Take No Prisoners

August 25

(Luke 19:45-46 NIV) “Then he entered the temple area and began driving out those who were selling. {46} “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be a house of prayer’; but you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”

(Mark 11:15-17 NIV) ““On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, {16} and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. {17} And as he taught them, he said, "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.””

On the day Christ cleared the Temple, Gentiles had become third class believers in a place that was to be a “house of prayer for all nations”. Their area of worship had been compromised, co-opted, and overrun with huckster priests. It was virtually impossible to worship there among the bleating sheep and vendors hawking their wares. The priests, who were called to bring people together and promote worship, had set up a system that excluded many from doing so. The holy place had been polluted by the stench of manure and the jingling of coins. The desire to please God had been overrun by a lust for money. The profane had been exchanged for the holy. Christians, we are now the holy temple of God. The Lord desires to inhabit all of our life. Be careful what you allow into the outer courts of your temple. The whole temple belongs to God. Cleanse your temple. Take no prisoners. -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day