IN MY FATHER’S HOUSE

Mark 11:15-17
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust.

Jesus Clears the Temple

15 When they arrived back in Jerusalem, Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people buying and selling animals for sacrifices. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves, 16 and he stopped everyone from using the Temple as a marketplace. 17 He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves.”

Jesus cared about the Temple. What happened in the Temple mattered to Jesus. The day before (Mark 11:11), Jesus had visited the temple and observed what was going on. Scripture doesn’t say but it must have weighed heavy on His mind because as soon as He returned, He began to clear the Temple of those “… den of thieves.”

Because Jesus cared, we too must care. We must be careful about what we practice in God’s house. It is easy to see that God’s house is not a marketplace. We must also see that it is not a place of exclusion but rather a place “…for all nations…” , open to all people. We must see that it is not a place for entertainment but rather for worship, “…a house of prayer…”. It is not a place to have our emotions whipped up … our ears tickled … or a place to showcase our talents.

This was personal to Jesus. He called it “…My Temple…”. It is the Father’s House (Jesus and the Father are One). We must treat it as such!