After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days.
When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, "Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!"
His disciples remembered that it is written: "Zeal for your house will consume me."
Then the Jews demanded of him, "What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?"
Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days."
The Jews replied, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?" But the temple he had spoken of was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he has said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.
Now While he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. He did not need man's testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man.
Verses 12-17 are the first of three main points. When Jesus arrived at the temple and saw people selling dirty animals and making change within the temple walls He was not happy to say the least. Jesus made a whip and then proceeded to drive everyone out of the temple, both men and animals. But why did He do this when this "market" had become accepted by the Jews? Because He had zeal for His Father's house. Because Jesus held the house of God sacred. Think of the most valuable thing you have in your possession. Now imagine people taking and defiling it in any way imaginable. What would you honestly do if you saw that? You would save it from being further defiled, and try to repair it. That is because you hold it sacred. The question now is, "Does God want you to hold this thing sacred?" And the next question is, "Are you holding sacred what God wants you to hold sacred?" Today's generation treats a lot of sacred things like they're trash. Homes, the planet, parents, friends, people in general, religion, sex, marriage, the list goes on. Are you with the world in not holding certain things sacred, or are you looking intently at what God has given you and valuing the blessings? Jesus went so far as to drive out an entire temple and look like a crazy person doing it. Why? Because the people were defiling His Father's house. The place where people are suppose to come and worship God at. This generation is perverse in this regard more than any other. We hold the wrongs things sacred, and ruin the things that are sacred. Now with everyone the things that are held sacred and that are not are always different. So take now to talk with God and ask Him what is sacred and what is not. And then change what you value after He answers.
Verses 18-22 are about the Jews reaction to Jesus actions, and Jesus reaction to their reaction. The Jews demand a miraculous sign from Jesus as proof that He has authority to do such a thing. Jesus answered, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days." When the Jews heard Jesus say this they instantly thought He was talking about the temple they were in. But Jesus was talking about His body. Throughout the Bible God talks in riddles. He hides the truth within the truth. There are things that, with the entire Bible, are still hard to understand. I know this very well as there is a lot of the Bible that confuses me. But with every part of the Bible, there is a hidden meaning within it. But it is not impossible to understand the Bible. I understand more now than I did when I started this blog 3 years ago. The way to understand the Bible more is to keep reading it and putting it into practice. The more you read and do what the Bible says the more you come to know who God is. God wrote the Bible through a series of men. If we learn more about God, then we will understand His purpose for the different parts of the Bible. The Bible is not written in a straightforward way because it is a book meant to guide us through life. God reveals different parts of the Bible at different times in our life. God wrote the Bible to guide His followers back from sin, and then down the path of righteousness. The path that ultimately leads to Heaven. The importance of the Bible is more than we can ever know. We won't know all the secrets of the Bible until we are in Heaven. The Bible is so complex and constantly revealing new things that it is impossible completely understand it. That is something that I am truly grateful for. I couldn't ask for a better tool to use to live a righteous life than a book that reveals new things to me with every step I take in life. So we must all stay buried in God's Word, so that we don't miss out on anything that God wants to show us.
Verses 23-25 tell us that Jesus did not entrust himself to the men around Him for He knew what was in a man. These were not even criminals. These were people like you and me. So why didn't Jesus entrust himself to them? Because Jesus knows everything about any one person. People are not something we can completely put our trust in. I know that sounds pretty bad, but we are all sinful beings. We are messed up on a large scale. I heard this from one of my youth leaders, "No matter how bad you think you are, you are always worse." So knowing that I can see why Jesus wouldn't trust me. We are temporary creatures who's attitudes about things change more than the grains of sand in any square foot of the beach. With that known, why do we trust other people so much? Why do we rely on other people for so much in life? We hold our relationships with other more valuable than our relationship with God at times. It's sad to think that we do such a thing. Jesus did not trust in man, but He did trust in God. So like Jesus, we should put all of out trust in God. Before checking on how our relationships with other people are going, we should always check how our relationship with God is doing.
So from this passage comes three lessons that work well together. Ask God what you should hold sacred and place value on that. Two things to hold sacred are reading your Bible constantly, and building your relationship with God. Read your Bible everyday to see what you need to hold sacred and to learn more about God and trust Him with more. And always trust in God and work on your relationship with Him. By growing closer to Him you learn what's important in life and you desire to learn more about Him. The Bible always works with itself to show us an ever growing picture of Wisdom. We must keep working to make that picture bigger in our minds and hearts.
Thank You For Reading
Long Live Jesus Christ
Amen
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