With the Passover just days away, the temple business
was at its peak. It is the season of tremendous influx of visitors needing to exchange
their money for the temple currency, needing to buy sacrificial animals. It’s a
free flow of cash and merchandise - a religious black Friday of a sort.
The outer court of the temple was intended as a space for
prayer and reflections for the non-Jewish God-seekers, a place where those who
are far away can come near to the God of the whole earth. By this time,
however, it was converted into a bustling market. The convenience of the location eventually trumped
any last remnant of sensibilities toward the spiritual needs of foreigners. The
original intent was either ignored or forgotten. The site effectively
re-purposed and nobody seemed to mind or care.
That is, nobody until Somebody came along who actually took
God at His Word. Who made a connection
between what was written:
My house shall be
called a house of prayer for all the nations,
and what He saw and heard:
But you have made it a
robbers’ den.
And suddenly the infinitely patient Rabbi, the gentle lamb
of God transforms into a roaring lion of Judah . His actions calling the religious
professionals on the carpet.
And they did not like it.
Not one bit.
And they did not like it.
Not one bit.
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