On the night of the Last Supper, Jesus gathered His disciples around Him teaching deep doctrine. Perhaps the disciples did not quite understand the promises that Jesus was making to them. But one thing is for certain, He left no doubt that if they were faithful God would accomplish His purposes through them, and in return they would have His presence with them. Calling Himself the True Vine Jesus said, "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye [are] the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast [them] into the fire, and they are burned" (John 15:4-6).
Not far from the Upper Room there was another place where men of God were to bear fruit. The problem was they no longer drew sustenance from the True Vine. They had corrupted the temple of God and used it for their profit. Outwardly the Priests followed the Law of Moses. They could explain that people needed to buy animals suitable for temple sacrifice at the temple, because it was too far to transport the animals themselves. Plus, having sacrificial animals already at the temple saved valuable time because the priests need not examine outside animals for marks or blemishes. The animals at the temple were pre-approved – and priced for maximum profit.
Also there were men who were exchanging money in the temple courtyards. They were cheating the people. All Jews 20 years and older were to pay a temple tax annually. The coinage paid was to be of a high quality of silver and temple coinage was minted just for such requirements. People coming from long distances would need to convert their homeland currency for the right temple coinage. Moneychangers were lawfully needed, but they were taking advantage by charging exorbitant fees for the exchange, as well as cheating people in the exchange rate itself. But there was one other thing that probably burned Jesus up more than those already mentioned. The place where all of the commerce and wheeling and dealing was going on was in the outer courts, called the Court of the Gentiles. That was where the gentiles were allowed to go and worship the True God. Isaiah 56:6-7 says "the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the LORD, to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant; Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices [shall be] accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people."
How could a gentile come to the temple to serve the LORD, to make joyful sacrifice and to pray, if they were brought to a place like the Chicago stockyards and Wall Street put together? Temples must be places of quiet and reverence while we are there or we never feel the Spirit or have communion with Heavenly Father. Perhaps most irritating to Jesus was that the children of Abraham, who were to be a light and a blessing to the world, were arrogantly polluting the place of worship of the gentiles, and even getting rich off of it. The Jews would never have dreamed of doing such things in their own courts inside the Ballistrade where the Gentile could not pass.
36 years later, the great temple and those who had ceased to abide in God were cast off like a dry branch and thrown into the fire of the Roman destruction of Jerusalem.
No comments:
Post a Comment