Tag Archives: a house of prayer

LUKE’S GOSPEL…MY HOUSE – 51b

Bible Study, ,

“It is written,” he said to them, “ ‘My house will be a house of prayer’; but you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭19‬:‭46‬ ‭NIV‬‬

There is both another perspective and spiritual significance to these words of Jesus. He was, at that moment, dealing with the misuse of God’s house in Jerusalem…but there is another “house” of greater importance than the physical temple which no longer exists in the holy city today. 

“Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house,” bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future. But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭3‬:‭5‬-‭6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Moses was the builder of God’s visible “house”, the tabernacle in the wilderness, as a servant under orders. However, Jesus, God’s Son, is the head of God’s house, His household, His permanent dwelling place. 

The Old Testament types and pictures have been fulfilled and replaced by Jesus and His church as God’s household. Jesus is the true head of His “house”, His family of brothers and sisters of which God is Father. 

“In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered. Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭2‬:‭10‬-‭11‬ ‭NIV‬‬

This “house” of God’s redeemed people is also His temple, and the throne room from which He rules over His family. 

ln Scripture, every believer is His temple…

“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭6‬:‭19‬-‭20‬ ‭NIV‬‬

…and, together, the church is His temple, His dwelling place. 

“In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭2‬:‭21‬-‭22‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Therefore, just as the temple in Jerusalem was God’s dwelling place among His people and set apart for worship and prayer, so we, who are a part of His church, are also set apart to be His spiritual temple for worship and prayer. God is seeking true worshippers…

“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.”

‭‭John‬ ‭4‬:‭23‬ ‭NIV‬‬

…and partners in prayer…

“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭6‬:‭18‬ NIV

…with unwavering devotion…

“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.”

‭‭Colossians‬ ‭4‬:‭2‬ ‭NIV‬‬

…because we are, alone and together, God’s “house of prayer”. 

The implications are as real for us today as they were when Jesus threw the merchants out of the temple in Jerusalem. We have no right to turn God’s temple, our bodies, into a “den of thieves”. Anything that pollutes our “house of prayer” is illegitimate and an intrusion into what God has set apart for His exclusive use. 

“Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭6‬:‭18‬-‭20‬ ‭NIV‬‬

On the contrary, Paul argues for God’s exclusive possession of our earthly temples for Him to occupy and for us to do His will. Just as Jesus offered His body as a sacrifice for us, so we must give our bodies to Him…preserved holy through the cleansing and renewing of our minds, so that we will know, approve, and fulfil His will…

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭12‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Since we are, individually and corporately, God’s “house”, the place where He lives by His Spirit, we are to keep the house clean and free from the pollution of worldly desires and practices. As Paul wrote…

 “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.”…

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭3‬:‭16‬-‭17‬a NIV‬‬

To be continued…

A HOUSE OF PRAYER

Christian Life, ,

A HOUSE OF PRAYER

“Going into the Temple He began to throw out everyone who had set up shop, selling everything and anything. He said, ‘It’s written in Scripture, “My house is a house of prayer,” but you have turned it into a religious bazaar.’

“From then on He taught each day in the Temple. The high priests, religion scholars, and the leaders of the people were trying their best to find a way to get rid of Him. But with the people hanging on every word He spoke; they couldn’t come up with anything.” Luke 19:45-49 (The Message).

Jesus had made His intentions clear on Palm Sunday when He turned towards the Temple, not Pilate’s residence. The Temple, symbolic of God’s desire to make His dwelling with His people, was His focus. It was the place where He expected to find people whose hearts were after God and who were there to worship Him in the appropriate way. It was there that He spent time, while He was in Jerusalem, teaching the people about the kingdom of God.

What He found when He reached the Temple, appalled Him. Luke’s Gospel gives us few details, but we learn from the other gospels that the opportunists had set up shop in the outer court – the court of the Gentiles, which was the farthest non-Jews were allowed to go in the Temple. The merchants were no doubt there under the protection of the religious leaders who would take a cut of the profits for their co-operation! 

So what were they doing? They were making a fine business out of selling ‘unblemished’ sacrificial animals at Passover. This seems innocent enough but a closer look, coupled with Jesus’ accusation, reveals that they were engaged in crooked business.

Every animal had to pass the scrutiny of the priests to be declared fit for a Passover offering. Many animals ‘failed’ the test which meant that they had to be scrapped and another bought from the merchants. The ‘failed’ animal was then sold to the next worshipper whose lamb had been rejected. This practice, together with the exorbitant exchange rate charged by the men handling the forex, was a lucrative business both for the merchants and for their religious overlords.

Jesus was incensed by the whole scene. It angered and sickened Him because it exposed the disposition of the human heart. It was the basest thing any human being could pull off on sincere worshippers, and it hijacked the only place in the Temple where Gentiles were permitted to worship God.  

Since Jesus’ action has deeper significance than simply an outburst of righteous anger, we have to go to John’s Gospel to find out the underlying meaning of this incident. John records this event as happening at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. It was a prophetic action which revealed the purpose of His coming. John’s record is authenticated by  false witnesses at Jesus’ trial, which we find in Mark’s Gospel (14:57,58). “Then some stood up and gave this false testimony against Him. ‘We heard Him say, “I will destroy this man-made temple, and in three days will build another, not made by man.”‘ Yet even then their testimony did not agree.”     

By cleansing the Temple of the greedy merchants in cahoots with greedy religious leaders, Jesus was declaring the purpose of His own death. He had come to uncover and deal with the deepseated reason why human beings need to be cleansed and reconciled to God so that He can make His dwelling within us. By giving His own sinless life as a sacrificial Passover lamb, He would set people free from their slavery to selfishness, greed and wickedness, and give us the right and power to become a ‘house of prayer’ for God, a place of loving, intimate fellowship with Him.

It was this ‘zeal for His house’ that sent Jesus to the cross, and it is still the zeal for God’s spiritual house that motivates His passion for people. God has purposed and will fulfill His plan to complete what He began, to build a family of men and women, boys and girls from every nation, tribe and clan on earth who will receive His love, and will love and worship Him in return.

Will you be one of them? It’s your choice…