"Unintended Consequences"

Scripture Passage

John 12:37-50; Mark 11:12-14; Matthew 21:18-22; Mark 11:15-19; Matthew 21:12-17; Luke 19:45-48; Mark 11:20-33; Matthew 21:23-27; Luke 20:1-8

Scripture Focus

He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves.” (Mark 11:17 NLT)

Observation

At fifty years old—yep, that’s my new claim to fame; I’m halfway to old age—I’m still learning things about Scripture. I just finished reading a challenging book (Transformational Church by Ed Stetzer and Thom Rainer) in which the authors made a couple of particularly powerful observations about this particular proclamation of Scripture by Jesus.

First (they say), with this quote Jesus prioritized the proper use of His house. That’s a rather foundational observation, but I was challenged to consider how much time and energy gets invested in prayer at the church I lead. Don’t get me wrong—I think perhaps we pray more now than at any point in our history. Still, relative to all the other activity that occurs within that building, and especially relative to all the stuff we try to cram into Sunday morning worship services, I’m convicted that prayer should be more common and more central.

Second, Stetzer and Rainer suggest that with these words Jesus prioritized the accessibility of “all people” to a relationship with Him. Here’s the deal: The religious leaders had set up business in the Temple courts (very likely the Court of Gentiles) on a quasi-legitimate basis. They provided a service to worshippers who traveled long distances to attend the Jewish festivals. Specifically, rather than having to bring sacrificial animals all the way from home to offer at the Temple (risking injury or disease along the way to an otherwise perfect animal) a worshipper could simply purchase a suitable sacrifice upon arrival. On the surface, that’s a logical and effective plan.

But get this: The religious people—busy in the temple courts doing religious things—were stealing space reserved Gentiles to pray. The Temple, then—rather than being “a house of prayer for all nations”—was made an exclusive club for select clientele. Religious people engaged in religious activity kept “all people” from accessing God. The thievery was not simply the exorbitant markup placed on sacrificial animals (as I’ve often been told and said myself) but the theft of ready access to God Himself! Religious people engaged in religious activity actually thwarted the access of others to God.

Read the passage Jesus quotes in this verse—Isaiah 56:6-7. What an indictment! In what ways do my religious activities…and even the well-intentioned religious activities of the church I lead…actually keep other people away from God’s presence?

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