Every time I come to the gospels to read, I am amazed by the courage of our Lord as he demonstrates living in hostile earthly environments. He very carefully chooses where and when to reveal his righteous anger; he is patient yet focused. Surprisingly, it is not against the Roman ruling authorities or sinners. No friends, Jesus’ anger is focused on those who say they belong to God, but actually live in resistance to Him by disrespecting the Father and taking advantage of others.
In our passage from Dr. Luke, today, Jesus has made his triumphal entry. He has shed tears for Jerusalem [the Holy City of Peace], because she does not recognize the Lord of all creation in her midst. The people desperately need salvation from sin, but the leaders are fleecing people and turning saving grace into a commodity. So, Jesus comes to offer himself as the sacrifice for the sins of the world; he is right there before them and people are so entrenched in what they can do to maneuver salvation or extort it they feel no shame for how that reflects upon the holy reputation and character of God. This indifference to the holy makes Jesus angry. Nothing that is going on in God’s house reflects the heavenly Temple for which the earthly temple was to emulate.
Both the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah prophesied to God’s intent for his house to be filled with prayer, but the religious leaders allowed evil and fleshly endeavors to fill it. “I will bring them to my holy mountain of Jerusalem and will fill them with joy in my house of prayer. I will accept their burnt offerings and sacrifices, because my Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations” (Isa 56:7). “Don’t you yourselves admit that this Temple, which bears my name, has become a den of thieves? Surely I see all the evil going on there. I, the Lord, have spoken! (Jer 7:11). God’s Word was given, so God was going to deal with the hypocrisy in his House.
To take it a step further, Jesus came to be the sacrificial Lamb to pay for our sins, forgive us, and make human hearts a holy temple for his presence. When we do not allow the purification process—the transformation of our souls—we are taking what has been purposed to make us a holy temple of grace and traded it for a hypocritical replica. Jesus weeps when we do not recognize the cost of salvation and we just want a “bit” of him—just enough to keep us out of hell.
“For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires (Heb 4:12). When we invest our time in reading the Word of God, we are actually saying, “I choose to put myself under your Physician’s knife, Lord, so you can cut away the things that make me a hypocrite to your Word!” Salvation is the most holy experience that will ever touch our lives, so we dare not treat it as an earthly exchange or transaction.
Luke 19:45-48 NLT Jesus Clears the Temple
45 Then Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people selling animals for sacrifices. 46 He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves.”
47 After that, he taught daily in the Temple, but the leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the other leaders of the people began planning how to kill him. 48 But they could think of nothing, because all the people hung on every word he said.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for salvation and for the work of the Word and Spirit to influence our hearts and desires with divine holiness. Help us remain focused like Jesus on prayer and the power of living righteously. May we have an awareness of your presence with us every day and may we press in to receive your strength and grace for the growth of our souls. In Jesus’ name. Amen.