King for a day - Greg Laurie - http://www.wnd.com/2015/03/king-for-a-day/
Pastor Greg Laurie explains significance of Jesus' 2nd temple cleansing
What makes you mad? Everyone gets ticked off by something. What really angers you? A lot of things that irritate me have to do with cell phones or texting.
Now, I was excited when this technology first came out. I remember going to an Apple convention in San Francisco when the first iPhone was unveiled. The phone was on display behind thick Plexiglas, accompanied by an armed guard. People crowded around it but still had to keep their distance. It was the closest thing to modern idolatry that I've ever seen. Of course, when the iPhone was released, it changed the industry. Everyone copied that phone. It became the new standard.
But today what drives me crazy are people with cell phones. It seems as though there's an unwritten code that people with the loudest ringtones are obligated to let them ring at least eight times before they answer. And then there are the Bluetooth devices. I have no problem with Bluetooth devices, but we don't need to keep them on all the time. Apparently some people think they are fashion accessories. I saw someone the other day with one in each ear. I thought, This has to stop now.
There are things that annoy us, and there are things that make us angry. There is even a place for righteous anger. But what we don't want is sinful anger. The Bible tells us, "In your anger do not sin" (Ephesians 4:26 NIV).
It may surprise you to know that even Jesus was angry (but he never sinned). The Bible gives us a rare glimpse into the very human emotion of Jesus as he made his way into Jerusalem for the last time, on a Sunday. It was the final week in the earthly life and ministry of Christ. As the crowd laid down palm branches before him, there was a sense of expectancy that something big was about to happen.
The perception was that Jesus was about to take control. The people thought Jesus was about to overthrow the Romans, who were occupying the land of Israel, and that he would be their king, their Messiah. They didn't understand the scriptural teaching about the role of the Messiah. They failed to see that the Messiah would first suffer before he would reign. Before the throne there would be the cross. And the same ones who were crying "Hosanna!" on Sunday would be crying "Crucify Him!" on Friday. He was king, but only for a day.
If Jesus had been the militant Messiah the people wanted, he would have brought an army into Jerusalem and attacked the Roman garrison at the fortress of Antonia. Instead, he leveled his anger not at the pagans of Rome but at his own people. His own people had gone astray. And instead of driving the Romans out, he went into the Jewish temple and overturned the tables.
This was not an explosion of anger; it was righteous indignation. Mark's gospel gives us these details: "When they arrived back in Jerusalem, Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people buying and selling animals for sacrifices. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves, and he stopped everyone from using the Temple as a marketplace" (11:15-16 NLT).
Some people have an image of Jesus as a scrawny sort of guy who never lifted much of anything. But I think Jesus was muscular. Why? Because he walked everywhere. He was a carpenter. He chopped down trees. He framed houses. He built furniture. He did heavy labor. He was a strong man. And after he had been scourged, he was still walking. Even Pilate said of Jesus, "Behold the Man!" (John 19:5 NKJV)
It's a bold act to overturn a table. If you want to make a point, then throw over a table, especially if someone is sitting there. That will get people's attention. And that is exactly what Jesus was trying to do. Why was this such a big deal to Jesus? Because the people Jesus drove away were running a scam. They were keeping people from coming into the temple and worshiping God. They were restricting people from having access to God. They were essentially saying, "Your sacrifices aren't acceptable, and you can only use our sacrifices that are preapproved. If you will pay the extra money, then we will make them available to you." Their sin was ultimately keeping people from God. And God doesn't like it when we keep people away from him.
This happens in some churches today. Someone may walk in and be turned away: "You can't come in here dressed like that. Please go." But the church is a place to meet God and worship God. Jesus doesn't say, "Clean up your life and come to me." Rather, he says, "Come to me, and I will clean up your life."
As for the temple in Jerusalem, it was the second time that Jesus cleaned it up. After the first time, things probably ran well for a while. The moneychangers were gone, and people once again had free and open access to the temple. But perhaps after a little time had passed, one guy set up his table. No one stopped him, so another guy set up his. Soon maybe there were even more tables than there had ever been, and the whole racket was starting again.
God understood that the problem was not with the government but with his people. Today in the United States, we are quick to point fingers at our government, our culture, and Hollywood - and justly so in many ways. But at the same time, when God looks at a nation that is having a spiritual and moral breakdown, he points his finger at his own people. The words of 2 Chronicles 7:14 originally were addressed to Israel, but in principle, they are applicable to any nation. God said, "If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land" (NIV).
If God's people would live as they should as Christians, if we would live as we ought to as followers of Jesus, it would affect everything around us.
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