Luke 19:45-48 Contemporary English Version (CEV)
Sin—failure to love God and others—has the ability to get a death grip on unredeemed or uninformed people. The spirit of anti-Christ maneuvers, intimidates, and even coerces in order to gain power. It is relentless in its search for a host and uses fear as fuel. Good News: Perfect love—Christ—casts out fear and keeps our hearts inclined to love and worship God (1 John 4:18). But, we must listen to the Truth and obey the Word or commands of God; we must acknowledge the sin that tries to hide and repent.
In our passage today, Jesus comes to the physical Temple to teach a spiritual lesson about sin that hinders worship. These religious leaders have been unfaithful to teach the Truth about God’s commands, because people are not aware of the sin hiding in their hearts nor their need for repentance. The Temple is for worship—for people who live humbly and obediently before a holy God. In our lesson, the Living Word—Jesus—speaks Truth about the heart of worship which immediately spiritually divides the people gathered. In fact, the Word demands a response from the religious leaders, as well as everyone else listening. They must acknowledge their sin against God or justify it; they face the Truth. There are two different responses to the Truth: the people who listen and obey the bearer of Truth and the religious leaders who reject and plan to kill the bearer of Truth.
Luke 19:45-48 Jesus in the Temple
45 When Jesus entered the temple, he started chasing out the people who were selling things. 46 He told them, “The Scriptures say, ‘My house should be a place of worship.’ But you have made it a place where robbers hide!”
47 Each day, Jesus kept on teaching in the temple. So the chief priests, the teachers of the Law of Moses, and some other important people tried to have him killed. 48 But they could not find a way to do it, because everyone else was eager to listen to him.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for coming to love me and chase the sin out of my life; to turn over the symbolic tables in my temple where unholy things try to hide. Deliver me from evil for Thine is the Kingdom, power, and glory forever. In Jesus’ name. Amen.