John 2:16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house a house of merchandise.
Oh my Friends, another day has dawned, bright and sunny in some places, cold and miserable in others, but always bringing the peace, mercy and good tidings of our ever LOVING Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, plus the strength, wisdom and wherewithal to bravely face whatever challenges that may come against us this day. Wow! What an opening! Beat that nuh Bruh Paul! (smile) Anyway Friends, Today’s Bit highlights another cleansing of the temple by Jesus; this one at another Passover earlier on in His ministry, but it’s only recorded by John. I like Jesus’ spirit. He’s a man after mih own heart: a man of action, no beating about the bush. He went up to Jerusalem; ‘And he found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting.’ (John 2:14) Now according to the scholars, in those times, pilgrims to Jerusalem brought a variety of currency, but temple dues could only be paid in sacred coinage, hence the need to change your money and the rise of the moneychangers. These pilgrims didn’t bring any animals for sacrifices either, that opened the door to the selling of doves for that purpose. The dove for sacrifice enterprise was also a source of extortion for the family of the high priest, who personally controlled it. Apparently the temple and its surrounding area had the atmosphere of a public bazaar, a combination I guess of our modern day flea and farmer’s markets: a bustling hive of business activity. This obviously infuriated Jesus and got His adrenalin pumping since He took it as a gross misuse of His Father’s House ‘And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers money, and over threw the tables.’ (John 2:15) Bravo Jesus! And who says that He didn’t have any manly parts eh Friends? He had ingenuity too; forming a whip out of a bunch of small cords, possibly something like a cat-o-nine tails. Don’t think He had the time or patience to weave them together to form a solid whole. But whatever form that whip took, it was certainly sufficient to do the job. And after that Jesus ‘said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house a house of merchandise. And His disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.’ (John 2:16-17) This refers to words of Bruh David when he cried out in distress to the Lord. ‘For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen on me.’ (Ps.69:9) Malachi also foretold Jesus showing up in the temple. ‘Behold I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.’ (Mal.3:1) John the Baptist came and prepared the way, but when Jesus suddenly showed up in the temple and began kicking butt, many people were not delighted with Him, since He disrupted their dishonest but highly profitable livelihood. But seriously though people, Jesus’ semi-violent acts, not once, but twice, in cleansing the temple and its surrounds, plus His many sarcastic conversations with the Jewish elders, shows how disgusted He was with organized religion and the utter contempt He held for it, because it just made a mockery of everything good, serious and godly that He stood for. Under such outrageous conditions He just could not stand idly by and do nothing. Sadly though Friends, today some of our churches are places of big business more than houses of worship. It’s true money is needed to fund God’s operations, but it should not be the main activity, as it is in some of God’s houses. And even worse, too many churches are becoming involved in illegitimate and dishonest schemes, things like tax dodges, and even outright scams by ministers. In many places a thorough cleansing needs to be performed, but since Jesus isn’t here in human form to do it, the distasteful job falls to us, His reps, members of His Church. It’s another bone of contention that unbelievers use to stigmatize us, and unfortunately, too often their snide remarks do hold water. Oh my people, if God’s church can’t be relied on to do the right thing, to not only preach honesty and righteousness, but more importantly to practice it, what else can we expect from onlookers but disgust and ridicule eh? And it only takes one bad apple to spoil everyone’s good name. So let’s make a serious effort to clean up our own backyard nuh, before someone else comes and does it for us. It’s time we purge dishonesty from our Houses of Worship, even though some are built on it. Remember Jesus is watching, and from His actions against organized religion when He was here in human form, you know He’s far from pleased. And the next time He comes, I can assure you, He won’t be swinging a small whip of cords, but something that provides harsher punishment for the moneychangers and extortionists in our midst. It’s our Christian duty and responsibility to start cleaning up our act, right now, so we can restore Christ’s good name to His church. It’s the least we can do. Much LOVE!…honesty and integrity…must be paramount policy of Christ’s Church…
