Holy Week 2016 - The Cost of the Day – Cleansing the Temple

Greetings Dear Reader,

”Jesus said, ‘Scripture says, My house will be called a house of prayer, but you're turning it into a gathering place for thieves!’"

The people in Jerusalem are there for the Passover celebration.  They are living the ceremony that is a symbol of the covenant God has made with them.  Everyone is required to gather in Jerusalem and observe the beginning of the liturgical year.  They all bring their offerings for sin. 

It seems simple enough but then we are humans and we can complicate and corrupt anything.  A system was in place to extort people.  The dove or lamb brought from miles away by a faithful believer would be judged not good enough by a priest.  They could buy one for a price at the temple that was approved. They had to exchange their money for the approved temple coin. 

They system is designed to make money off of the faithful and increase the wealth of the priests.  Jesus arrives at this scene.  He is there to visit the house of his Father.  He there to see the place where all the people for whom he will die are called to come and pray.

The cost of the day is pain and sorrow.  The cost of the day is a world where things are not good.  The priests rob the people they are sworn to serve.  They are the only people who Jesus speaks of with derision.  They have sold their honor and duty for money.

The cost of the day is sorrow for the Son as he sees how far from his intent his people have strayed.  The price he will pay for their wandering is dear.  The pain he feels is deep and constant.  His anger is righteous and true.

As I journey toward the cross with him I must assure that I do not steal from his people. I must assure that I live out the gospel with honor and integrity.  Man will not rob God.  The world will see that anything man has done to corrupt the teachings of Christ are all man’s doing and not the character of Christ.

I must follow with integrity.  The cost of the day is too high to ignore.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”

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