Table of Truth

A husband, wife, and three kids come to Jerusalem on their donkey.  They are greet by their local family members who they are staying with.  After they are settled in, they go out into town together. Before they are ready for the upcoming festivities and remembrance, they want to ready their hearts.  They go to the temple and there are several tables. At the first table, they exchange their currency. There is probably a service fee - I mean that can’t just be a 21st century idea.  Then they stand in the next line to get their. The temple has a family deal: “Buy 2 lambs, get pigeons for 50% off for each of your kids.” [This is totally made up, but you’ll get the point].

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Jerusalem was packed.  Jews would come on a pilgrimage this time of year for Passover.  I read once it was 300,000 to 400,000 people around this time. They would come with hearts ready for the holiday.  One of their first stops would be to the temple to cleanse themselves by sacrificing livestock.

On the other end of the story, there are the money changers and merchants.  They knew hundreds of thousands were coming….not just for the holiday, but they knew that the people were coming with loaded pockets.  They were smart businessmen and capitalized on the potential income.

But there are three sides to every story and the third side is the truth:

On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”

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.

-- Mark 11:11-18

Jesus saw this story for what it was worth.  He say the money changers pocketing the “service fee” and the temple focused on making money instead of making men and women of God.  He barges in and kicks everyone out. The tables that the animals were lying on (and probably pooping on - ew), He overturned.

And if He didn’t make a big enough scene, He then recites ancient Scripture saying, “My house will be called a house of pray for all nations.”  And there it is...the third side - the Truth.

Those tables in the temple were thought to be tables of exchange, tables of sacrifice, tables of profit, but Jesus flipped them (literally) to expose the table of truth.

Isn’t that why He came ultimately?  He didn’t come to create a new “religion.”  He came to expose the Truth and realign our hearts. Verse 18 says:

...the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching.

Don’t you think as Jesus exposed the Truth that hearts were realigned and refocused towards celebrating the faithfulness of God (what Passover is really about).

Is Jesus flipping poopy tables in your temple?  What Truth is Jesus trying to expose?