Read John 2:13-22

Thursday

Read John 2:13-22

13 It was almost time for the Passover Festival, so Jesus went to Jerusalem. 14There in the Temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and pigeons, and also the moneychangers sitting at their tables. 15So he made a whip from cords and drove all the animals out of the Temple, both the sheep and the cattle; he overturned the tables of the moneychangers and scattered their coins; 16and he ordered those who sold the pigeons, “Take them out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a market place!” 17His disciples remembered that the scripture says, “My devotion to your house, O God, burns in me like a fire.”
18 The Jewish authorities replied with a question, “What miracle can you perform to show us that you have the right to do this?”
19 Jesus answered, “Tear down this Temple, and in three days I will build it again.”
20 “Are you going to build it again in three days?” they asked him. “It has taken forty-six years to build this Temple!”
21 But the temple Jesus was speaking about was his body. 22So when he was raised from death, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the scripture and what Jesus had said.

Think

Jesus closes down the trade system that the sacrificial system had become.  His body will replace the temple.  In John's gospel Jesus' clearing of the temple happens at the beginning of his ministry - at a time when John is helping us to understand some overarching themes of what Jesus will be doing in his time on earth.

Pray

Lord - eliminate all my thoughts of being able to somehow earn your love and grace.  Teach me to receive what you have freely given.