TUESDAY, 09, March 2021 “Priorities”

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Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends,

I wonder if you’ve given much thought to what it was like for Jesus, God the Son, to live here on the planet earth that HE had created, among humanity which HE had each individually shaped and developed in their mother’s wombs? What was it like for Jesus, God the Son to be GOD among a human race who had no idea, no concept of who Jesus really was?

What is it like today for Jesus, as He watches all that goes on here, especially in America with current, major, national debates like the “Equality Act” or highest level national leadership appointments by President Biden who openly reject the gender identity God gave them, and they undergo medical treatments to change their physical appearance and they change their name and they insist that everyone identify them, interact with them, and respect them as a person who has rejected God’s creative design for them and forcibly changed themselves into a different person by gender change?

We’re ‘walking with Jesus’ these days toward Easter. Join me in John 2:12-22 today as we go from the wedding feast yesterday down to Jerusalem. By the way, don’t let the words ‘up’ and ‘down’ confuse you when you read the Bible in reference to Jerusalem. Because Jerusalem is at a high elevation on top of Mount Moriah, no matter which way you come to Jerusalem you are always ascending, thus the Bible says “When it was almost time for the Passover Jesus went UP to Jerusalem.” (John 2:13)

Jesus was actually coming to Jerusalem FROM Capernaum, which was one of the towns on the northern shoreline of the Sea of Galilee, so from a directional perspective, Jesus was coming south to Jerusalem. But from an elevation perspective AND a cultural importance perspective, Jerusalem was the centerpiece of all Israel, so going there gave you a sense of going ‘up’ to the most important place, the Temple!

You may know there are 15 Psalms which traveling Jews used to sing and recite as they walked ‘up’ to Jerusalem for the great festivals. They are Psalm 120-134 called the “Songs of Ascents”..

God had instructed His Jewish people to make every effort to gather in Jerusalem 3 times per year to celebrate their uniqueness as a people of God through great worship. (Deuteronomy 16) Corporate worship is one of the greatest unifying experiences in life, would you agree?

Passover was the premier of these festivals and John gives us a record of what we believe to be Jesus’ first visit to Jerusalem since His earthly ministry began. If you’ve ever been to Jerusalem, you know it is filled with centuries of the history of Israel. What did Jesus feel as He approached Jerusalem for the first time, as a human adult?

Of course from His heavenly perspective God the Son had watched every event recorded for us in the Old Testament which took place here in this great city, but now Jesus was walking up the steps to the Temple, hearing the noise, smelling the smoke from the altar! But look what John tells us happened: “In the temple courts Jesus found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So He made a whip out of cords, and drove them all from the temple area…He scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. He shouted ‘Get these out of here. How dare you turn My Father’s house into a market!”(John 2:16)

I doubt any of us can really imagine the mayhem of this moment! For many years the outer courts of the Temple had become a place of business. Many Jews were no longer shepherds so they needed to purchase lambs and other animals for Temple sacrifices. Also, to assist people in giving their financial tithes and offerings in a common currency while Jews came from all over the Roman Empire with lots of different types of local currency, the temple issued its own currency and the only place you could get it was there at the Temple, so there needed to be a ‘currency exchange’ so people could have the coins they needed as they entered the Temple. To everyone it all made good practical sense and was good business for many merchants.

But from God’s perspective, this holy place was designed for life changing, spiritual encounters between normal folks like you and me, and Almighty, Creator, Holy God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Moses, Samuel and all the other great patriarchs of Israel. May I ask…with what attitude do you approach your church building, wherever you live in the world? With what attitude do you approach worship, alone or with others, in any setting, inside or out of doors?

This Temple was a sacred place and Jesus, we might say, REACTED to what He saw and heard, because Jesus knew worship had lost its glamour, its mystery, its power, its priority in Jerusalem, as business had invaded this sacred place. May I ask… what has intruded into your worship this past year of COVID, especially if you were restricted from gathering together in large numbers for corporate worship? Has your worship encounter with God lost its freshness, its power, its mystery, its sacred spirituality? What is your plan to recapture and refresh your worship experience?

Here’s an even deeper questions: as compared to everything else in your life, what priority does Worship of Holy God have for you...how do we see that priority in your time schedule, your attire when you come to worship, especially if you are among millions who have been joining “worship on line” during COVID?

Two really important things occurred in this shocking moment at the Temple. First, Jesus cleared out the clutter which was turning sacred worship into business. Second, Jesus called the place “My Father’s house!” I imagine people who witnessed this were stunned, mouths hanging open as they watched others scrambling to clean up the mess. Then turning to each other I hear some saying… ‘Did you hear what he just said? Who is this guy? What does he think he’s doing tearing things up like this? And what could he possibly mean by calling our great Temple his father’s house?’

After glaring at many people, I imagine Jesus dropped the whip, and began walking further into the Temple courts. Quickly some Jewish leaders approached Jesus and demanded of Him “What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?” (John 2:18) If you or I were among the eye witnesses of this shocking event we probably would be shaking our heads vigorously and saying ‘yeah, that’s right. Who are you and what right do you have to make such a mess of our Temple?’

