Days With Jesus
Day 5 Godliness is Next to Cleanliness
John 2:13-25

God’s house gets DIRTY
The first Passover happened when God rescued the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. In the 10th plague, an angel of death killed the firstborn male of every house that didn’t have the blood of a lamb on the doorpost. The angel ‘passed over’ every house covered by the blood and the Jews celebrated this deliverance every year (Ex. 12:21-27). The blood of the lamb covers the sins of the believer (John 1:29; 1 Cor. 5:7; 1 Pet. 1:19)! During Passover, worshippers came from all over the world to Jerusalem. Opportunistic merchants set up shop in the temple’s outer courts to provide animal purchase and exchange foreign currency to pay the temple tax, which was required of every Jewish male (Ex. 30:13, 14; Matt. 18:24-27). Spiritual needs shouldn’t be manipulated by human greed! In the name of assisting worship of God, merchants turned God’s house into a marketplace focused on profit. Sellers didn’t consistently sell unblemished animals and moneychangers charged exorbitant fees. What was supposed to be a celebration focused on worshiping God had been perverted into a dirty moneymaking scam. Nothing should pollute the pure worship of our pure God (Ps. 24:3, 4; James 4:8)!

God’s Son gets busy CLEANING
Seeing people were being manipulated in the name of God in God’s house, Jesus made a whip and drove out the animals and moneychangers. As the religious leaders allowed this scenario—and were undoubtedly getting a cut of the profits—they are enraged by Jesus’ boldness and ask him what miracle he will perform to prove his authority. Sometimes those who claim to be closest to God can’t see Him when He’s standing right there! While standing in a Temple that took nearly 50 years to build, Jesus tells them to destroy this temple, and he will rebuild it in 3 days! While he was referencing his body as the ‘temple’ that he will resurrect in 3 days after they kill him on the cross, they mock him (Mark 14:55-59). But as God’s Son, he has the authority to clean out his Father’s house. When it stinks, it’s time to take out the trash! Despite the religious hypocrisy, people see the passion and purity of Jesus to honor his Father. Once in a while, the movement of God is so beautiful and obvious, that it might be dismissed by some, but others will believe, and lives are changed forever. When God is on the move, He can’t be stopped!