May 25, 2023

Hello Advent Family,

One of my favorite parts of the book of John is the way that he writes feels like he is sitting beside a campfire simply recalling some of the highlights of Jesus’ ministry on earth.  While he sometimes continues the narrative of a story other times he places two stories next to each other with no direct connection.  This is the case in John 2.  After turning the water into wine we get a story of Jesus going to the Passover and cleansing the temple.  He does this on two separate occasions and this is the first.  Let’s look at it together today.

When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15 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. 16 To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” 17 His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 18 The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” 20 They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” 21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body. 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.

Jesus goes to Jerusalem for Passover and what He finds there angers Him.  Passover is a time to remember the deliverance of God, a deliverance that is His ultimate reason for being on earth.  Instead of worshipping and remembering the goodness of the Father the people have used the fact of a full Passover crowd to make money.  They are using Passover for financial gain instead of taking the opportunity to worship and remember.  This righteous anger that Jesus displays is not sinful but is appropriate.  He sees a wrong in the world and it grieves Him so He responds.  Bill Hybels calls this concept Holy Discontent.  The question for us is where do we have Holy Discontent?  Where do we see wrongs in the world and what are we doing about it?  When we see things in the world that are wrong we are right to be upset about it.  When we are able we are called to right the wrongs we see and share the love of Christ with a world that needs it. 

In His Grip,

Pastor Dave


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