Opening Prayer: Good morning Lord. As I enter the second
day of Holy Week, I want to remember the echoes of the crowds, just yesterday, but I must remember to remember not only to look back to the time when Jesus was honored as a king
with loud Hosannas. Courageously, I want to look forward into the darkness, assured that
at the end of the dark night there is light, the light of the Resurrection. Amen.
Scripture: John
2:13-17 English Standard Version (ESV)
“The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to
Jerusalem. In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and
pigeons, and the moneychangers sitting there. And making a whip of cords, he
drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out
the coins of the moneychangers and overturned their tables. And he told those
who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father's house a
house of trade.” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your
house will consume me.”
Message:
This special devotional
series focuses on the activities historically celebrated as happening during Holy
Week. Today we are focusing on Jesus clearing out the moneychangers from the temple. Like any encounter between God and humans, this story has been used appropriately and
in some cases inappropriately to decide what should and should not happen in the
Sanctuary, the church building, or the church parking lot. As our devotion, let’s
take a look at what was happening and explore why Jesus is angry?
The scene
that is set before us takes place as everyone is preparing for Passover. Preparations
for Passover included finding a good place, fixing the meal, and offering
sacrifices. It makes sense that not everyone would have access to appropriate sacrifices
and so it was a service to offer these animals for a price. The problem was
that there was a lot of price gouging going on. Jesus is not angry that people
are engaged in the enterprise of buying and selling. He is angry that this holy rite is being corrupted
by commerciality. Jesus is angry that the focus of preparing one’s heart and
mind for the celebration of God’s saving grace has been changed to a festival
of one’s buying power.
Imagine if on Communion Sundays we offered freshly baked
primo bread and Welch’s grape juice, or medium generic bread and juice, or day’s
old bread and watered-down juice, all for a price. The focus would then be on
who could afford the better communion elements. Eventually, the quality of
the communion elements would be equated with the quality of the person who
could afford the communion elements. Can you see how competitiveness and
shame could easily enter into the picture? Did you notice how our attention has
been shifted away from the grace that God gives us through receiving Communion
and onto the cost of the elements and the people who can or cannot afford the better
elements?
These are the central issues. (1) God’s grace is free, all of the
time. All of the time, God’s grace is free; and (2) God’s grace through which we
receive forgiveness of sin is never about who we are. It is always about who
God is. The practice of selling and price gouging put yet another veil between
God and God’s people. Making money became the primary focus, not our reliance on receiving
forgiveness through God’s grace. As you ponder the events of Holy Monday, think
about the abundance of God’s grace that can never be bought or sold.
Closing Prayer: Together we sing that wonderful hymn
chorus, “How marvelous,
how wonderful is my Savior’s love for me”. Thank you Lord!
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