John, The Love of God

What we see and what God sees is very different. God knows what’s on our minds. He sees what is stored up in our hearts. He knows our very souls. He knows what we will say and do before we know it. He knew us before we were a twinkle in the eyes of our parents. See Psalm 139 for more about what God knows.

God gave directives about worship and celebration that would give Him glory, honor and praises….a way to love Him back for His love and care for us. Over the years this was distorted and humanized for gain and profit. Imagine then, the Son of God, walking up to The Temple, the place built for God and the worship of Him and see all the graft and greed going on in His courts.

Jesus is asked “what credentials” do you have to clear the courts like this? Jesus answers with prophecy about what they will do to Him in a period of three days from death to resurrection. If they think so little about the edifice of The Temple, they will not stop to crucify the Body of our Christ later. THAT is the issue here. Read and think beyond the words on the page…

John 2, The Message
Tear Down This Temple . . .

13-14 When the Passover Feast, celebrated each spring by the Jews, was about to take place, Jesus traveled up to Jerusalem. He found the Temple teeming with people selling cattle and sheep and doves. The loan sharks were also there in full strength.

15-17 Jesus put together a whip out of strips of leather and chased them out of the Temple, stampeding the sheep and cattle, upending the tables of the loan sharks, spilling coins left and right. He told the dove merchants, “Get your things out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a shopping mall!” That’s when his disciples remembered the Scripture, “Zeal for your house consumes me.”

18-19 But the Jews were upset. They asked, “What credentials can you present to justify this?” Jesus answered, “Tear down this Temple and in three days I’ll put it back together.”

20-22 They were indignant: “It took forty-six years to build this Temple, and you’re going to rebuild it in three days?” But Jesus was talking about his body as the Temple. Later, after he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered he had said this. They then put two and two together and believed both what was written in Scripture and what Jesus had said.

23-25 During the time he was in Jerusalem, those days of the Passover Feast, many people noticed the signs he was displaying and, seeing they pointed straight to God, entrusted their lives to him. But Jesus didn’t entrust his life to them. He knew them inside and out, knew how untrustworthy they were. He didn’t need any help in seeing right through them.

Think about it…
–The disciples, simple men, remembered the Scripture. The Jews in charge did not.
–The disciples later, after His resurrection, put two and two together and figured out that The Temple He was talking about was His Body. The Jewish leaders did not.
–Jesus and His followers went the Temple to pray and give honor to God by observing the Passover. The Jewish leaders’ goal was to profit from the crowd gathered for the holidays. (Our world…Christmas and Easter? Mm.)
–Interesting to note…”many people noticed the signs he was displaying and seeing they pointed straight to God, entrusted their lives to Him. But, Jesus didn’t entrust his life to them. He knew them inside and out, knew how untrustworthy they were.” Jesus knew this same crowd would shout, “Crucify Him” before all was finished.
–Wow. See Jesus knows our every thought and action. He knows us from the inside out. Is this good or bad?
–Is this episode a hint of things to come?
–Repent and be saved by the Son of God who died and rose again for you and for me. Live redeemed! Others will notice.

Dear Heavenly Father, 
There is always more to the story than first appears. Your Holy Spirit enlightens us every day with a new look, a new perspective. It all about You. Always has been and always will be. Thank you for coming down to earth so that we might be lifted up with You! In Jesus Name, Amen