How much do you know about what happened during Holy Week? Have you followed the events of Jesus during the last week before He went to the cross? It is during Holy Week that Jesus publicly proclaimed He was the Messiah. He no longer told people to be silent.
Jesus entered Jerusalem to great fanfare. The people were proclaiming Him the conquering king. They were hoping He was going to throw the Roman soldiers out of Israel and elevate Israel as a prominent nation again. Though they misunderstood what He was going to do, they recognized Him as King.
The day after His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Jesus begins to reveal His true identity. He goes into the temple and clears the business that had invaded it in support of sacrifices. Slowly, over the years, sellers of sacrificial animals had moved in. Money exchangers had also moved to exchange currencies for people who came from other countries. These people were making money, and very possibly extorting people, within the temple grounds. Jesus chased all of them out.
We may wonder how one man could command so many to leave a prosperous business behind. Why were they afraid of Him? We must understand that Jesus was not just human but also God. He had an aura about Him. He could be commanding when He needed to. He could be more charismatic than anyone we have ever seen. He could command obedience quicker than ten Marine Corps drill instructors. He simply had not shown that ability before now.
We often say, “the church is not a building, it’s the people” and I wonder if we have reduced God’s house to nothing more than a building. Though the saying is true, it is because a church building is where we come together corporately to worship God that it is holy. We should treat the building as such. At the same time, it does not mean we should put the building above people. No, they should both be viewed with reverence and respect.
I pray we all see God’s house as being holy. I pray we view God’s people as being holy. I pray each one of us commit to being reverent and respectful when we are in God’s house. Be reverent toward God in his house. Treat his church as being holy. Be respectful of God’s people. Be in awe of Jesus’ power.
Mark 11:17 He was teaching and saying, “Is it not written,
‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’?
But you have made it a den of robbers.”
Marty Pressey 