Jesus shocked them with His answer. By the way, this was going to be something Jesus did often, shocking the status quo with His actions and words. I imagine a piercing look as Jesus said: “Destroy this temple and I will raise it up again in three days!” ‘What?” Can you see people with their arms flailing and stroking their beards and rubbing their foreheads? This guy has lost his mind! “The Jews replied, ‘It has taken 46 years to build this temple and you are going to raise it in three days?”

Jesus hadn’t been in Jerusalem more than a few minutes on His first visit, and already He’s shaken up the Temple and the religious leaders! Here we go friends! Strap on your seatbelts. Each time Jesus came to Jerusalem He shook things up! In fact as we will see, everyday was a status quo challenging day for Jesus! It had to be… Jesus was God, here on earth, among humans who have made a terrible mess of what God has created and designed to be so wonderful.

John, the author of this account of Jesus’ life, gives us his commentary here, as he often will as we ‘walk with Jesus’ toward Easter. “But the temple Jesus had spoken of was His body. After He was raised from the dead, His disciples recalled what He had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words Jesus had spoken…” (John 2:21,22)

Now in closing today I have something very important for us to consider in March of 2021. WHY did Jesus do what we just saw in John 2? Why did Jesus make a whip and go after the Temple defilement? Please remember the Jerusalem and the world that Jesus came to in the first century had most all the same terrible things that your city and mine has. Every type of crime and criminal. Corruption in government. Spouse and child abuse. Adultery and every type of sexual immorality you can imagine. My goodness, even King Herod was living in open, unchallenged adultery, and everybody knew it!! John the Baptist challenged him and ended up in prison and later beheaded for that! (Matt. 14:1-12)

But there’s more. In those days there was widespread slavery, even being practiced by some very religious people. Some desperate parents even sold their kids into slavery to pay their debts. There was racial bigotry and social injustice and judicial bribery and governmental abuse of power. So here’s my question.. why did Jesus make such a public fuss about business in the Temple when all these other social problems were all around… as today?

I think the reason is WORSHIP PRIORITY!

Worship is something every person does every day…naturally! Worship is adjusting our life to attribute supreme worth or value to something or someone.

We see it in sports, entertainment, politics, relationships, business etc. We worship in our TV viewing, in the movies we watch and the books we read. In how we spend our money and our time. Whatever is most important in your life has the highest place of value and therefore worship of your heart. You can’t fake it. Your calendar and your checkbook tell us what you most value and what you therefore worship!! And watch this: EVERYTHING, absolutely EVERYTHING in each of our lives finds its place of relative importance in relationship to what our highest worship priority is! Now ponder that a moment.

Moses had said to the Hebrew slaves God had rescued, “Love the LORD your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength. The commandments of the LORD are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them at home and when you walk through life, when you rise up and when you lie down. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” (Deut. 6:5-9)

Can you make the application to our day? What hangs on the walls of your house? What do you wear on your hands or around your neck that reflects what you value or worship? What do you talk about at home, or when you’re out in public? What have you raised your children and grandchildren to love, value and worship? Ever notice how kids cheer for the same athletic teams as their parents? “Love the LORD your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength?” How have you taught that, modeled that to your family?

And then just before his death Moses challenged the people with this: “I command you today to love the LORD your God, walk in all His ways, keep His command and decrees; then you will live and increase and the LORD your God will bless you in the land…” (Deut. 30:16)

Now watch this carefully my friends. This is THE core problem in our world, every country, every society today. Individuals, families, leaders, governments have refused to do this. And thus while some, even in leadership claim to worship God, many other things take precedence, are more important, more valuable than honoring GOD in their daily practical life. When that happens lives, marriages, families, societies drift away from God and unravel into chaos, anarchy!

Worse yet, many people have mocked God by pretending to worship Him and His holiness, as President Biden did just before taking office as President, and then turning around almost immediately to make lifestyle choices or execute leadership decisions which are totally contrary to God and His holy ways… things like legislation affirming the slaughter of innocent children, abortion, or transgender affirmation etc.

Now do you see why John recorded this Temple riot as Jesus’ first public act in Jerusalem? Since all wickedness flows from disoriented, dysfunctional, ill prioritized worship... Jesus went right to the core of the problem first. It was a call to every person, then and now, to examine their hearts, their minds, their lives to see what priority Holy, Almighty God really has, for IF God was in the place of supreme value and worship, everything else in life would be properly aligned with God!

Now I invite us each to a time of self examination… what about the worship evidence of your life? And how much pain and dysfunction is there in your life because you have replaced God with other things as most important in your life? And how much pain and trouble in our families, our communities, our governments is because the highest value is NOT God but rather so many other things and those things have pushed God OUT!

If you are really courageous, you’ll invite Jesus to make a whip and walk around in your life, looking into every corner of your heart, mind, soul, priorities and shake up the ‘stuff’ that has been cluttering your life and displacing Jesus from His rightful place as King in your life! Take action today friends, don’t just let this be words which pass through your mind briefly.

Here is a song of reflection that might be very helpful to all of us as we ponder these deep truths of God today…

Today’s Scripture is John 2:12-20.

Choose below to read or listen.

Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.

Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.

Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)

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