"Temple" John 2:12-25

Jesus walked into the temple, the most magnificent building in his time. It was the place people came to worship and have access to God. It was divided in different courts. There was a place where only the priest could go. There was a court for Jewish men, a court for Jewish women, a court for Nazarites, a court for lepers and a court for Gentiles who had converted to Judaism.

The court of the Gentiles was just outside of the temple building. When Jesus came to the temple the Gentile court had been turned into a marketplace. It was loud. You could hear bartering going on. You could hear coins being passed back and forth. There was the sound of livestock bellowing as they were being sold for sacrifice. It just was not the best place to have to worship.

Then there were the inflated prices being offered for those who had come to the temple without an animal to be sacrificed. It was a crazy scene and Jesus made it a little crazier. Jesus made a whip out of cords and began driving the animals out of the temple area. Then he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. It was quite the scene.

He said, "How dare you turn my Father's house into a marketplace!"

The problem was not as much the selling, the problem was how the Jewish leaders looked down on the worship of the Gentiles. They looked at the Gentiles as if their worship of God was of lesser importance than the worship of the Jews. Their was an arrogance that existed within the temple area. It was so segregated that it it gave the appearance that depending on who you were your worship was of greater value.

It still exists today, not just within Judaism, but within Christianity. There are times people will say, "The church just is not very friendly." Maybe that is not exactly what is meant. Maybe what people sense or feel is this arrogance that we are more spiritual than someone who has not been here as long. There is a spiritual posturing that goes one within. I think it is mostly subconscious, although I am sure sometimes it is deliberate. But that does not make it right.

As followers of Jesus we need to practice humility. We need not think to highly of ourselves. We are all sinners saved by God's grace through Jesus.

"For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance to the measure of faith God has given you." Romans 12:3