly deserves.
Questions:
- On what is your heart fixed during worship?
- What do you think you need to do in order to have your heart fixed on God during worship?
Prayer: Lord, there are so many distractions in my life. Forgive me when they take Your place. Let Your Spirit wash over me and let my heart
be completely fixed on You. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment