It was nearly time for the Jewish Passover celebration, so Jesus went to Jerusalem. In the Temple area he saw merchants selling cattle, sheep, and doves for sacrifices; he also saw dealers at tables exchanging foreign money. Jesus made a whip from some ropes and chased them all out of the Temple.  John 2:13-15

Each of us have things that are almost sacred to us.  We might display them on a wall, under glass, or in a shadow box.  If it’s a document, such as a commendation or award, we might laminate or frame it.  We put important papers in a file folder and wouldn’t think of folding them in half, lest we crease them. And then there’s love letters.  We fasten them with a ribbon and tuck them away somewhere safe because having someone trample on the sacred evokes strong emotions. 

My mother, the year before she died of cancer, made a quilt for Ron and for me.  There was no sewing machine involved.  Every inch of it was hand-stitched.  I often told her that it looked like she used a machine – so precise was her hem stitching.  About ten years ago, I took it out of my cedar chest to discover that there were rips along the corners of more than a few patchwork squares. Years of tugging at it during the night had taken its toll.  I was shaken by it, so the first chance I got, out came my needle and thread. 

If unraveling on my prized quilt could undo me, can you imagine what Jesus felt when he entered the Temple and saw what was happening in His Father’s house? This was the place where atonement was made for sin.  This was the place where the rich and the poor alike could bring their best sacrifice and know that there would be no respecter of persons.  But on this day, everything holy was trampled. 

The priests were crooked, causing people to wonder if God was crooked as well. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?  The face of God is always marred by crooked religion. God still gets angry when His character is misrepresented. The very people He created, the ones He sacrificed His Son for, will be the ones who don’t trust Him.  For this, Jesus made whips and disrupted commerce.  Woe to the shepherds who cause the sheep to stumble over the God who loves them. 

You fought with us in mind.  And still do.  Amen