Luke 19:45-46
There is a powerful message embodied in this passage which details Jesus driving out the money changers from the temple.
The first is that Jesus wanted to emphasize the spiritual home of His Father. The temple, at this point, had become a temporal place of worship. Instead of a conversation with God, the temple had become a symbol of man’s iniquity to man. One could not enter without “buying” an entrance through the purchase of a sacrificial animal. The wealthier one was, the greater the sacrifice. The money changers and the high priests profited from this.
In this dramatic intervention by Jesus, we see his abhorrence of what was transpiring. Instead of a place of worship, the temple had become a place of commerce. Instead of a place of spirituality, it had become a place of physicality.
Sadly so too with most institutions. Institutions are human. Human beings have frailties. Too often we allow an institution to become so humanized that it loses its link to its spiritual call. Too often the people who “run the temple” lose sight of the message of Jesus and become too caught up in the institution they are leading.
The touchstone – the litmus test – is not the size of the institution or the greatness of the people who run it but rather the answer to the question: “Is this about Jesus.”
