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Most people don’t like Mondays at the best of times, but can you imagine what Jesus must have felt like on Holy Monday? This is probably the most emotionally charged Monday that has ever been!
Off the back of the triumphal entry into Jerusalem the day before, he was facing the final countdown to his betrayal and crucifixion. Talk about a heavy week! And, the temple, which was meant to be the place where people could come into the presence of God was full of merchant traders, ripping people off left right, and center.
That day, Jesus headed straight for the temple, clearing out those who had become barriers to people encountering the presence of God. Imagine the chaos as he tore through them, overturning their tables, people yelling, coins flying, and doves taking flight in a flurry of feathers. I think Jesus growled quietly or perhaps yelled with righteous fury “My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations, but you have made it into a den of robbers!” as he set about chasing them out!
As soon as the space was cleared, the traders' noses out of joint, and the religious leaders looking on in indignation, the blind and the lame flooded in, and Jesus began to heal them.
The cleansing of the temple was a symbol of how Jesus’ death would tear down all barriers to God’s presence, and what would follow is that the outcasts would be brought in and find healing. What a beautiful picture of unity in diversity. People from every tribe and tongue united in adoration and praise, healed, forgiven, and free.
Today, as Paul reminds us, you are God’s temple, the place where the Holy Spirit lives. When we come together, we are being built up into a house of prayer for all nations.
Jesus cleanses our hearts not only for our sake but for the sake of others too.
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Reflection
As you pray for God to search your heart, what comes to your mind?
What barriers have crept into you as the temple that might need to be removed, for your own sake, and for the sake of others?
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