Tag Archives: temple courts

KNOWING THE FATHER

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KNOWING THE FATHER

“Then they asked Him, ‘Where is your father?’ ‘You do not know me or my Father,’ Jesus replied. ‘If you knew me, you would know my Father also.’ He spoke these words while teaching in the temple courts near the place where the offerings were put. Yet no one seized Him because His hour had not yet come.” John 8:19-20 (NIV).

“If you knew me, you would know my Father also,” is a loaded statement.

Of course. There are levels of knowing. Acquaintance is the first and most superficial level – “Do you know so-and-so?”  “Yes, I met him at the…” That person is no longer a total stranger. I have met him, seen his face and been introduced to him. When someone speaks of him, I know of whom they are talking. I know him.

The second level of knowing goes much deeper. I get to know someone when I spend time with him. Perhaps he is a work colleague or a friend. We talk; we share information about one another; we see one another’s reactions in various circumstances and can even predict how that person will respond when this or that happens.

However, not even friends know me in my home environment. I am able to conceal things from them that my family know about because they do not see me in my most vulnerable moments. My family and I live together in much closer and more intimate contact. I cannot hide the quirks and idiosyncrasies of my personality and behaviour from them. They know me and I know them.

The deepest of human knowing happens between a husband and wife. They live together in the most intimate union that humans can share. According to Genesis 2:25, it is God’s intention that the union between husband and wife be the closest union possible to human beings. “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife and they become one flesh.” Genesis 2:25 (NIV).

The Hebrew word yada, translated know, has several meanings depending on the context. In the context of Genesis 2:25 it means “dedicating ourselves to a person so that we can engage them with our love and affection.”

Now look at Proverbs 12:10: “The righteous know (yada) the needs of their animals but the mercy of the wicked is cruel.” In this context the word yada conveys the idea of the good person “understanding the needs of the people around them and taking care of them.”

In Jeremiah 22:15-16 the prophet delivers a scathing rebuke on King Shallum, the son of the good king, Josiah of Judah. Shallum had acted selfishly, neglecting the poor and needy and exploiting others to build his kingdom. Here the prophet blends the meanings of the word yada into one. “‘Does it make you a king to have more and more cedar? Did not your father have food and drink? He did what was right and just, so all went well with him. He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?’ says the Lord.”

The Lord tells the king what it truly means to know (yada) Him; to do what is right; to show mercy to the poor and needy; to exemplify good and righteous character. To know God is faithfully to live out our covenant relationship with the Lord in every area of our lives. www.yadadrop.com/about/what-does-yada-mean.

Is it any wonder, then, that Jesus emphatically told these humbug religious leaders that they did not know God? How could they when they were the opposite of everything that knowing God meant? They refused to recognize in Jesus a visible replica of His Father. His goodness infuriated them. They saw Him only as a threat to be eliminated, but their hands were tied until it was His time!

Do you know God the Father?

Acknowledgement

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

THE GOSPEL OF MARK – THE COUNTDOWN BEGINS

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THE COUNTDOWN BEGINS

5 On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts 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.’”
18 The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching.
19 When evening came, Jesus and his disciples went out of the city. Mark 11:15-19

Jerusalem! It was early morning but Jesus and His men were already in the city. He headed straight for the temple. The disciples were apprehensive. They were familiar with that look, that gleam in His eye, that determined step. The Master was on a mission and they smelt trouble. He obviously knew exactly what He was going to do, but they had no part in it.

He strode into the outer court where He had observed the evidence of the sheep and cattle market and the money racketeering the day before. With swift action, He overturned the entire enterprise, sending birds, animals and money scattering in all directions. Outraged stall owners and bankers dived after their goods but to no avail. The whole place was in an uproar. Loosed from their prisons, terrified birds and animals flapped and fled to freedom. Coins littered the floor; upturned furniture blocked the path of the angry merchants. The noise and smell were overwhelming. Jesus stood back and watched while His disciples whispered among them, “Now He’s done it! Where will it all end?”

Jesus was a provocative figure. He was undaunted in His confrontation with lies, wrong and evil. He was not afraid to offend people to expose what was in their hearts. This was not an act of mindless rage or personal affront. He was ruthlessly exposing the selfish greed of opportunistic businessmen who saw an opportunity to exploit innocent worshippers to line their own pockets.

It was obvious that the religious leaders were in on the deal because they loudly protested Jesus’ action and planned to do away with Him because His ways and His words were too intrusive of their hypocritical religiosity for comfort. They were losing their grip on the people who were beginning to see through their sham.

Jesus was never afraid of the consequences of His words or actions because He stood for the truth which would always prevail. Not even the threat of death put Him off His avowed purpose of revealing the true nature of the Father.

THE GOSPEL OF MARK – YOU MUST DIE!

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YOU MUST DIE!

11 Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.

