FIT FOR PURPOSE!
Opening Prayer
I praise You, my Lord, for all that You are!
Read Luke 19:45–48
Jesus at the Temple
45 When Jesus entered the temple courts, he began to drive out those who were selling. 46 “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be a house of prayer’[a]; but you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’[b]”
47 Every day he was teaching at the temple. But the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill him. 48 Yet they could not find any way to do it, because all the people hung on his words.
Footnotes:
a Luke 19:46 Isaiah 56:7
b Luke 19:46 Jer. 7:11
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Read aloud: “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name” (Psalm 100:4).You could use a rolling pin to beat a drum and a drumstick to roll out pastry. But generally it’s better to use a thing for the purpose for which it was made.
So, what is the purpose of God’s house? “My house will be a house of prayer,” said Jesus. He was echoing the words of Isaiah (Isaiah 56:7). God’s plan for the Temple in Jerusalem was for the gathering of worshipping people from all nations to pray together to God.
Energized by his desire for holiness, Jesus acts to drive out of the Temple all those who have made it, in the words of The Message version, “a religious bazaar” – the “den of robbers’ of Jeremiah 7:11. Meanwhile, in the Temple precincts, non-Jews, women, the disabled, and the poor are segregated and treated with disdain. No wonder Jesus is angry! This account is a sobering reminder that any who use God’s church for personal gain or self-promotion will face judgment.
Apply
“What is the chief end of man [humankind]? Answer: Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him for ever.” (Westminster Catechism of 1647) How are you and your church community helping people to fulfill their purpose?
Closing prayer
Lord, may I fulfill my purpose to glorify and enjoy You today and every day.
Click here to sign up to receive the EXTRAs via email each quarter.
© 2024 Scripture Union U.S.A. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission is prohibited.
Discovery is published in the USA under license from Scripture Union England and Wales, Trinity House, Opal Court, Opal Drive, Fox Milne, Milton Keynes, MK15 0DF.