Tuesday, September 29, 2015

John 2:12-17

Dr. Ronnie Wolfe

In this short passage we read about what is commonly called "The Cleansing Of The Temple."  Here are a few devotional points:

The Jews' Passover
This was a time of celebration for the Jews, which commemorated the passing of the death angel over the land of Egypt when the children of Israel were in bondage there. With the blood upon their doorposts, the Jews were spared the death of their firstborn sons due to their obedience to God. In Jesus' day, this celebration continued yearly.

The Changers Of Money
 There were in the temple at Jerusalem some of the Jews who were wrongfully selling animals and exchanging money inside the temple. This was an abomination to God, and Jesus' attitude came to a fever pitch when He saw it.

Take These Things Hence
 Jesus came to the temple, and seeing this abomination to the Lord's house, he commanded these men to take these commercial things "hence," which means "away from here." These men were making God's house (the temple) a house of commerce, a selling plant.

His Disciples Remembered
The Spirit of God put into the memory of Jesus' disciples a scripture in Psalm 69:9, which predicted this occasion. For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me. Many times we, too, need to be reminded of the things of God, which only the Holy Spirit can do.

The Zeal Of Thine HouseWe must remember that God's house is a place of worship, not a place for commerce, business, entertainment, or social excitement. It is a place for us to retreat from the duties, sensations, and pleasures of the world and meditate upon the things of God. It should be a house of zeal, or being about the Father's business.

The lost religionists have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge (Rom. 10:2). Paul had a zeal to persecute the churches of the Lord (Phil. 3:6).

We must be zealous of spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 14:12), zealous of good works (Titus 2:14), and zealous to repent when we sin (Rev. 3:19.

No comments: