Today’s scripture: Mark 11:15-19 (ESV-text and audio) (KJV) (The Message)
As you read, consider: What might God be saying to me? Summarize your thoughts in a sentence or two.
My thoughts (Cheryl Stonestreet):
When I get stumped on a Be Still and Know assignment, sometimes I do an internet search on the passage and read what the commentators have to say. I did that for this passage, and not surprising, I wished I hadn’t. The essays are usually over my head, as they were for this scripture.
- One essay was about how this story was so atypical of the Jesus we always read about that the passage was likely inserted at a later time, after the book of Mark was written. It said the author’s intention was to emphasize that Jesus was prophesying of the church era and the acceptance of “all nations” into this new faith.
- Another essay talked about how it was unlikely for Jesus, one man, to turn over all the tables and drive out all the moneychangers and merchants from the temple. This area is equivalent to nearly four football fields, and one person could not likely drive everyone out, nor keep anyone from taking things into the temple.
- It was pointed out that each moneychanger probably had his own bodyguards, not to mention the Roman Centurions who were there to keep the peace.
These viewpoints rattled my notions about this passage — those notions being that Jesus literally, mightily, and violently defended his father’s house. I’ve always admired Jesus for his actions here, for his get-tough stance. So how am I to interpret this?
For me the answer lies in what the people were being robbed of, and that is in their relationship with God. I can sometimes be what I call a mechanical Christian. Like a robot, I do what is expected. I go to worship services, I write my offering checks. But when I leave the building, I am still the same as when I entered. I didn’t listen to what God was trying to tell me. Church was just on my schedule.
Maybe that’s what the people in the market were doing. They were changing their foreign currency into local monies and buying doves. They handed the doves off to the temple workers whose job it was to sacrifice them. Their obligations now complete, they could go home and feel righteous. Acting religious only out of duty leaves me very empty.
I must imagine instead catching my own doves. First I have to find them. Then I have to net them. Then I have to have a little cage to carry them in to the temple. I have to get them to the temple alive. All of these actions have their own steps and meditations. In each step, I would think about why I am doing this; each step a way to show my praise to God.
While I’m not advocating animal sacrifice, this passage makes me think about what it is I actually do for God’s kingdom.
Thought for the day: Am I doing things mechanically, because it is my duty? Or am I living a prayerful life and doing that which brings me closer to God? Where am I on my journey, and where am I going?
We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.