Worship with/out reverence!

John 2:13-22

But it was almost time for the Jewish Passover Feast. So Jesus went to Jerusalem. In the Temple he found men selling cattle, sheep, and doves. He saw others sitting at tables, exchanging money. Jesus made a whip out of cords. Then he forced all these men, with the sheep and cattle, to leave the Temple. He turned over the tables and scattered the money of the men who were exchanging it. Then he said to those who were selling pigeons, “Take these things out of here! Don’t make my Father’s house a place for buying and selling!” When this happened the followers remembered what was written in the Scriptures: “My strong love for your Temple completely controls me.” The Jews said to Jesus, “Show us a miracle for a sign. Prove that you have the right to do these things.” Jesus answered, “Destroy this temple, and I will build it again in three days.” The Jews answered, “Men worked 46 years to build this Temple! Do you really believe you can build it again in three days?” (But the temple Jesus meant was his own body. After Jesus was raised from death, his followers remembered that Jesus had said this. Then they believed the Scripture and the words Jesus said.)

Food for thought!

Jesus' anger is a terrifying thing; the picture of Jesus with the whip is an awe-inspiring sight. Yes, we too sometimes can, and maybe must, show anger. What enraged Jesus was turning the holy place into a marketplace. He acted as he did because God's house was being desecrated. In the Temple there was worship without reverence.Reverence is an instinctive thing. Worship without reverence can be a terrible thing. It may be worship which is formalized and pushed through anyhow; the most dignified prayers on earth can be read like a newspaper. Reverence without worship is better than worship without reverence. Why? Because, worship without reverence does not realize the holiness of God; it is worship in which priest or congregation are completely unprepared; it is a worship conducted in a place where reverence and the true function of God's house are forgotten.

In that God's house at Jerusalem there would be arguments about price and bargains and all marketplace stuff. Business had hijacked worship; the secular overtook the holy; doing business had become more important than prayer.

But there is still another reason why Jesus acted as he did. The Temple traders were making praying impossible. The lowing of the oxen, the bleating of the sheep, the cooing of the doves, the shouts of the hucksters, the rattle of the coins, the voices raised in bargaining disputes—all these combined to make the Temple a place where nobody could worship. They, were not praying and were not letting others who wanted to pray.

Jesus was moved to the depths of his heart because seeking people were being shut out from the presence of God; because of the trade, it was just impossible to pray in that temple; some people had made it impossible for others to pray. The first people were in the that temple that day not for prayer but for trade. Those who wanted to pray, like Jesus and his followers, could not pray even if they so wanted.

Even today, there are people who do not pray and who don't let others pray; people who don't go to church on Sunday and who don't let others go. People who have abandoned goodness and who don't let others do and be good; people who don't help and who don't let others help anyone in need. These are the people Jesus expelled and expels from his presence.

Let us remember the wrath of Jesus against those who made it difficult and even impossible for others to make contact with God, and learn to avoid being the cause of others' falls and failures. Remember the words of Jesus:

"But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone hung around your neck." (Mark 9:42)