Jesus wanted the temple to be a house of prayer. Instead, it had become a den of robbers. I imagine this was nothing new. He had already seen or heard what it had become. But the time had come for him to make it known how God felt about what was happening.
When we read Jesus’ words it’s helpful to recall they represent the debut of God’s new movement. New. In other words, God moved before Jesus, too. What the Lord did before isn’t forgotten. It is not discarded. It can’t be because it is the basis for understanding how the ministry of Jesus fits into God’s whole story.
In the book of Acts, there are several speeches recorded that sound the same. They are, mostly, from the apostles and read like historical accounts. As they explain the ministry of Jesus, they look back on what God has done before.
The day Jesus drove out the sellers in the temple, he did, too. His problem was not that people sold things in the temple. That was necessary. To better understand what was happening, we need to look back with Jesus. He quoted the prophet Isaiah.
And the people knew where he was going with that. They knew the text; that’s why many of them were upset.
God didn’t just want the temple to be a house of prayer. God wanted the temple to be a house of prayer for all nations. According to the prophet, God was bringing “the foreigners” to the temple. It was something the Lord wanted and was doing. Their presence would be proof of God’s unfolding love for all the world.
But the people who were already there made it difficult, if not impossible, for new people to make it in. The holy people had become robbers who thwarted the temple’s true purpose. God wanted all people to know the freedom and joy of worship (Isaiah 56:7). That’s not what the people who had been going to the temple for a long time wanted. At least, that’s not what they let happen.
No wonder Jesus called it a den of robbers. Some robbed the people they sold to. In turn, others robbed “foreigners” of the chance of worshiping the Lord. And, in a sense, they robbed God.
I’m thinking of the old song Put Your Hand in the Hand. It reminds me that:
Those buyers and sellers were no different fellas
than what I profess to be
Who are we keeping out because things are the way we like them right now? What attitudes or ideas are we using to rob people of the chance of knowing God? The already gathered have a responsibility. Whatever God’s house looks like today, we must ensure it is a house of prayer for all nations.
Stay blessed…john
