John 2v12-21-6

What would you do if you came to church one Sunday and you saw it turned into an open-air marketplace for buying, selling, and changing money on the blackmarket? It was just one big garage sale or car boot sale?

Christ came to church one day and found the outer court was just like this. There were fourteen acres of stalls and booths, charging exorbitant prices for Passover animals, and making massive profits by changing currency to shekels for the Temple tax. It was a filthy, noisy, and smelly scene. Behind it all was the High Priest Annas who rented the stalls at excessive rates, sold franchises, and extorted money from the businessmen. Few if any protested. Most just accepted it as the price of doing business and didn’t want to cause any trouble

This exact situation is unlikely to occur here in at First Byron. But this specific situation of church corruption raises the more general question of: How do we respond to errors and failings in the Church’s faith and practice? Do we respond as most did in Jesus’ day? Hear/see/speak no evil? Indifferent, tolerant, and accepting?

That’s not how Jesus responded. When he went up to the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there (14), his reaction was zealous reformation. That’s a rare quality in Church today but it is approved and commended by God (Num. 25:13; Rev. 2:2).

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