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Rev Jean Baptiste Rock, Ph.D.
May the word of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be always acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength, and my Redeemer. In the name of the living God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. Please be seated.
Today is the third Sunday of Lent. We will reflect on how Jesus cleansed the Temple and answer the question, why does Jesus do what he does?
Jesus went up to Jerusalem with his disciples to participate in the celebration of the Passover.
The Passover is the most significant event for the Jewish people. Once a year, they come together to commemorate the liberation and freedom of the old Israelites from Egypt by God’s mighty hand under Moses’s leadership in the Temple of Jerusalem.
The Temple of Jerusalem is like a bridge between heaven and earth. It is a place where God meets people who are seeking him through prayer and sacrifice. In other words, the Temple of Jerusalem is a house of prayers for all nations according to the book of prophet Isaiah chapter 56:7.
According to the Jewish historian Josephus, more than 2 million people were during that Passover. Jesus was in the Temple observing different activities during the festival. He observed the moneychangers who charged the travelers and the pilgrims high prices for their country’s currency in the local currency. He also observed the vendors who charged the travelers, the pilgrimage, and the high prices for the animals they wanted to purchase for the sacrifice. Jesus saw all those wrong things, and he wanted to say something.
Jesus took the time to make a whip of cords. Then, he began to turn over the tables of the money changers and the sits of the vendors of the animals and said to them: my Father’s house is a house of prayers, and you make it as a cave of robbers, get those things out of here.
The Jewish came over to Jesus and said to him, what sign can you show us that you have the right, the authority to do so? Jesus said to them, you need proof; well, destroy this Temple in three days, and I will raise it up. When he said this, he did not talk about the building, but he did talk about his body as the real Temple; through him, all people, all nations, will connect with God. They were confused, and they said to Jesus, do you know this Temple took us 46 years to build, and you said to destroy it, and you will raise it in three days? They did not understand Jesus’ statement, including his disciples. The disciples themselves will understand after his resurrection. They said ha, we get it, and now they believed in the Scripture and in all that Jesus said.
Why does Jesus do what he does?
The following events, the baptism and the transfiguration of Jesus, answer us.
You remember in the river Jordan after Jesus was baptized, a heavenly voice said, “This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” The same thing happened in the transfiguration on the Mountain; through the cloud, a heavenly voice said, “He is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well please, listen to him.
Why does Jesus do what he does?
He does what he does because he is the Son, the Beloved of the living God. He could not accept injustice and corruption in his Father’s house. He saw something wrong; he stood up to say something to stop it. It is like you invited some friends to a party at your Father’s house. The friends start practicing wrongdoing in the house. You have the right, the authority to tell your friends, hey Guys, you cannot do that here. It is my Father’s house. It is a peaceful and respectful place; behave yourselves. It is precisely what Jesus did. He called them and said to them, my Father’s house is a house of prayers, and you make it a cave of robbers and get that thing out of here.
Albert Einstein, one of the most outstanding scientists on this planet, said, “The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.”
As believers, we are the children, the sons of God through Jesus; according to John chapter 1:12, we are the feet, arms, and mouth of Jesus on earth.
Jesus’ message through the cleansing of the Temple is that if we see something wrong in the church and anywhere we are, we need to get out of our comfort zone to say and do something so that we may build a better world for all from today and the years to come. Amen.
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