Amy Sobiski from the Brownsburg congregation shared the message “Create Sacred Space.” She reflected on John 2:13-22 (from The Voice), which is the scripture where Jesus threw the money-changers out of the temple.
John 2:13-22 The Voice (VOICE)
13 The time was near to celebrate the Passover, the festival commemorating when God rescued His children from slavery in Egypt, so Jesus went to Jerusalem for the celebration. 14 Upon arriving, He entered the temple to worship. But the porches and colonnades were filled with merchants selling sacrificial animals (such as doves, oxen, and sheep) and exchanging money. 15 Jesus fashioned a whip of cords and used it with skill driving out animals; He scattered the money and overturned the tables, emptying profiteers from the house of God. 16 There were dove merchants still standing around, and Jesus reprimanded them.
Jesus: What are you still doing here? Get all your stuff, and haul it out of here! Stop making My Father’s house a place for your own profit!
17 The disciples were astounded, but they remembered that the Hebrew Scriptures said, “Jealous devotion for God’s house consumes me.”[a] 18 Some of the Jews cried out to Him in unison.
Jews: Who gave You the right to shut us down? If it is God, then show us a sign.
Jesus: 19 You want a sign? Here it is. Destroy this temple, and I will rebuild it in 3 days.
Jews: 20 Three days? This temple took more than 46 years to complete. You think You can replicate that feat in 3 days?
21 The true temple was His body. 22 His disciples remembered this bold prediction after He was resurrected. Because of this knowledge, their faith in the Hebrew Scriptures and in Jesus’ teachings grew.
Footnotes:
The Voice (VOICE)The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
Amy suggested that it may not have been their actions that made Jesus so angry, but rather the spirit in which it was being conducted. The actions of the money-changers were self-serving, not God-serving.
Drawing on the theme “Create Sacred Space”, Amy asked us to consider what sacred space is to us. Sacred space can be any place where we are attempting to have a relationship with God.
Amy finished her message by asking us to think about what Jesus would see if he came into our house or into our congregation? Would He want to overturn something?
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