Worship into the Week-
John 2: 13-25
Jesus Cleanses the Temple
The solemnity of the festivals and sacrifices
at the Temple had been hijacked by the sale of animals
and the money changers.
In this section of the story in the Gospel of John,
there is the clear pointing to the authority of Jesus.
Jesus went up to Jerusalem like many
of the faithful Jewish for the Passover.
His action to overturn the tables and disrupt the selling
set out his authority to dictate temple practice.
of his authority is identifying
the temple as "my Father's house."
His disruption of the economic practices of the temple
was a public display that he was not just an average pilgrim
in town for the Passover.
He is the Son of God.
His zeal for God's future plan of salvation
gives us a hint that he is willing to endure any suffering
for this plan of His Father.
This raised questions by the religious leaders
as they wondered how he could give these announcements.
Maybe a "sign or wonder" would be proof.
Then, there is the misunderstanding
about "raising the temple." The leaders think about
how long it took to build the Temple
and Jesus is talking about being raised from the dead.
Jesus is using Resurrection terms that wouldn't be clear
until the 3 days after his death.
Jesus is using this teaching here to point the people
to himself as the new temple.
Take aways might be:
Does my heart need "cleansing" to keep the focus
on the important things?
How can a church best use their economic resources
to point others to Jesus?
Supplies:
Visual Faith Printable
Worship into the Week Printable
Magazine cutouts
Distress ink
Colored pencils
Stamps
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