Mark 11:11 “Jesus entered Jerusalem and went to the temple. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.”
Know the timing of when to start new things and when to change old ones. In this passage Jesus demonstrates the principle that confrontation should not be started within a context that cannot be brought to a healthy point of closure or that by addressing it at an inappropriate time the impact of that confrontation is lost. It is fairly certain that Jesus knew what He was intending to do when He stopped by the temple towards the end of that day after his entry into Jerusalem. He had the attention of the multitudes and He knew that His time upon the earth was drawing near to a close. It was in this context that Jesus felt compelled by the Spirit to communicate the Father’s heart towards His temple and to fulfill the messianic prophesies regarding zeal for His Father’s house.
What is truly noteworthy in this situation is that in the midst of His zeal and sense of fulfillment He was still restrained enough to not act out of the passion of the moment. Jesus saw the setting, saw the need and yet was able to still recognize the need for proper time and setting. In Mt. 7:6 Jesus references the principle of stewarding our energies and efforts within a uniquely different context, but the message is clear to us; “do not waste the things that you do by a wrong choice of time, place or audience.”
Jesus recognizes the unhealthy condition of the temple courts but does not allow His offense to move Him to actions that will be wasted. Even in His great zeal for change the Lord is able to recognize that the audience available to Him and the remaining time in that day for the impact of His intended actions to have their full effect is not sufficient to accomplish His purpose. As a result we see the Lord come and take a visual review of the circumstances that He is intending to speak to. A portion of His intent is certainly so that as He prays into this situation overnight and considers that actions that He will take in the morning, He is praying and meditating based upon an accurate and current assessment of the situation.
This principle needs to speak to every servant of God. Paul said something vital in Rom 12:11 “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.” Passion is important but so is wisdom. Paul’s words identify the reality that there are times when we can be compelled by a zeal that does not result in accomplishing the Lord’s purpose. It only vents the passion inside of us but it is not fruitful in its outcome! We want passion but we want fruit! Learn the wisdom of the Lord and let His restraint be a model to us for passion under control.
No comments:
Post a Comment