Thursday the 3rd

John 2:15

¹⁵So he (Jesus) made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.

 

Did you ever know a hot head? Maybe you work with one now….when that type of person goes off, it is sort of expected isn’t it? You think, or there goes old so and so, he is wound up about something again….but you don’t pay a lot of attention to them do you? It is just another tirade form a person who has not fully accepted God’s grace. When we make it a habit to shout, and fume, when we take every instance, and point in our lives and make it a huge spectacle, we become ineffective. People quit listening. The reason why Jesus got everyone’s attention….notice they did not come back into the temple after he left….He so seldom showed that much outrage about anything. The point? Make your words and actions count. Don’t be the person that everyone brushes aside, and pays no attention to as well he is just being him. Hold your tongue, hold your emotions, until the offence is worth the outrage. Then people will listen. AS Christ shows us by his life there are very few things in life that really warrant outrage. Let us use His example in our lives, and as my Father used to tell me, don’t make a mountain out of a mole hill! Christ Did not get worked up about much, because he trusted His Fathers plan, let us do the same.

 

The other thing that stands out about this passage…. This is the only time we see Jesus really get worked up. Think of all that Jesus went thought, the persecution, the brow beatings by the various religious leaders, the people in general who turned their back on Him. He never wavered, He never got angry, He came to save the world, and for a large part, it was a world that did not want to be saved! Even when they came to take Him away, His followers were ready to fight, but Jesus held it together (talk about faith in the plan!). Yet here we see a very different, a very human Christ. We see a very peaceful man make a whip, and take those that would desecrate His fathers house to task. If there is one thing in life that is worth getting worked up about, it is people desecrating God, and His house. This is an important point for today’s world because we as Christians are under attack daily. The world tends to take our forgiveness for weakness. As a result, while we do not have money changers in the temple today, we do have money changers trying to replacing our churches with the interests of the world. That is something to get fired up about.  The world depends on us sitting by the sidelines watching as they try to force us out of everyday life. Think I am overreaching? How many people do you know that go to Church weekly….even bi weekly, let alone bring the Lord into their lives daily? The world is doing a fantastic job of convincing people that they do not need God. It is time that we grab our proverbial whips and drive them out. Get fired up, take a stand. If there is anything in life worth standing on, it is the rock of Christ. Forgiveness and compassion is divine, but not at the cost of our Savior. Speak the Word of God proudly!

 

Trusting in the plan,

Brian