July 26 - Jesus and the Temple

Matthew 21:12-17

And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. (Matthew 21:14 ESV)

Throughout their history the Jews had worshipped through song and sacrifice. King Solomon oversaw the construction of the first temple, where as Herod the Great was the steward of the last Jewish Temple. It had been intended as a place for the people to connect with God in profound ways. It had become something else entirely.

When Jesus arrived at the Temple it was chock full of money changers, merchants, and other swindlers. He would not tolerate it. So he threw them out in a moment of truly justified righteous indignation. The Temple had become something other than a place for repentance and prayer, but Jesus restored it to its intended use.

As he sat and taught his followers amidst the purged Temple grounds people began to bring the sick and the lame and he healed them. It was a complete turnabout for the Temple. The religious focal point of Judaism, it was no longer defunct, it was no longer a money trap meant to make the powerful wealthy, it was truly a place of connecting with God.

The Temple no longer stands. It was destroyed in 70 A.D. by the Romans. However, the time had already passed for the usefulness of a material temple by then. Jesus had changed that.

Today we can connect with God anywhere we like. We are no longer limited to only visiting a holy place. In fact, Christianity has no holy places, only the holiness of God, the Son, and the Spirit. When Jesus cleansed the Temple he demonstrated that it is his work and person by which we connect with God. It is by his death. By his love. And by his strength.

May 14 - Rest in Jesus

Read: Matthew 11:28-30

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28 ESV)

Rural farm life is a very laborious lifestyle. There are tons of things that must consistently and regularly be done to keep the various animals and plants. It is taxing over time. It is hard but honest work.

Jesus was familiar with hard work. He grew up in the home of a carpenter. In all likelihood he was trained as a carpenter. What kind of labor was he talking about resting from?

Jesus was speaking to a people group who were being taxed, both literally and figuratively, at every angle. The Romans taxed them, their own king taxed them, and even the religious system, the Temple priests, taxed them. He was speaking to a group of people who were intimately familiar with the notion of working in vain.

The Jews strained under the yoke of an oppressively cruel occupying military force. They struggled beneath the inexhaustible appetite of a wicked royal dynasty. The one place that should have been their champion, the one place that should have offered answers, and a respite for their souls, was the Temple; but it was perhaps the heaviest yoke of all. The Temple had become such a horribly corrupt system of extortion and entrapment that the devout were enslaved to empty promises that brandished a ludicrous price tag. All of that sounds eerily familiar.

Jesus offered an alternative. He announced that he was the way to God. He demonstrated power and authority in keeping with that claim. And then he offered it free of charge. He offered rest. He offered change.

That sounds pretty good to me. I could use a rest like that. What about you?

January 26 - No More Temple

Read: Malachi 3:1-5, Luke 2:25-27

And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, (Luke 2:27 ESV)

In 400 B.C. Malachi prophesied that Jesus would enter the temple. Because the temple was destroyed in A.D. 70 and no longer exists it is a particularly important prophecy. In fact, this prophecy illuminates the historical window of time in which the Messiah must have came because it could not have been fulfilled after A.D. 70.

The Temple itself was the epicenter for Jewish worship for hundreds of years. Even today many modern Jews make a pilgrimage to a portion of ruins at the old Temple site known as the Wailing Wall. Among many who make the journey is the tragic misconception that being near the Wall allows them to be near to God.

In reality Jesus taught against this same idea in his day. Of course he realized, and promoted the importance of the Temple, even getting righteously angry over its frequent and flagrant misuse. But we he taught that it was just a place to meet with God. He even called it a house for prayer, and by his death and resurrection actually replaced the Temple itself.

Today, we don't need a temple Jesus is our temple. We don't go to a temple. We go to Jesus. We don't adorn a building in lavish luxuries, we seek the simplicity of a poor Jewish preacher. We don't focus our efforts and attention on a singular place, but on a singular divine person. Jesus is our way to God.

January 12 - Faithful Old Preacher

Read: Luke 1:5-25

But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. (Luke 1:13 ESV)

Zechariah was a priest in a small rural community. He presided over a small synogogue, with a small congregation, and probably had small expectations. He was an older man and childless. Yet he and his wife Elizabeth remained faithful to the place and people God had called them to. Finally Zechariah had the opportunity to minister in the most sacred part of the Jewish Temple, the Holy of Holies. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. During his time in the Temple he was visited by an angel who told him about his coming son.

Jesus spoke regularly about faith. In the example of Zechariah and Elizabeth we see incredible faithfulness modeled in Christ's own human family. Sometimes faithfulness can be a struggle. Sometimes it is far easier to put words to our beliefs than actions.

Zechariah and Elizabeth followed God's will for their lives even though it turned out differently than what they probably envisioned as a younger couple. We like to make plans and dream big, and I believe God wants good things for us, but sometimes God holds back our dream from us because we haven't demonstrated the kind of character arrived at through time honored faithfulness. Sometimes we have trouble just getting out of bed in the morning and demonstrating Godly faithfulness for a whole day. Jesus was faithful all the way to the cross.

January 9 - Righteous King

Read: 2 Chronicles 29

And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord , according to all that David his father had done. In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the Lord and repaired them. He brought in the priests and the Levites and assembled them in the square on the east and said to them, Hear me, Levites! Now consecrate yourselves, and consecrate the house of the Lord , the God of your fathers, and carry out the filth from the Holy Place. For our fathers have been unfaithful and have done what was evil in the sight of the Lord our God. They have forsaken him and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the Lord and turned their backs. (2 Chronicles 29:2-6 ESV)

Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the Lord , the God of Israel, in order that his fierce anger may turn away from us. My sons, do not now be negligent, for the Lord has chosen you to stand in his presence, to minister to him and to be his ministers and make offerings to him. (2 Chronicles 29:10, 11 ESV)

Hezekiah was the 14th king of Judah and the 13th successor to David. He came at a time when the Jews were in turmoil. Idolatry, rebellion, and greed had created a prevailing culture of shameless sin leading to the abandonment of the Temple. Eventually this godlessness led to God's pronounced judgement on the Jews and they were taken away into exile. But not before Hezekiah became king and asserted himself as a righteous man who longed to reestablish God's covenant with his people.

You and I find ourselves in a situation incredibly similar to Hezekiah. The prevailing mindset of our time is not one of Godliness. Idolatry, rebellion, and greed in there many forms still usher the vast population through a life of lostness and tragedy.

Jesus came to change that. He came as a King of Kings. Hezekiah's efforts did not offer a permanent solution to the sin problem of his people, but Jesus did and does. What you experienced yesterday does not have to be your experience today. Allow Christ to guide you into a new, and everlasting, covenant with him.