03/30/2026
Monday: Jesus Cleanses The Temple
Jesus enters the temple probably a little frustrated I assume, maybe full blown angry.
He’s flipped over these tables of goods, put these people in their place and ran them off.
In His words they’ve “taken a house of worship and turned it into a den of thieves.”
But why are they thieves? They’re just selling goods.
That’s their livelihood..
Here’s why..
They’ve robbed, stolen the place of worship from others.
So what was their impression of Jesus during that?
Were they mad?
Had they heard of Jesus and were in awe that He is standing in front of them?
Were any of them already believers of Jesus?
If so, did it feel like they’d been caught red handed? Almost like getting in trouble by your parent as a child.
Did they feel convicted and remorseful for what they’d done?
If not, did it leave a bad taste in their mouth that He did that?
Did it hinder them at that moment, that their first encounter of Jesus was him halting their business?
Were the unbelievers part of the “crucify Him” crowd later in the week out of spite?
Jesus was right in what He did to restore the temple to a place of worship.
They'd tainted it.
They’d become a stumbling block.
The hard pill to swallow and the truth is –
Sometimes, we’re still stumbling blocks today.
We are the merchants in a sense.
In the church and outside of the church.
Do our everyday conversations convey Jesus?
What about our clothes that we’re wearing?
The music we’re listening to, the shows we’re watching.
How we approach confrontation.
Do our churches feel like a throne of judgement or a warm welcome for the weary?
Are we too distracted by doctrine and denomination to simply be spreading the gospel?
What we’re called to do.
Are we loving people the way Jesus would?
The believers and non believers.
Despite the sin they’re living in. Because lets face it, none of us are faultless.
Just because we’re doing our best to follow Jesus doesn’t give us the right to look down on and point fingers at others who aren’t or others who may have strayed from Him.
Jesus isn’t a weapon, we shouldn’t use Him as one.
We’re called to love.
A hateful nature doesn’t attract people to us, to Jesus.
And if we’re not able to love like Jesus, we’ll never be able to help people truly understand what they’re missing out on.
Let’s be honest – there’s been times in all our lives that Jesus has come in and flipped the tables on us.
When we’ve set up shop in different places of sin and let things come between us and the Lord like..
Drugs. Alcohol. Depression. Relationships. A volatile tongue. Etc.
What tables has Jesus flipped on you?
How has He put you back in your place?
Restored and cleansed you as He did the temple..
Ran you off from the sin you were living in..
I wonder – what was it like to be in the shoes of the merchants?
Shared from Courtney Melton
