THINK TOGETHER.
Do you think Jesus gets angry? Why or why not?
READ TOGETHER.
Mark 11:15-17. 15And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 16And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. 17And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.”
We’ve read a story like this one before from John’s gospel – Jesus getting angry in the Temple (day 12). This time Jesus gets angry in the Temple during Passion Week (do you remember what that is?). Jesus rode into Jerusalem like a king on Sunday, then on Monday of Passion Week, Jesus went back into Jerusalem and back to the Temple.
The Temple is where people were supposed to worship God, and make sacrifices for their sins. It is Passover Week too. The time when all the Jewish people would travel to Jerusalem from many miles away to celebrate how God rescued them from Egypt, and took them through the Red Sea to safety (do you remember that story?). So there are lots and lots of people in Jerusalem for the holiday and they all need an animal to sacrifice. Tens of thousands of sheep, goats, and birds are required. Rather than travel with their sacrifice, people would just buy an animal to sacrifice at the Temple.
That’s not what made Jesus angry. Look at the end of verse 16 again. What does Jesus say? My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations. Jesus is quoting one of the Old Testament prophets, Isaiah. Isaiah saw a day when not just Jews would worship God, but people from every nation.
In Jesus day, the Temple had a special area called “The Court of the Gentiles.” A Gentile is anyone who is not a Jew. The Court of the Gentiles is where everyone who was not a Jew was allowed to go to worship God. But guess where the Jews were selling all the animals for sacrifices? That’s right, in The Court of Gentiles.
You see, Jesus wasn’t mad because he was being hurt by what they were doing. Jesus was a Jew so he could still worship if he wanted to. Instead, he was mad for all the people who weren’t able to worship God because of what the religious leaders were doing. They turned the house of prayer into a shopping center – a den of thieves. When Jesus flipped over their tables in anger, he wasn’t being angry selfishly; he was being angry for others. The Gentile worshipers that could not do anything about what was happening to them.
Jesus wants everyone to worship God. Jews, Americans, Nigerians, Irish, Chinese, Mexicans, Italians, Polish, Japanese, Koreans, Australians – everyone! That’s something that we should all want too – everyone, no matter who they are or where they are from, worshipping God and Jesus.
Because of Jesus we can all worship God.
With Jesus we can be angry if others are being hurt or being kept from hearing about him.
DO SOMETHING TOGETHER
Think about the people in your church. Are there any people that are from a different place than you? Why not invite them to dinner and hear the story of how they came to know Jesus.
PRAY TOGETHER
Father, we want to worship you today. Help our lives to be full of praise to you. Amen.
TLICfamily 