John 2: 12-25 What HE Saw

“Though He deliberately violated the man-made religious traditions of the Pharisees, our Lord obeyed the statutes of the law and was faithful to uphold the law,” my commentary said.

I wish I could have seen the Temple from Jesus’ perspective.  How special it was supposed to be – the place where God dwelt and people communed with Him and had their sins removed!  But this had stopped being the case years prior.  First, as a convenience for Jews who had traveled a long distance and needed an acceptable sacrifice, the Pharisees had set up a market to provide the means of procuring what they needed.  They also converted foreign coins into local money which was needed to pay the Temple tax.

At first, it had likely worked well, but before long, their greed had set in, and the prices and exchange rates had gone up.  The market had moved into the courtyard of the Gentiles, so non-Hebrew proselytes soon found it very difficult to worship in that outer courtyard with all of the bleating and hawking going on.

They could say what they wanted, but Jesus knew their hearts.  Some only believed because they’d seen His miracles.  “It was one thing to respond to a miracle, but quite something else to commit oneself to Jesus Christ and continue in His Word,” my commentary said.

“He knew what was in a man … He knew that the Jewish leaders did not have God’s love in their hearts, and that one of His disciples was not truly a believer….  At the beginning, it was easy for people to follow the crowd and watch His miracles.  But then, His words began to penetrate hearts, with conviction following, and conviction leads either to conversion or opposition.  It is impossible to be neutral.”

I imagine that the regular people watching Him wondered what they should believe.  After all, He was bucking the religious establishment that they’d always been taught held sway over their lives and their eternal souls.  A wrong decision, and they might find themselves out of the church.  Yet truth rang from His words.  He knew men’s hearts.  Grace and mercy came from Him, while they’d only known judgment from their religious leaders.  This One was different, and they had to make a decision.  Was He the Savior or not?  The religious leaders didn’t think so, and that surely made it tougher for them to decide.

Father, help me never to get in the way of others deciding to commit their lives to You and Your Son.  Let me not be like the Pharisees, for it was all about them and not about You.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford