◄ What Does John 2:15 Mean? ►

Throughout His earthly life, the Lord Jesus ignored the unscriptural traditions of the elders and would knowingly violate the unbiblical customs of the Scribes and Pharisees, and disregard their man-made rituals and manufactured ceremonies. But in every respect, the Lord Jesus fulfilled the Law of God which was given to Israel through Moses, and He kept the statutes of the Lord in order to remove the curse of the Law from those who would believe on His name and trust in Him for salvation by grace through faith in His sacrificial work at Calvary.

Both at the start and the end of His ministry, we discover the Lord Jesus cleansing the Temple of God from the many ungodly practices that had been implemented over the years. The House of the Lord was purposed by God to be a place of prayer for all nations, but the priests and rulers of the people had desecrated this holy place and turned God's dwelling into a den of thieves and a hideout for bandits.

Early in His ministry, Christ displayed righteous indignation when He saw the misuse of the Temple. His holy anger exploded into a physical display of indignation when He discovered the money-changers aggressively demanding inflated prices for inferior oxen, sheep, and doves, and witnessed the gross extortion of the poor, by unscrupulous men.

No wonder the Son of God made a scourge of cords and drove them all out of the temple. No surprise that He poured out the coins of the corrupt money-changers and overturned their table as they continued to exploit the poor people of Israel who simply desired to honour the Lord with their sacrifices and offerings.

There is much that is going on in Christendom today that reflects this corrupt generation. There are many today who reflect the practices of the unscrupulous money-changers and the ungodly priests and religious leaders who encouraged this blasphemous dishonesty and who benefit from the same fraudulent and sacrilegious profiteering.

As a member of the Church, it is our body that is now the 'Temple of the Living God'. It is Christians individually and collectively who are living stones that are being built up into a spiritual house, a holy priesthood and the dwelling-place of our God. May the words of our mouth, the actions in our lives, our conscious attitudes, and even the unconscious motives of our heart be so attuned to the will of the Lord that we do only those things that are pleasing in His sight - to His praise and glory.

Heavenly Father, thank You for the many lessons that are written in Your Word. Help me to live righteously in Your eyes. Help me to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly before You, all the days of my life. In Jesus' name I pray, AMEN.