Oh my Friends, another day has dawned, bright and sunny in some places, cold and miserable in others, but always bringing the peace, mercy and good tidings of our ever LOVING Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, plus the strength, wisdom and wherewithal to bravely face whatever challenges that may come against us this day. Wow! What an opening! Beat that nuh Bruh Paul! (smile) Anyway Friends, Today’s Bit highlights another cleansing of the temple by Jesus; this one at another Passover earlier on in His ministry, but it’s only recorded by John. I like Jesus’ spirit. He’s a man after mih own heart: a man of action, no beating about the bush. He went up to Jerusalem; ‘And he found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting.’ (John 2:14) Now according to the scholars, in those times, pilgrims to Jerusalem brought a variety of currency, but temple dues could only be paid in sacred coinage, hence the need to change your money and the rise of the moneychangers. These pilgrims didn’t bring any animals for sacrifices either, that opened the door to the selling of doves for that purpose. The dove for sacrifice enterprise was also a source of extortion for the family of the high priest, who personally controlled it. Apparently the temple and its surrounding area had the atmosphere of a public bazaar, a combination I guess of our modern day flea and farmer’s markets: a bustling hive of business activity. This obviously infuriated Jesus and got His adrenalin pumping since He took it as a gross misuse of His Father’s House ‘And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers money, and over threw the tables.’ (John 2:15) Bravo Jesus! And who says that He didn’t have any manly parts eh Friends? He had ingenuity too; forming a whip out of a bunch of small cords, possibly something like a cat-o-nine tails. Don’t think He had the time or patience to weave them together to form a solid whole. But whatever form that whip took, it was certainly sufficient to do the job. And after that Jesus ‘said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house a house of merchandise. And His disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.’ (John 2:16-17) This refers to words of Bruh David when he cried out in distress to the Lord. ‘For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen on me.’ (Ps.69:9) Malachi also foretold Jesus showing up in the temple. ‘Behold I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.’ (Mal.3:1) John the Baptist came and prepared the way, but when Jesus suddenly showed up in the temple and began kicking butt, many people were not delighted with Him, since He disrupted their dishonest but highly profitable livelihood. But seriously though people, Jesus’ semi-violent acts, not once, but twice, in cleansing the temple and its surrounds, plus His many sarcastic conversations with the Jewish elders, shows how disgusted He was with organized religion and the utter contempt He held for it, because it just made a mockery of everything good, serious and godly that He stood for. Under such outrageous conditions He just could not stand idly by and do nothing. Sadly though Friends, today some of our churches are places of big business more than houses of worship. It’s true money is needed to fund God’s operations, but it should not be the main activity, as it is in some of God’s houses. And even worse, too many churches are becoming involved in illegitimate and dishonest schemes, things like tax dodges, and even outright scams by ministers. In many places a thorough cleansing needs to be performed, but since Jesus isn’t here in human form to do it, the distasteful job falls to us, His reps, members of His Church. It’s another bone of contention that unbelievers use to stigmatize us, and unfortunately, too often their snide remarks do hold water. Oh my people, if God’s church can’t be relied on to do the right thing, to not only preach honesty and righteousness, but more importantly to practice it, what else can we expect from onlookers but disgust and ridicule eh? And it only takes one bad apple to spoil everyone’s good name. So let’s make a serious effort to clean up our own backyard nuh, before someone else comes and does it for us. It’s time we purge dishonesty from our Houses of Worship, even though some are built on it. Remember Jesus is watching, and from His actions against organized religion when He was here in human form, you know He’s far from pleased. And the next time He comes, I can assure you, He won’t be swinging a small whip of cords, but something that provides harsher punishment for the moneychangers and extortionists in our midst. It’s our Christian duty and responsibility to start cleaning up our act, right now, so we can restore Christ’s good name to His church. It’s the least we can do. Much LOVE!…honesty and integrity…must be paramount policy of Christ’s Church…
SCRIP-BITS 