Easter Devotionals - The Cleansing
As we continue our Easter readings and devotionals, Toby reads about the cleansing of the temple, revealing how Jesus’ death changed the way we worship!
As we approach Easter Sunday, we will be hearing readings from members of the Redeemer family, which we hope will help to prepare our hearts.
Alongside these readings we’ll be publishing blogs which make use of a Lenten Devotional published by Redeemer Presbyterian Church. We hope these devotionals and readings will help to reveal the comfort, challenge and joy found within the passages of scripture.
Today’s passage is read by Toby, and the passages are Mark 11:15-19, John 2:19-21 & Mark 15:38.
The Cleansing
Every year at Passover thousands of Jews came from all over Israel and Judea to offer sacrifices at the temple in Jerusalem. Since many traveled long distances, they often purchased their animal sacrifices in Jerusalem rather than hauling them from home and risking an injury or a blemish that would make them an unworthy sacrifice. It was a convenience for Jewish worshippers to purchase their sacrifices once they arrived. However, the market for these transactions had been set up in the Court of the Gentiles, where non-Jewish seekers of God came to worship. Thus, at Passover, the temple courtyard was filled with livestock, sellers of livestock and money-changers, who exchanged regional currencies for Jewish money.
When Jesus saw this, he was angry — so angry that he overturned tables and placed an embargo on merchandise. But why? Weren’t the merchants just trying to help the travelers worship God? Perhaps. But they were doing it at the expense of those from “all nations” who were seeking God, counting their worship as insignificant. In calling them “robbers” Jesus may have been referring to their greedy financial transactions and the way they were robbing Gentiles of their place of worship.
Yet something else is going on. In a similar account of his cleansing the temple, Jesus was asked for a sign of his authority. He replied, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19). But he wasn’t speaking about the building; “he was speaking about the temple of his body” (John 2:21). In other words, when he died, the temple and its entire system — the priesthood, the sacrifices, the glory — died with him because he himself was the Passover Lamb, high priest and Shekinah glory. Thus, when the temple curtain split at the death of Christ (Mark 15:38), the barrier between God and humanity came down for everyone. Jesus became the “house of prayer for all nations.” Today there is no need to travel to the temple in Jerusalem to worship. Nor is there any distinction between Jewish and Gentile worshippers. Worship is no longer attached to a place, but a person. Jesus is the temple. He is where we meet God.
Prayer
Lord, we worship Jesus as the final sacrifice, priest, glory and temple. Therefore, let us join ourselves to him so that we may love his name and be his servants (Isaiah 56:6). In Christ, may all nations — those near and far — come to you in prayer (Isaiah 56:8). In Christ’s Name, Amen.
Copyright (c) 2012 by Redeemer Presbyterian Church.
Redeemer reads 2 Thessalonians 1
As we begin to read 2 Thessalonians together, Toby encourages us to practice thanksgiving and gratitude, and to fix our eyes on our eternal hope.
Welcome! Here at Redeemer we believe that the Bible is the word of God, that it’s alive, and that its words can and should shape every aspect of our lives as Christians. But we also know it’s not easy to get into the habit of reading it every day! So we are following the CBR Bible Reading plan - which can be found below - to help us read the bible together.
We are currently reading the book of 2 Thessalonians, and every week day we will be releasing a video on our social media & YouTube accounts, with a member of our Redeemer family explaining what they feel God is saying to them through the passage!
Today we hear from Toby as he shares with us from 2 Thessalonians 1.
If you have time, and a desire to know more, you’ll find ideas for further study of todays passage below.
Further Study
If we adopt Paul’s eternal perspective, and his practice of thanking God for signs of his grace, what sorts of requests should we present to God?
Find the answer to that question in this excerpt from “Praying with Paul” - an 8 session bible study written by D.A. Carson, a link to which is below.
Redeemer reads Colossians 4
In today's video, as we finish reading Colossians together, Toby simply prays for us, following Paul's instructions in this final chapter of the book.
Welcome! Here at Redeemer we believe that the Bible is the word of God, that it’s alive, and that its words can and should shape every aspect of our lives as Christians. But we also know it’s not easy to get into the habit of reading it every day! So we are following the CBR Bible Reading plan - which can be found below - to help us read the bible together.
We are currently reading the book of Colossians, and every week day we will be releasing a video on our social media & YouTube accounts, with a member of our Redeemer family explaining what they feel God is saying to them through the passage!
Today we hear from Toby as he shares with us from Colossians 4.
If you have time, and a desire to know more, you’ll find ideas for further study of todays passage below.
Further Study
The apostle Paul seems like someone who took the initiative. If we could imagine Paul we would think of a guy who would just parachute into a town and talk to everyone about Jesus before lunch…
But where did Paul’s boldness come from? Find out in this blog by Erik Raymond, based on Colossians 4.
Redeemer reads Philippians 3
Today we’re reading Philippians 3, and Toby challenges us to think about what we might need to give up in order to know more of Christ!
Welcome! Here at Redeemer we believe that the Bible is the word of God, that it’s alive, and that its words can and should shape every aspect of our lives as Christians. But we also know it’s not easy to get into the habit of reading it every day! So we are following the CBR Bible Reading plan - which can be found below - to help us read the bible together.
We are currently reading the book of Philippians, and every week day we will be releasing a video on our social media & YouTube accounts, with a member of our Redeemer family explaining what they feel God is saying to them through the passage!
Today we hear from Toby as he shares with us from Philippians 3.
If you have time, and a desire to know more, you’ll find ideas for further study of todays passage below.
Further Study
If we are exiles and refugees on earth (1 Peter 2:11), and if our citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20), and if nothing can separate us from the love of Christ (Romans 8:35), and if his steadfast love is better than life (Psalm 63:3), and if all hardship is working for us an eternal weight of glory (2 Corinthians 4:17), then we will give to the winds our fears and “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:33). We will count everything as rubbish in comparison with Christ (Philippians 3:7-8). We will “joyfully accept the plundering of our property” for the sake of unpopular acts of mercy (Hebrews 10:34). We will choose “rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin,” and will count “the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt” (Hebrews 11:25-26).
- An excerpt from Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper