March 2, 2015: John 2:13-22

We encourage you to read this devotion three times a day.  Start in the morning and reflect upon the morning reflection question. Then in the afternoon, read it again and reflect using the noon question for reflection.  For the evening, take time to ponder how this has resonated with you in the day and reflecting using the evening question.  We offer a prayer with each devotion for you to pray or we invite you to pray what is in your heart.
  

John 2:13-22

¹³ When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. ¹⁵ So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. ¹⁶ To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” ¹⁷ His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

¹⁸ The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”

¹⁹ Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”

²⁰ They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” ²¹ But the temple he had spoken of was his body. ²² After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.

Reflection: Shock and Awe

As we journey towards Easter, we sense an urgency in the actions and words of Jesus.  In our passage for today, we see Jesus entering the temple proper.  The implications of his actions are palpable and visceral.  We get raw emotions from Jesus.  All too often we fail to realize that Jesus, too, felt like us.  It makes him relatable. We see him bust out the whip but note he never uses it.  There is, within us all, the potential to see the muck in the midst of our lives of faith.  Today, reflect on Jesus; his frustrations, intent, and his actions.

Reflection Questions:

Morning: When have you felt God pushing you to the brink to bring about a clean life?  What urgent things, in relationship with God, is God trying to get your attention?

Noon: Think again about Jesus in the temple.  When has God moved in you to bring about change in your life?

Evening: How is your body the temple of God? What good is God urging you to do?