Hope is Here / 06. Hope is Here // 7 The Cleansing of the Temple - Joel Virgo // Matthew 21:12-17
06. Hope is Here // 7 The Cleansing of the Temple - Joel Virgo // Matthew 21:12-17
Throughout the bible, we see God’s people taking the gifts that God has given then and using them to be a means of privilege. For example, the sabbath was intended to be a gift of rest but it was turned into a weapon used to shame people who couldn’t keep up with all of the legalistic obligations that they made up to go along with it.
In this week’s passage we read about the temple. God chose to set up His house in their land and honour them by living among them. However this gift of God’s presence was turned into a trophy until eventually they started putting their hope in the temple rather than God himself.
When Jesus comes into the story we see Him deal with this. He speaks strongly to them about how they have missed the point and turned the house of prayer into a den of thieves. The temple was supposed to be a place where God and people could be together the way that they were at creation before it was spoiled by sin. Sin separated us from God and made it impossible for humans to be near Him. But, in His love, God set up a temple and rituals so that they could be with Him. It was intended to be a precious and treasured gift but the people lost sight of this and turned it into a place of nationalistic arrogance.
There would have been people buying and selling products at the temple. This is because people would travel and then buy sacrifices when they got there. This was not wrong and is not what Jesus objects to. He is angered by their self importance and the way that they turned the house of God into a symbol of their own importance. Their security was in the temple, more than it was in God.
This can happen to us in our lives sometimes. We can look for our security and comfort in things that God has given to us instead of in Him. We can imagine that we are protected and that God would never touch those things, but His desire is not for your things, rituals or religion, He wants your heart and He is not afraid to take away everything else in order to draw you back to Himself, just like the temple was eventually destroyed so there was nothing left of it to cling to. He wants us to see straight and take Him seriously so keep a soft heart and don’t build a false den for yourself.
Jesus is the Lion and the Lamb. He is gentle but He is also fierce. He wants justice and we can see this in His actions. The temple was built to be a way for us to dwell with God. Now Jesus is building a temple of people who are joined to Him. People who are proud and self important can’t stand Jesus but people who come to Him like helpless children will be healed and restored.
Application:
Put your trust in Jesus, nothing and no one else. Don’t let any ‘temples’ distract you from Him.
Understand that Jesus is the Lion and the Lamb, we need to see and know both sides of Him.
Ask God to raise your expectations for what it means to be in His presence.
In this week’s passage we read about the temple. God chose to set up His house in their land and honour them by living among them. However this gift of God’s presence was turned into a trophy until eventually they started putting their hope in the temple rather than God himself.
When Jesus comes into the story we see Him deal with this. He speaks strongly to them about how they have missed the point and turned the house of prayer into a den of thieves. The temple was supposed to be a place where God and people could be together the way that they were at creation before it was spoiled by sin. Sin separated us from God and made it impossible for humans to be near Him. But, in His love, God set up a temple and rituals so that they could be with Him. It was intended to be a precious and treasured gift but the people lost sight of this and turned it into a place of nationalistic arrogance.
There would have been people buying and selling products at the temple. This is because people would travel and then buy sacrifices when they got there. This was not wrong and is not what Jesus objects to. He is angered by their self importance and the way that they turned the house of God into a symbol of their own importance. Their security was in the temple, more than it was in God.
This can happen to us in our lives sometimes. We can look for our security and comfort in things that God has given to us instead of in Him. We can imagine that we are protected and that God would never touch those things, but His desire is not for your things, rituals or religion, He wants your heart and He is not afraid to take away everything else in order to draw you back to Himself, just like the temple was eventually destroyed so there was nothing left of it to cling to. He wants us to see straight and take Him seriously so keep a soft heart and don’t build a false den for yourself.
Jesus is the Lion and the Lamb. He is gentle but He is also fierce. He wants justice and we can see this in His actions. The temple was built to be a way for us to dwell with God. Now Jesus is building a temple of people who are joined to Him. People who are proud and self important can’t stand Jesus but people who come to Him like helpless children will be healed and restored.
Application:
Put your trust in Jesus, nothing and no one else. Don’t let any ‘temples’ distract you from Him.
Understand that Jesus is the Lion and the Lamb, we need to see and know both sides of Him.
Ask God to raise your expectations for what it means to be in His presence.
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