A Den of Robbers

 

And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching. And when evening came they went out of the city. (Mark 11:15-18 ESV).

 

Our reading today gives us another opportunity to learn from Jesus. This lesson comes from His actions as much as His teaching. God’s temple was a symbol of God’s presence among his people, and the religious leaders had allowed the courts of the Gentiles to be filled with vendors and money changers. They provided helpful services by selling animals for use in the temple sacrifices and by providing currency exchanges for travelers from all parts of the empire. But they were robbing people of a place to pray and offer worship to God with praise and offerings. And all this was in the part of the temple where God welcomed people from all nations.

 

So, Jesus drove the buyers and sellers and money changers out of there. Just imagine the scene! Can you see Jesus overturning tables, hear the changers and dove sellers yelling, their coins scattering and doves fluttering with feathers flying? Jesus wasn’t smiling as he banned this merchandise traffic. He was rightly angered by the exploitation of his Father’s house. And he was determined to make this a house of prayer for all nations, as God had intended it to be.

 

The church today should be a place of prayer and worship for God’s people from all nations as well. I’m afraid that so many of our places of worship have drifted away from that to become as bad as the Temple of Jesus’ day. We must make it a singular focus to use the time we spend gathered to pray and share the Gospel. It begins with each of us individually and spreads throughout our community of faith.