So I’ve been kind of wondering lately. It’s been awhile since I’ve posted anything on here, and I think it’s because I got stuck trying to write instead of just listening to God speak into my stone cold little heart and trying to make sense of it. It’s an easy thing to do- not to excuse myself or anything. You just get to thinking that God’s going to use you to “do something.” And for awhile you’ve got enough fire in the belly to fuel your little campaign, but then… one morning you wake up and you’re just out.
Nothing left to really say.
So you start to wonder. You start wondering if God changed His mind- took it all back. Gave it to somebody else. Maybe I didn’t do something quite right. No, wait, maybe Satan is working a scheme, and I’m being “sifted” like Jesus said Peter would be… yeah, that’s probably it.
Or not.
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I’ve been on a journey over the past 30+ years. You too? Huh. I find myself constantly looking back, looking for trends, looking for events, looking for those pivot points and those forks in the road. That’s when I start using phrases like, “for the last couple of years I’ve noticed…” or “looking back, I’ve become aware…” or such and what and all of that. I wonder how the disciples must have been so keenly aware of that same feeling in the years following Jesus’ ascension.
I was reading a statement of belief on a website, and it talked about the Bible’s inerrancy and how God verbally spoke to each author. This morning, the story of Jesus entering the temple and turning out the money-changers was on my mind. In John’s recounting of Jesus ministry this is the 2nd recorded “big event.” The first was a little skirmish on the fringes of a wedding party that ran out of wine to serve a little early.
That whole thing was kind of weird. He’s at this party- just looking at the text it looks like he’s a “+1.” Like, as in “Mary +1.” So it sounds like he might be out at the fringe of the party, maybe by the doors, where the ceremonial washing vessels are located, and his mom (of all people) comes up and starts nagging him about the wine being gone (MoooooooooM! You’re SO embarrassing me!). She says to servants, “Do whatever He tells you…” and Jesus, kind of exasperated, tells them to fill the jars with water, then take ladle some out and take it to the Master of Ceremonies (father of the bride?). So of course, they do. And FOTB just raves about how great this… wine is? Wine? It was water just second ago?
Ok, so you’d think that Jesus would then jump up and exclaim his arrival. But he doesn’t. He just hangs out, back in the corner by the doors, near the servants (not the bridal party), and that’s all that’s really said about it.
You’d think that when the FOTB went over to the prospective husband and admonished him for saving the best wine till last, Jesus would jump in… “Well, you see sire, that is actually MY fault. If you’ll just step over here, and I’ll explain…” but no. He leaves the party. He leaves the over-attended, bustling party, full of happy, well-heeled, networked… he leaves. No announcement. No headlines. No publicity. Astonishing success.
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So the next thing he does then is go to the Temple, in Jerusalem, during the most highly attended festival of the year, Passover, and start a small riot in the courtyard. Surely, now He’ll explain himself. Sure, he says “Tear this temple down, and I will rebuild it in 3 days.” Nice. Crystal clear. Sounds really good.
So much for a sound business plan and prudent strategy.
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But there’s this little bit tucked in at the end of the story. It says “they remembered.” More specifically it says that after Jesus’ resurrection, they remembered this day. They remembered this statement. And then, three long, unsearchable years later they finally understood.
On that first Passover, in the midst of the chaos of birds squawking and men shouting, furniture being tossed around, and people chasing rolling coins, Jesus says a most puzzling thing. I imagine the disciples present were probably more on board with the money-changers than Jesus at that point. But they trusted Jesus- already! And they persisted with Him. And years later they understood. Looking back they understood.
What if they had walked away after that afternoon in the temple courtyard? What if they wrote Jesus off? What if I did? What is God waiting to explain to me, years down the road? What lunacy is Jesus speaking into my life today, that I have to tuck away in my “to be got later” box? Is Jesus telling you something that just sounds nuts? Look carefully. We may well find ourselves looking back at it together in 10 years and finally. FINALLY. Understanding.
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13When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16To those who sold doves he said, "Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!"
17His disciples remembered that it is written: "Zeal for your house will consume me."[b]
18Then the Jews demanded of him, "What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?"
19Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days."
20The Jews replied, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?" 21But the temple he had spoken of was his body. 22After 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.
