On the following day ... they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers, and the seats of those who sold doves; and he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. He was teaching and saying, "Is it not written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations?' But you have made it a den of robbers." And when the chief priests and the scribes heard it, they kept looking for a way to kill him; for they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was spellbound by his teaching. And when evening came, Jesus and his disciples went out of the city. (Mark 11:12, 15-19)
Our devotions this week will focus on the week of Jesus' passion. Each day we will hear what Jesus was doing on that particular day during that passion week.
On Monday, according to the Gospel of Mark (Mark 11:12-19), Jesus left Bethany, where he was staying after his triumphant entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, and reentered Jerusalem, on his way to the temple. There, he overturned tables and caused a significant disturbance to the ritual and financial expectations that had grown up around the sacrificial system of the Temple. This act of Jesus, as much as any particular act in his ministry, put his life in danger. Not only was he messing with the religious tenets of the faith, but the financial realities as well.
The thing is ... the ritual buying and selling of animals was actually quite religiously important at the time. People could not offer animals as sacrifices that were "blemished". If you were traveling from a town far from Jerusalem, it would have been difficult to keep your animal from becoming blemished. So, the temple offered the opportunity for you to buy them when you arrived, allowing you to sacrifice a unblemished animal, according the tenets of the law.
Trouble was ... people overcharged and used this good idea as a way to enrich themselves and the religious leadership. Jesus calls them to account. He challenges the sacrificial system and the financial shenanigans that happened as part of it.
Jesus often cuts to the core. He challenges us in our religiosity, is not afraid to attack our well-meaning when it misses the point. This is tough to hear and tough to experience.
Where is Jesus turning over tables in your life?
Passionate Lord, overturn the places in my life where I am following my own selfish wants. Amen.
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