GRACE PLACE
Prayer
Praying On The Journey With Christ
A Commitment To Encounter Christ Through The Gospel Of John
Object:
John 2:13-22
The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. He told those who were selling the doves, "Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father's house a marketplace!" His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for your house will consume me." The Jews then said to him, "What sign can you show us for doing this?" Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." The Jews then said, "This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and you will raise it up in three days?" But he was speaking of the temple of his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
COMMENTARY
Jesus seems to continue to act spontaneously -- even impulsively -- as he purges the temple. This passage is the first time God is named "Father" in John, and it is interesting to note that it follows immediately upon the miracle involving his mother. Very deliberately, Jesus is beginning to show the difference between earthly parenthood and godly Fatherhood.
Not only is the use of "Father" a sort of play on words, so is the word "temple." Some of us can see only with earthly eyes (a stone temple -- a mortal parent), but Jesus makes us think of more holy concepts, where all bodies are temples, and our creator Father resides both in heaven and with us.
PRAYER
Lord Jesus Christ, your Father's house is still a marketplace. We have built churches by the thousands to serve ourselves and our families. We have, in your name, taken very good care of ourselves, seeking to meet every need from birth to death.
Lord Jesus, as members of the marketplace church, taking care of all our personal needs, are we also members of your Father's house, conversing with him about his way and world? How are we to grow beyond the lethargic comforts of our home church to the excitement and experience of meeting you in strange places, doing wonderful things? I feel that lure of adventure to go with you into a new and deeper relationship, even as I caution myself, saying, "Careful, this could be uncomfortable. This could be dangerous ... wild."
Lord, I see you drawing back your whip that scattered the temple animals, and I wonder if I am only one of them, marked for sacrifice, too frightened and dumb to know that you would free me from certain death. I see the plentiful oats and barley that taste so good and make me fat, but know that all my days are numbered short if I live in a feeding lot. I see my value as part of the herd, and I like the looks of those who praise my worth, yet know that they would sacrifice me, for their own sake.
Who am I, Lord, a sheep marked for slaughter, or a child of your grace? I know which of these I am, Lord, even if this earthly body-temple of mine is destroyed. I know you are my Father and will raise me up to meet you face to face. Amen.
The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. He told those who were selling the doves, "Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father's house a marketplace!" His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for your house will consume me." The Jews then said to him, "What sign can you show us for doing this?" Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." The Jews then said, "This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and you will raise it up in three days?" But he was speaking of the temple of his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
COMMENTARY
Jesus seems to continue to act spontaneously -- even impulsively -- as he purges the temple. This passage is the first time God is named "Father" in John, and it is interesting to note that it follows immediately upon the miracle involving his mother. Very deliberately, Jesus is beginning to show the difference between earthly parenthood and godly Fatherhood.
Not only is the use of "Father" a sort of play on words, so is the word "temple." Some of us can see only with earthly eyes (a stone temple -- a mortal parent), but Jesus makes us think of more holy concepts, where all bodies are temples, and our creator Father resides both in heaven and with us.
PRAYER
Lord Jesus Christ, your Father's house is still a marketplace. We have built churches by the thousands to serve ourselves and our families. We have, in your name, taken very good care of ourselves, seeking to meet every need from birth to death.
Lord Jesus, as members of the marketplace church, taking care of all our personal needs, are we also members of your Father's house, conversing with him about his way and world? How are we to grow beyond the lethargic comforts of our home church to the excitement and experience of meeting you in strange places, doing wonderful things? I feel that lure of adventure to go with you into a new and deeper relationship, even as I caution myself, saying, "Careful, this could be uncomfortable. This could be dangerous ... wild."
Lord, I see you drawing back your whip that scattered the temple animals, and I wonder if I am only one of them, marked for sacrifice, too frightened and dumb to know that you would free me from certain death. I see the plentiful oats and barley that taste so good and make me fat, but know that all my days are numbered short if I live in a feeding lot. I see my value as part of the herd, and I like the looks of those who praise my worth, yet know that they would sacrifice me, for their own sake.
Who am I, Lord, a sheep marked for slaughter, or a child of your grace? I know which of these I am, Lord, even if this earthly body-temple of mine is destroyed. I know you are my Father and will raise me up to meet you face to face. Amen.
