God's Temple

Take these things hence; Make not my Father's house a house of merchandise. (John 2:16)

Jesus came all the way from Cana where He performed His first miracle to Jerusalem. When He came He had to enter into the temple and was very sad to see the condition there. This temple represents our heart. We often ask Jesus to come into our heart and He likes to come there. Of all places in Jerusalem, Jesus had need to pray in the temple. In prayer we know the mind of God. When we pray, the Holy Spirit comes into our heart and gradually puts in God's thoughts. If you do not know God's thoughts, you do not know where you are going. There was selling going on in the temple. The religious leaders there did not know the results of such selling in the temple. Jesus knew that a time would come when this temple would be completely destroyed. Only Jesus knew that. The disciples did not know that and so they were admiring the temple. Jesus saw cattle and changers of money. It looked more like a place for making money. Unfortunately even today people think churches are for making money. We are here to obey God and carry out His purposes. We begin to obey whether we have money or not and then God sends the money needed. The temple was being used for making money. The value of the temple was gone. There was no revelation there. Jesus drove the cattle away and threw down the tables of money.