The Temple is Cleansed

Today's Three-minute Bible Study
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Title: The Temple is Cleansed
Keyword: “temple”
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Passage: Mark 11:15-18*

15. And they came to Jerusalem. And He entered the temple and began to cast out those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those who were selling doves;

16. and He would not permit anyone to carry goods through the temple.

17. And He [began] to teach and say to them, "Is it not written, 'MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL THE NATIONS'? But you have made it a ROBBERS' DEN."

18. And the chief priests and the scribes heard [this], and [began] seeking how to destroy Him; for they were afraid of Him, for all the multitude was astonished at His teaching.

Question

What happened to gentle Jesus meek and mild?

 

Practical help

It is easy to mistake grace for passivity. You might conclude that the reason a lightening bolt hasn’t struck you when you view pornography is because God either doesn’t care that much, He doesn’t have the power to stop us or He is more interested in forgiving us than changing us. All of these concepts disappear as we see Jesus pick up the whip and storm the booths in the Temple.

The message is this. Don’t play games with God even if it appears that you are getting away with something for the moment. There is coming a day when Jesus will come back and restore His world. He will dry every tear of ours, but also ask us what we did with the life He not only gave us, but restored to us through His death on a Roman cross.

Jesus doesn’t fear the moment of judgment just like He didn’t fear casting out the mob from the Temple single-handedly in full sight of all the leaders of the city. He patiently waits for the cries for help of those who see their helpless state, but one day the curtain will fall. What will you do then?

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*"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, © Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission."