[Scripture: Mark 11:15-19]
Today we will talk again about time and space. There are two different times and spaces in a Christian’s life. The first is sacred time and space, and the other is ordinary time and space. Christians are free to do whatever they want in normal time and space, but they seriously consider how they should behave in sacred time and space because God wants to keep God’s temple clean and holy.
Today’s passages are about the story of Jesus clearing the temple. This story is a well-known passage that talks about the issue of anger. I have heard many sermon series talk about, “Can Christians express their anger?” However, today, I will not talk about the issue of Christian anger, but I will talk about time and space.
The day of Passover was one of the biggest national holidays for all Jewish people. Almost everyone came to Jerusalem from every corner of the country, and some diaspora Jews came from Africa and European countries. Perhaps, they might prepare for the holy journey a year or more in advance.
Imagine. The total area of the city of Jerusalem is 0.35 square miles and 224 acres wide. Carleton City’s limits are 3 times the size of that, and Ash Township is also 35 times bigger than the old city of Jerusalem. I am surprised by the size of the old city of Jerusalem, but the more surprising thing was the population. Josephus, a Jewish historian, said on Passover’s day, the population grew to over two million because Jews made pilgrimages to the temple to commemorate and celebrate their liberation from Egyptian slavery.
Inside of the Temple
The temple was full of people selling sacrificial animals, exchanging large sums of money for smaller denominations, or exchanging foreign money into the temple coin because all Israelite had to pay the temple tax.
There was a proper marketplace outside the temple courtyard, but merchants brought their merchandise into the temple court on a national holiday such as the Passover. The marketplace was not originally in the temple but gradually extended to the walls of the temple. Eventually, merchants crossed the line, and the holy place became a marketplace.
The place where the merchants traded was the place for Gentiles to come in and worship. When Jesus entered the temple, the Gentiles who came from far away could not find a place to worship or pray because the merchants pushed the worshipers out of their place of worship.
The Passover was the biggest day for business people. So, they wanted to find a better place to sell their merchandise. The priests who had control over the temple which was the place of holy to worship allowed merchants to set tables in the temple.
It was the priest’s duty to keep the temple holy and clean and keep it free of all impurities. However, they had fellowship with the merchants and approved of the merchants selling in the temple.
When the pilgrims brought their own Passover lambs, the priests looked seriously to find a reason to reject them. If they found a defect, they urged people to repurchase the animals from the merchants. Some greedy priests helped merchants maximize the shareable profits. It was the reason why the merchants could sell the merchandise in the holy area.
Jesus Cleansed the Temple Courts
Jesus was angry because material values had entered the spiritual space and took their place.
When Jesus entered the temple, he saw so many unlawful activities in the temple courts. In righteous anger, Jesus drove them out from the holy place. And Jesus stayed in the temple court until evening. The next day, he came back to the temple again to teach about lawful activity in the holy temple.
While Jesus was in the temple, “the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders came to him” and asked Jesus about the authority questions. The questions seemed to ask about why he drove out the merchants that allowed the priests to do their work. They tried to convince Jesus to stop driving the merchants out, but Jesus won the argument and kept the temple clean.
This story tells us an unchanging truth. Jesus loves us almost every time, but Jesus never compromises on one thing, when anyone or any authority defiles God’s sacred space. He takes action to drive out the unclean things from the holy place immediately.
Spiritual Lessons
I want to share with you that there are two powerful spiritual lessons that we should learn from these passages. The first lesson is to know the location of the holy space that is never allowed to be defiled by anything and anyone. In 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, it says, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.”
A Christian’s heart and life is the temple of God. If a Christian is not separated from the values of the world, those becomes the standard of our heart. Then the temple of God is being invaded. Jesus speaks clearly. We cannot serve two masters, and we cannot serve the kingdom of God and the world at the same time.
Bill Bright, the founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, wrote the Four Spiritual Laws to keep Christians’ hearts and lives on the right track. He used two simple images to keep a Christian’s heart and life as the temple of God. The first image is this. In the room, there is a chair. Think about it. Who is sitting on the chair now? The room represents the heart and life of Christians, and the chair represents the throne of a Christian’s life.
If you sit on the throne, your life is self-directed. “You are in control, and Jesus has no influence in your life because you are the king of your life. If Jesus Christ sits on the throne in your heart and life, your life is Christ-directed. Jesus is in control, and you are following Him as Lord and King of your life.”
A Christian should practice coming down from a self-directed life to a Christ-directed life. A Christians should drive out material values from their hearts and dedicate their hearts and life as secret space for the dwelling place of God.
Participating in communion is one of the holy practices that brings God’s holiness into the sacred chamber of our heart.
2021.11.07. Pastor Cloud Poy
@ Photo on Unsplash
