Thursday March 14, 2024

Today is Thursday, March 14 and we are reading through the second chapter of the Gospel of John.

Holy and loving God, I come here to listen for your voice speaking to me from the sacred words of the Holy Bible. Remind me of the truth of your Son, my Savior, Jesus Christ the Lord. As I read from the Gospel of John, let me hear the message you have for me today. Amen.

When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.” John 2:13-17

The Passover is an annual feast celebrated to remember God’s miraculous activity to free his people held in slavery in Egypt. In ancient Israel, the Passover was celebrated once a year in Jerusalem, at the Temple. John pays very close attention to the annual Jewish Feasts and mentions three Passovers in his record of the story of Jesus (John 2:13, 6:4 and 11:55) coinciding with the three years of Jesus’ public ministry.

The Old Testament laws demanded animal sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins. People traveled to Jerusalem from long distances. When they arrived they needed to change foreign coins and purchase animals for sale. The practice had turned the place of God, the holy Temple, into more of a dirty, raucous marketplace. Jesus saw this as an insult toward God and demanded a change. He cleansed and purified the house of God, driving out the disrespectful and reminding them that God deserves more.

It is a reminder to me as well. I consider when I have disrespected the house of God. What might the moneychangers and the animal sellers represent in this day and time? Jesus exhibited a fiery zeal and demanded that people honor the one Almighty God and respect his house. Jesus desires his followers to conform to proper worship and respect the sacred places of the faith. He calls for purification in the church and a cleansing of the hearts of the people. He calls for holiness and asks that we bring God our very best.

Ask: What could I do to be more intentional and honor the house of the Lord? How could I be more respectful and revere God with a true heart of worship?

Pause and Pray

Holy Lord Jesus, make me zealous for that which you are zealous. Show me the places I have become complacent or compliant, neglecting proper worship or disrespecting God and his house. Fill me with love for the holy and reverence for the sacred. Help me come into God’s presence with a pure heart and right intentions. Amen