Mark 11:15-17
15 On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, 16 and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. 17 And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: “’My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”
One of the most impactful experiences I had on my trip to Israel in 2017 was putting my feet where Jesus put his. Tracing his steps, especially the last 7 days of his earthly life, took the reality of all that he accomplished that much deeper. Monday finds Jesus entering into Jerusalem and being quite upset with what he saw. Zion was drifting. The sacred migrating toward the secular. The shouts of “buy three, get one free” were drowning out the purpose of the sacrificial doves. Jesus’ house had forgotten its owner. And when that happens, God often flips a few things over in our lives. When work starts occupying a place that he never intended, when a relationship begins to corrupt the temple, when priorities start robbing the soul, when merchandise overshadows ministry, then it’s time to overturn some stuff. It’s time for the Sovereign Savior to raise his voice. It’s time to clean house.
Lord, have mercy on our drifting. Forgive us when we lose sight of the stuff that matters the most. Open our eyes, help us to see what you see. Renew this temple, O God. Cleanse it. Reorder it. Drive out what needs to be driven out that you might reign unchallenged there. In Christ’s name, Amen.