Friday, December 27: Mark 11- Making money off God?!.

Cleaning out the temple was an incredibly dramatic act and one that added gasoline to the fires burning against Jesus. From a purely earthly perspective it took tremendous chutzpa to take on the religious establishment of the day.

I found myself drawn into this account.

On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. And as he taught them, he said, "Is it not written:

"'My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations'?

But you have made it 'a den of robbers'" (15-17).

What likely began as a service to weary, faithful travelers corrupted into a dishonoring practice.

When the distance was too great, pilgrims coming to Jerusalem could convert their animal offerings into cash and then purchase animals in Jerusalem to sacrifice to the Lord. Thus, we see the sale of doves, an acceptable sacrifice, and money changers. So what is wrong with the practices?

First problem is location. The place where all this was happening was in the temple precincts themselves. The temple had a precise layout. The inner-most area of the temple was the Holy of Holies, only the high priest could go in there and that only once a year. Emanating out from that center in something like concentric circles were different areas… areas for priests, then space where men could worship, then where women could worship and finally where foreigners could worship. By setting up the tables and money changers in the temple proper, they had eliminated worship space for certain groups of people, likely the foreigners. Thus Jesus response, "'My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations'?  God’s design from God’s original call to Abraham in Genesis 12, was being disregarded.

The second half of Jesus comment hints at a second issue: But you have made it 'a den of robbers'" They were gouging the people with the practices of money changing and selling the sacrificial animals. They were prostituting themselves to make a shekel!

My mind floats through 2013, prayer erupts…

Lord, are we in Your church guilty of hoarding Your grace for our selves rather than providing space for the nations to praise You? Are we???

Lord, are we more interested in making a buck and building our ‘empires’ in the name of Christ rather than providing a service so that those who wish to worship You –no matter the ethnicity or economic status- can do just that, WORSHIP YOU? Are we?

Oh God, I pray not?! Amen.