Mark 11:18 “The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching.”
There is one simple and powerful message contained in Mark 11:18 there are many who people who will be unsettled and resistant when a voice for real and lasting change is raised within the culture of the community of God’s people. In its day the temple represented the purpose of God in the earth and this story of the cleansing of the temple was not isolated to Jesus’ day.
Throughout the history of God’s people there were numerous occasions when the house of God had fallen into a place of neglect and disrepair. As a result there were a number of seasons in the life of God’s corporate purpose where a new generation of priests and/or kings arose who called the people back to their foundations. With each of these waves of renewal two distinct focuses accompanied the restoration of a contagious zeal for God. In every case the love and respect for the house of God was renewed and it began with cleansing work. Of equal importance in each case a renewed commitment to embrace the standards of God’s word was awakened amongst the leaders first and then the people of God.
In Jesus’ generation we see his passion for this same work as He raises His voice with a call to repentance and change. He clearly declares the contrast between what God has intended and what the people have settled into as acceptable practice. His words provoke both the moral conscience of the people and remind them of the standard of God’s word. Throughout His entire ministry it is this call to return to God’s true intentions in the things that His words declare that is the true purpose of Christ as He represents the Father.
Many people would look upon this concept and think that it would be the obvious desire of people for positive and lasting change to take place but throughout the pages of history we can see that in reality this is seldom the case. When Jesus dramatically enters the temple with such intensity as He turns over carts and drives people out of the temple courts He is demonstrating the reality of a call for true change… It can be disruptive and confrontational at times. The common place becomes the outcast and at the same time this call for change reveals the lack in the current leadership. It is these things that provoke resistance in many cases.
In these last days of God’s purpose for this age it is clear that there is great need for change once again. The church of today is far from the church of the New Testament. There is much luke-warmness and once again the money changers and those that buy and sell have set up business within the courts of God. It is clear from the prophetic declaration of Christ and elsewhere in scripture that it is only a matter of time before once again the fires of God’s holy zeal burn through the church once again to restore God’s true purpose for His “house of prayer.” With this fire will come upheaval. With this fire will come seasons of confrontation. With this fire will come resistance from that which has settled into a comfortable religious experience. Get ready for the fire!
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