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| Jesus cleansing the Temple |
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Jesus cleansing the Temple Having made a triumphal entry into Jerusalem on the back of a colt, Jesus went into the temple of God. On seeing a crowd of people selling and buying there, He made a whip of cords and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves (Mat.21: 12-13 & John 2:13-17) What provoked the meek Jesus Who even rode on the colt, to hold a whip of cords in His hand and to drive out them? It was because of His zeal for the house of His Father, which was made “a house of merchandise” or “a den of thieves”. This is the lone episode in the gospels, which depicts the ventilation of the holy anger of the Lord to such an extent that He physically evicted those people from the premises of the Temple.
The sheep, the oxen and the doves were in fact required for sacrifice at the altar of the Temple. There was nothing amiss with such merchandise. However, there was something wrong with those who bought and sold in the Temple. Jesus was concerned about the sanctity of His Father’s House, which was a house of prayer, and not a house of merchandise. The merchandise should have been kept outside the temple. The people who came to the Temple for worship and prayer were distracted from their devotion but attracted towards the merchandise in the temple. Jesus was not against the merchandise as such but was against the defilement of His Father’s house. He was against commercialization of God’s premises. In place of prayer, He found the tricks of the traders and the bargaining power of those who bought such merchandise. If they had brought the merchandise outside the temple and then entered the Temple for prayer and worship, He would have loved their action.
These days, we commercialize our holy ministries to God. No doubt, a minister has to make a living out of the gospel but should not live in a luxurious manner at the cost of the people to whom he is supposed to minister. He or she is not supposed to make undue profit out of the free will and sacrificial offerings given by the people of God. If God has materially prospered a minister of God, he or she must minister to the poor saints in the House of God.
The other day I was watching some video CDs of some beloved servants of God in Tamil Nadu. I thank God for their wonderful talents of singing songs in Tamil language. The songs composed and sung by them are being used by many Tamil Christians all over the world. These songs and hymns are being used in many churches during their worship services. While watching such video CDs, the Holy Spirit showed me "iniquity" and caused me to behold grievance (Hab.1:3). The Holy Spirit led me to make a comparison between the video CDs of a beloved servant of God, Don Moen, who is known for his wonderful worship songs all over the world and the video CDs of my beloved brethren in Christ from Tamil Nadu, India. The worship songs of Don Moen were lively and natural because these scenes were recorded in a real atmosphere while the worship songs of the beloved servants of God in Tamil Nadu whom I love were recorded in an artificial atmosphere where the camera was focusing on their actions and different types of dresses. It was like viewing the TV/video programmes of cine actors and actresses. The singers were shown singing songs on the sea shores and on the banks of rivers. Really, they did not sing these worship songs on the sea shores and on the banks of rivers. These were only "their acts" as they moved only their lips. They had in fact recorded their songs in studios. Are they "acting" as actors before the living God who is a consuming fire? Do they honour the living God? Let us not mock God!
The camera of Don Moen did not only focus on Don Moen but also on other worshippers who were worshipping God. I did also watch some video CDs of worship songs being sung by the associates of Billy Graham, in memory of those singers and servants of God who had entered glory. While singing these old songs, I saw tears roll down the faces of some singers. It was very lively and lovely.
Maybe, these beloved servants of God in Tamil Nadu have adopted this "corrupt" method of the cine world just to promote their ministries. When we should make use of all the modern day tools and electronic media for promoting the gospel, care should be taken to ensure that we do not imitate the things of the world, especially of the "corrupt" cine world. Let us not adopt the "corrupt" commercial methods just to market our audio/video CDs.
Jesus cannot tolerate the trend of commercialization in His body. Jesus did not condemn sinners who came to Him but forgave them. However, He took the whip in His Hand and drove those who traded inside His holy premises. |
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Ragland |
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November 03, 2007 at 4:56am |
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Well said Job. I hope the people involved understand this. |
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MaKelly |
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November 03, 2007 at 11:30am |
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| I don't understand when we had things in the church for the community or anyone in need it was FREE, but people do still do these tthings |
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Deb |
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November 03, 2007 at 11:39am |
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| Well said, Job. |
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Ragland |
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November 03, 2007 at 11:58am |
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A friend of mine from the US named Ron Charles, who is an archeologist has done lots of research on Jesus has actually documented how much time Jesus took to cleanse the temple. He said Jesus was busy the whole day cleansing the temple and chasing out people single handedly. For a 33 year old young man to do this alone, one can imagine the energy and determination. Praise God |
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Tropical Guy, no earthly building is holy but only the gathering of the saints in the name of Jesus Christ becomes the habitation of God.
Ragland, you have given a new thought. Well done.
Lara Leger, we have to judge everything as per 1 Cor.2:15. "But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, het he himself is judged of no man". If we are spiritual men, we have to judge all things. We have to judge every doctrine, every false minister, etc.
I thank woman of joy and Apostle Patrick for their words of encouragement. |
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| Amen and you are right it is hapening again Voice you wer sayin this in your own way were you knot? |
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