12 The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. 13 Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. 14 Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard him say it. Mark 11:12-14

The disciples must have felt relieved when Jesus left the temple peaceably and returned to Bethany. He seems to have made Martha and Mary’s home His headquarters for the moment. They knew that He was so focussed and self-assured that no amount of reasoning with Him would dissuade Him from what He was about to do. He had gone to the temple with the view to planning His strategy for the rest of the day.

What had He seen that made Him so determined to return there the following morning? He never discussed His plans with His disciples. He often tried to tell then what would happen but they were not inclined to listen to Him because they had their own agenda. Did He see the remnants of the days’ trading in the Court of the Gentiles? Did He see litter, dung, bird droppings and the odd coin lying on the floor? Did He see chairs and tables set up and ready for the next day?

Did anger rise up in Him that this was His Father’s appointed meeting place for spiritually hungry Gentiles, and there was nowhere else for them to go because they were banned from the rest of the temple? Those who were supposed to lead God’s people had sanctioned this part of the temple to be a market place for dishonest trade. They cared nothing for the despised Gentiles who also had a place in God’s heart.

He was up early the next morning, too early for breakfast. Spotting a fig tree in the distance He hoped for an early snack, only to find no fruit – only leaves. Just as the tree could not satisfy His hunger, so His people, Israel failed to satisfy His desire for a loving family. He spoke prophetic words to the tree, “Your time is up. Your potential to bear fruit is over. You are worthless and rejected. Now die.” And the tree died.

Did the disciples get the message?  At this point, only the tree died as a visual aid for them, but there was a warning in this action. What had happened to the tree would happen to the nation the tree symbolised – at God’s powerful word, and they would be speaking that word!

A Well-planned Raid!

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A WELL-PLANNED RAID!

Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything but, since it was already late, He went out to Bethany with the Twelve . . .

On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts 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, and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. 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”.’

The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill Him, for they feared Him, because the whole crowd was amazed at His teaching. When evening came, Jesus and His disciples went out of the city (Mark 11: 11; 15-19).

Did you notice how Jesus had checked out the whole situation the evening before? When He rode into the city on the donkey, He was making a powerful prophetic statement.

“Rejoice greatly, Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey (Zech. 9: 9).  

The crowd expected His to turn towards Pilate’s residence, to confront Pilate and throw down His challenge. But He didn’t. Instead, He headed for the temple and went inside. They crowd was puzzled. He was their king. He had fulfilled Zechariah’s prophecy to the letter. Why did He go to the temple?

There was one thing they did not understand. In order to take His rightful place on the throne of the universe, there was an enemy far more sinister and powerful to conquer than Rome. Rome was only a puppet of this rival to the throne of God – Satan. The temple represented the presence of God among His people, but the usurper had invaded the hearts of those who had power over the temple – the religious leaders.

What Jesus saw in the temple was evidence of that invasion – evil and corruption going on inside the temple courts with the blessing and sanction of the religious hierarchy. They were the ones who should have disallowed anything contrary to the ways of Yahweh but instead, they were benefitting from the illegal trading and dishonesty which the merchants and money changers were perpetrating against His people.

Jesus’s anger festered all night, and with purposeful stride, He led His disciples back to Jerusalem and up the temple mount in the early morning. Was His little interlude with the fig tree also a prophetic visual aid for His disciples that Israel as it was under the leadership of a corrupt priesthood was also cursed and doomed to die, just as the fig tree, symbolic of God’s people, was about to wither and die at His word?

Jesus’ anger was not an outburst of uncontrolled emotion but a purposeful expression of His outrage against the wickedness of greedy men. And even worse, what they were doing was being carried out in the name of God! They were saying in effect, with the full sanction of the religious leaders, that God was like that – greedy and corrupt. What they were actually representing was the very reason why Jesus could not take His place as king to rule over His kingdom until He had dealt with the sin that ruled in men’s hearts.

Let’s examine the reasons for Jesus’ action in the temple. First of all, where was the trading going on? In the court of the Gentiles. This was the only place in the temple where Gentiles were permitted to go. It was intended to be a place of prayer for them, but how could anyone pray in the midst of a corrupt bazaar? Jesus made it clear that God had a place for Gentiles in His kingdom, but the Jews ignored, even despised God’s provision for them. ‘Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’?

Secondly, what the merchants were doing was blatantly evil. The priests would examine for defects the lamb brought by a family of worshippers for their sacrifice. He would declare it unfit for sacrifice, sell them another lamb and then promptly sell their lamb to the following worshipping family. What a sly and lucrative way to conduct business – in the temple precincts! But you have made it “a den of robbers”.’

In his swift and decisive action, Jesus unmasked their thieving scheme and the religious hierarchy behind it – and they were not pleased. Unfortunately for them, they had no answer for His action. So what did they do?

Watch this space!

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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