How The Tables Turned

Every Christian who goes to church on a regular basis has probably heard about the story of Jesus whipping the money lenders and chasing them out of Jerusalem’s great temple. It’s the standard passage to bring up in discussions amongst your friends about the picture it paints of our saviour, which then leads to this question: How would you describe Jesus? I would say there are many words and names such as; Creator, Friend, Healer, Provider, Saviour, Lord, Father, Peace, Meekness, Love, Victorious, etc. All these names reveal various aspects of His character. But there’s an aspect of His character we rarely think about that we can see in Luke 19:45-48, NIV: When Jesus entered the temple courts, he began to drive out those who were selling. “It is written” he said to them, My house will be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers. Every day he was teaching at the temple. But the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill him. Yet they could not find any way to do it, because all the people hung on his words.”

Picture this: the previous day Jesus makes a triumphant entry into Jerusalem, He rode into Jerusalem on the back of a borrowed colt, one that had never been ridden before. The disciples spread their cloaks on the colt for Jesus to sit on, and the multitudes came out to welcome Him. Laying before Him their cloaks and the branches of palm trees, the people hailed and praised Him as the “King who comes in the name of the Lord”. Beautiful picture right? But oh how the tables turned on Monday (literally) in verse 45 of Luke 19, “When Jesus entered the temple courts, he began to drive out those who were selling”.

The temple that was supposed to be used for worship, had now turned into a money market. Opposite ends of the scale right? And Jesus was having none of it. He went in and got rid of those who bought and sold and overturned the tables of money changers. Why? He was against the idea that any business should be conducted within the temple. He knew it was wrong and was moved to anger. The emotion of anger is often portrayed as a negative emotion, but the God who gave us our emotions expects us to be occasionally moved to anger against the things He deems wrong. Jesus was angry because men were abusing the use of his Father’s house

To understand where I am going with this, you must first understand why a clearing of the temple was vital that day. It says in Luke 19:47 that Jesus “was teaching daily in the temple” on this day and days leading up to His arrest and crucifixion at the end of the week.

What happened after Jesus threw those money changers from the temple? I imagine there was a shocked silence as people awkwardly waited to see what would happen next. If anything, His action further established and called everyone’s attention to what the temple was designed for. It may be that when we take a courageous stand for righteousness, others will see it and realize the purpose or fruit of salvation in our lives, and thereby be drawn to Jesus.

When you listen attentively to the voice of God, there is NO place for anyone or anything to gain an easy foothold in your life.

The purpose of the clearing was to make room so people could worship, pray and Jesus could teach. He had an opportunity to reach the very ones whom others so often took advantage of. Religious leaders tried finding faults in Him but couldn’t. Luke 19:48 says they could not find any way, because the people hung onto His words. When you listen attentively to the voice of God, there is NO place for anyone or anything to gain an easy foothold in your life. As I write this, I realise that we need to be conscious of what we allow to take place in our church buildings. But more importantly, we need wisdom to discern what we allow into our hearts. Don’t allow anyone or anything to take up residence in your place of worship. It’s important to keep your heart right and not allow it to become a marketplace for the wrong things.

If the temple was designed for the purpose of teaching and prayer, do we think we have any less of a calling as children of God?—for our bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit (I Corinthians 6:19). Remember we live in a fallen world and we sometimes forget we are the church especially in these trying times where humanity is in survival mode. The temple in this passage was being defiled but the good news is that there is HOPE.

But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. (Daniel 1:8)

You too can resolve not to defile your heart. So remind yourself today that you are the temple of God and that the spirit of God dwells in you. In all honesty, we need to consistently ask ourselves this question; Is there a clearing out that needs to take place in my heart?

Have you allowed other things to come into your place of worship (Heart) and dampen the voice of God? If so, just like Jesus drove out the money changers, we can seek the help of the Holy Spirit who works to drive spiritual distractions out of our hearts, for it to be a place where His presence dwells. Surely, He will help us if we are sincere about making our hearts a conducive environment for worship.