What a wonderfully full day, Father! We had a great time of worship to begin our day with both congregations and then thank You for Your love, direction, and protection as Karen and I spent the rest of the day together in Columbus, I am truly blessed!
Mark 11:15-19 (<<click to read the passage)
Some time ago I wrote of feeling that the religious leaders of Jesus’ were just out to have Him jump through hoops to prove He was who He said He was (Jump Through a Hoop). But in this passage, another scenario of hoop jumping is exposed by Jesus Himself.
For years, it seems, that the Church (capital “C”) has made being part of the body of believers a series of hoops through which we have to jump.
First of all, accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior over you and your life, after confessing and turning your back on the sinful life you have led (repentance) is the one act that is an absolute must and is at the core of being a follower of Jesus. That is when we become a member of the body of believers – the Church – the living, breathing, interacting body of Christ! God’s Word, the Bible, has laid out some very black and white dos and don’ts to which we must adhere.
But as humans, we have this great tendency to give our take on the dos and don’ts. And unfortunately, both then and now we add all kinds of “hoops”, if you will, that others must jump through.
In today’s passage, if you wanted to make a sacrifice at Passover you had to have an animal without blemish (Leviticus 22:20). And as the footnotes in the Amplified Bible explain, vendors would charge pilgrims inflated prices for acceptable animals. The religious leaders even contributed to all these shenanigans. According to the Talmud – the Jewish rule book – a blemish on an eyelid disqualified an animal for sacrifice.
On top of all that, you couldn’t use your money to do business at the temple – You had to use Temple currency, hence the money changers and, of course, there was an exorbitant exchange rate, as well.
And on top of all that(!), all of this “business” took place in “the Temple’s Court of the Gentiles, making it all but impossible for non-Jews to spend any time in worship (Isaiah 56:6-7).” *
Jump through this hoop! Now this hoop! Now this hoop! And that mindset hasn’t changed. Dress this way! Don’t say that! Don’t act that way! Jump, jump, jump, hoop, hoop, hoop!
Talk about justified righteous indignation! Jesus had every right to be angry! But He did not sin in His anger. He brought all these shenanigans to a screeching halt!
[Jesus] said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves.” v.17 (Isaiah 56:7, Jeremiah 7:11)
Lord Jesus, what stumbling blocks do we place in front of people today that keep them at a distance from You? Help us to love. Help us to forgive… Really, what we need to do, is to be like You! Patience, compassion, and understanding are scarce far too often. Help us I pray!

*Life Application Study Bible New Living Translation

June 23rd, 2019, Sun, 9:08 pm