If it is because of the wickedness of the nations that the
Lord is driving them out of the Land and giving it to the Israelites, wouldn't
it make sense that they were righteous? Only
in a relative sense, and relative righteousness is no righteousness at
all. The only righteousness is God's
righteousness, everything else, as Paul said, is filthy rags. He is driving out these nations not because
He is capricious but because of their wickedness, the same reason the flood
happened in Genesis and that Sodom was destroyed. Moses is clear that the Lord has already shown
mercy and grace to them, He was ready to destroy them for the sin of the golden
calf. Redemption and life have always been
about God's grace and mercy, not the righteousness of any man or nation. There is no righteousness under the law, only
awareness of sin. When we forget that we
fall to pride.
John, unlike the other Gospels, places the cleansing of the temple
very early in Jesus' ministry. Does that
imply that there is a mistake in the chronology or can we conclude that this
effort didn't achieve the desired result?
It would seem unlikely that Jesus only once chastised the leadership
over this issue. Zeal for the Father's
house would not have consumed Him only on one occasion would it? At any rate, the upset here is that the profiteering
is not only wrong but it has also made it impossible for Gentiles to approach
the temple at all, they were set up in the area reserved for Gentiles so that
they too might hear the Word. It was to
be a house of prayer for all nations and this was not possible. The holy club had excluded anyone not already
a member. Jesus offers a sign but no one
could have imagined that He meant the resurrection at the time. What does it mean that Jesus compares His
body to the temple?
"We are his house if indeed we hold fast our confidence
and our boasting in our hope." When was the last time you boasted in your
hope? That is our boast, it is in Him, the
Son. If we boast in our hope we are His house. In order to do that we have to do two things:
first we have to hang our heads in shame and hopelessness over sin and then we
have to put Jesus on the throne, we have to see Him as above all things and
people. All boasting is not wrong,
boasting is proclamation if it is based in joy and a desire to share Him with
others. No praise is too extravagant for
Jesus. Remember, He alone of all in
heaven, on earth or under the earth was worthy to take the scroll, open the
seal and receive worship in heaven.
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