What Makes Jesus Mad

CONSECRATE Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.  Jesus, I belong to you. I lift up my heart to you. I set my mind on you. I fix my eyes on you. I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice. Jesus, we belong to you.  Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.  HEAR Matthew 21:12–14 NIV Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’” The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. CONSIDER We come to a full-circle moment today. Remember back in chapter 3 when John the Baptist said this curious thing? "His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” (v. 12) That prophecy is now this reality: Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. It turns out the temple was built on the ancient site of the literal threshing floor purchased by King David from Arunah the Jebusite where he offered a sacrifice to God to stop the plague (see 2 Samuel 24).  So what is Jesus's winnowing fork? Three words: It is written.  The Word of God is the winnowing fork of Jesus. And what particular word does he call on for the winnowing this day: “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’” The house of God is a house of prayer whether people are praying or not. But when the house of God is being misappropriated or utilized for something other than what it is, it is a moment for judgment.  This raises the other full-circle moment in today's text. Remember back in Matthew 4 when Jesus confronted Satan in the wilderness? Do you remember how he responded to the temptations of Satan? Yep, those same three words: It is written. It might be argued in this present scene Jesus is confronting Satan who has seemed to set up shop in the very house of God. It makes sense, doesn't it? What is the first thing Satan does when he comes to the house of God? He robs it of prayer. But notice how he does it—he introduces all sorts of other activities and enterprises.  Do you remember a few chapters back when Jesus said with piercing clarity, "Go and learn what this means?" Do you remember what the "this" was? I'll remind you: "I desire mercy not sacrifice." And he said it twice (see Matthew 9:3 and 12:7). That word—sacrifice—is shorthand for the whole religious industrial complex the people of God had become. And that word—mercy—is the very essence of the heart and mind of the God of heaven and earth. There is a word that describes when any enterprise, religious or otherwise, supplants the heart and mind of God. That word is idolatry.  Jesus has come to the threshing floor of the house of God—the very centerpiece of  the religious establishment of Israel—the temple, and he has brought the Word of God because he is the Word of God. He has come to separate the wheat from the chaff; the true worship of God from the idolatrous religious enterprising of God's people.  One more turn in this challenging word today. Idolatry can be hard to spot. In fact, you hardly know it when you are doing it. The telltale sign of idolatry in the house of God is injustice in the streets; or, in this case, the temple courts. That's the significance of the last words in today's focus text: The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. The blind and the lame had become totally neglected both in the streets and in the sanctuary. On this day, the very mercy of God returned to the house of God.  The winnowing fork of the Word of God cleared the threshing floor. The wheat of true worship—signified not by the sacrifice of burnt offerings but by the mercy that comes from broken hearts over the things that break the heart of God—is now being gathered in the barn. The fire is now kindled to burn the chaff. Can you smell the smoke? PRAY Lord Jesus, thank you for your mercy and how your mercy is over all your works. Thank you for showing us not only your merciful compassion but for revealing your passion for mercy; for turning over tables and reclaiming your house for your purposes. Train us in these ways. Praying in your name, amen.