When we read about Jesus entering the temple and turning over the tables of the moneychangers, our interpretation of that event is viewed through the lens of our worldview. Our worldview, no matter how right we think it might be, is only a partial view of a greater reality. We always have more to learn than our current understanding would lead us to believe.
What Jesus was overturning that day in the temple was a misrepresentation of God's heart. The temple officials who represented God to the people and the moneychangers they allowed into the temple complex to conduct business were portraying a false image of God. They were rejecting the sacrifices the people brought to the temple and required them to buy a “temple approved” sacrifice at a higher price. The average family was being abused financially and morally, but the greatest abuse was creating a false image of God.
Jesus is moving through the Church at this moment, looking for any abuse and misrepresentation of His name. The way He challenges that abuse or misrepresentation could make some of us uncomfortable, especially if it is our table being overturned.
Before every move of God, a dismantling and overturning of our motives and assumptions must take place. We will all be subject to this overturning. No one is exempt. When Jesus interrupted and overturned the status quo 2,000 years ago, it was an act of love. That same love is moving through personal temples today, bringing order and clarity to our individual lives and to the mission of the Church currently being represented in culture.
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