After Jesus said “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.’ He and those with him entered the temple area in Jerusalem. I told you we had discussed the fig tree lesson at a quiet day several years ago. I remember having asked if Jesus and his disciples were still hungry when they entered the temple area. Did he drive out the people who were buying and selling there because Jesus said we should be feeding and clothing the poor? Later I realized Jesus and his disciples had spent the night with friends in Bethany, so in all probability they were not hungry.
What happened in the temple? Almost everyone can answer the question – Jesus overturned the tables and benches and drove out all the people who were selling and buying things in the temple area.
Fewer people remember his teaching. In the teaching he quotes from Isaiah 56:7 “My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.” and references Jeremiah 11 in saying the people have ‘made it a den of robbers.’ You have to read more of Isaiah 56 to understand the depth of this teaching. No one who has accepted the Lord, who has bound themselves to God should be excluded from the family of God. The people in the temple area were there for two reasons – 1. They were Gentiles and could not go into the temple and 2. It was customary for them to both conduct business and pray in the temple area.
I think it’s important for us to know that Jesus was not driving out the people because they were Gentiles – he was driving them out because he did not believe the custom of buying and selling the temple area was appropriate. Prayer, yes – but business – no. Why? Because it draws in people who are not bound to the Lord with a desire to pray. The business of buying and selling and bartering was too near to destroying the full and holy purpose of the temple.
I think it’s important to understand that Jesus wasn’t against business owners or the shoppers – but in this place they were robbing people of peaceful prayer time, they were disturbing their peace and not using the temple space appropriately.
How does this teaching affect our generation in regards to our prayer lives and spaces? How does this teaching apply to that of the Apostle Paul in saying we should not neglect to meet together? When we think about coming to church what are our intentions? Are we looking more forward to fellowship and coffee hour and meeting about the next fundraising campaign than we are to gathering together in prayer? When is the last time your Priest, Pastor, Minister made a call for a Prayer Service? What would happen if we prayed the Scriptures together more often in the church than meeting in the church? What if church meetings all began and ended with prayer or committees stopped to pray their way through difficult decisions being made at the meetings? What would happen if we became more obedient to the Lord’s will that our church became more of a house of prayer and we quit robbing people of peaceful and purposeful prayer time.
The chief priests and teachers of the law wanted to kill him, they became afraid of him because the whole crowd was amazed at Jesus’ teaching – no doubt some of them might have also been afraid by and angered by his action of overturning the tables and benches and driving some people out of the temple – and some people probably appreciated it. What about us? How do we feel about this teaching and what are we going to do about it? Well – perhaps we shouldn’t start throwing things around and kicking people out – but we could start throwing out ideas of how to use the church spaces more effectively.
Remember – Jesus’ disciples had asked him to teach them how to pray . . . Perhaps starting with a prayer focus using the Lord’s Prayer as a guide would be a good starting place. The Lord’s Prayer can help us learn how to love him, ourselves and our neighbors in better ways.
Our Father in heaven – forgive us for incorrectly using our time and spaces in your house. Please bring us to our senses and give us a desire to pray more deeply and seek your way through the world in our generation. Help us to remember to keep your church as a house steeped in prayer that we may be pleasing to you and bring glory to your name. AMEN
