JESUS CLEANSES THE TEMPLE

Read: John 2:13–21; Mark 11:15–19

     "Is it not written: "'My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations'? But you have made it 'a den of robbers.'" Mark 11:17 NIV

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     On these two different occasions–at the beginning and end of His ministry– we are told that Jesus physically exhibited anger. The Jews had turned the temple into a market place, carrying on dishonest business in a house of worship. In anger, Jesus drove the merchants out of His Father's house.
     The Jews demanded of him, "What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?" Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days." (John 2:18–19) The temple He spoke of was His body, which they would seek to destroy on the cross.

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     Although our churches today are not the same as the Jewish temple, we should still honor them as places of worship. Most of all, as believers, we should remember that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit.

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     Lord, I want to take good care of the body You have given me and dedicate it for the purpose of glorifying You. Help me to avoid anything that would compromise that purpose.

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      After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken. John 2:22 NIV