Tuesday, September 29, 2009

A story about Jesus (a paraphrase)

Let's play a game...

I'm thinking of a time, place, and person....

1st century...yes!

The Middle East...yes!

Jesus...yes!

So here is the story, Jesus wakes up one morning and says, "Hey, I think today I'll go to the temple for passover and pray." This was nothing new for Jesus, because after all, it was His fathers house and many times in scripture we find Jesus, praying, teaching, or just hanging out in and around the temple. So Jesus walks (I still hate you Kanye West) to the temple and finds it rather crowded because today many people are bringing sacrifices to the temple. And what does he see, people, selling animals for sacrifice. Now, we can debate over why someone would buy one of these animals, but the fact remains that they were making an unfair profit on the sins of others. This angered Christ. Why? Because they were defiling the temple, the Holy place. Christ was filled with a righteous anger.

I look at this story today and I ask myself, why was Christ so angry. We don't see too many times in scripture images of an angry Christ. Yet, I have applied this to life today. And maybe I'm off base with this but here is how I see things, so hang on this might be a stretch.   

As I see it, Christians have God living inside of them. This fact makes us the temple of God. And, being the temple of God, we anger Christ(God), when we do things to defile that temple. Now, let me clarify, that I'm not talking about pericings or tattoos. I'm saying that our actions, words, and thoughts defile that temple. This is why it important to take a stand against such things that will defile our temple. Not to mention, if we are to claim to have Christ inside us, then we need to have that same righteous anger, when people around us, attempt to defile our temple. How will we react to our actions when they cause dissension with the word of God? 

So, I sit here and meditate on Matthew 21:12-17. And I wonder...will I let myself, or anyone else defile my temple? And how will I react to those that try to turn my, house of prayer into a den of thieves. 

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