DeNae Lee
In John 2:13-22, around the time of
Passover, Jesus goes to the synagogue in Jerusalem and finds people selling
livestock in a sacred temple. Jesus is furious by the profane behavior taking
place in his Father’s House and
he drives out the sheep and cattle and overturns the money changers’
tables. He said “Stop
turning my Father’s house
into a market!”
Surely those who witnessed Jesus’ purge
of the temple were angry with his behavior and it was one of the moments that
led to his crucifixion. The Jewish leaders questioned his authority and
demanded that he provide a sign that he was armed with divine power to do such
a thing. Jesus responded to them, “Destroy
this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”
Later after Jesus was raised from the
dead, his disciples remembered him saying these prophetic words and realized
that he was speaking of the “temple
of his body.”
This story must be very important in
Jesus’
journey to the cross, as it was included in each of the
four Gospels. Each gospel writer is asking us to take notice of this
significant happening. In the Gospel of John, this passage is at the beginning
of his book when he is telling us about Jesus’ ministry.
It may be that John started with this confrontation to make us examine what
really matters.
Could it be that John wanted us to
see Jesus as a reformer taking this defining moment to teach us that the
synagogue was not to be a place to conduct business or other worldly
interactions, but a house of God open for all people to gather for worship?
I can’t
help but think how proud I am of First Baptist Church of Austin for taking
important steps recently to welcome ALL people into our church. Isn’t
that what Jesus would want?…a
place for ALL people to worship and thrive in community, a place where ALL
people could feed their souls and walk with God, a place where ALL
people feel empowered to use their unique spiritual gifts to help others in
service and further the mission of our church? Shouldn’t
a church be a place where ALL people feel welcome, wanted, and valued?
First Austin is that church and that is why I love it dearly.
Along this Lenten journey, we must
remember to ask ourselves what really does matter?
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