Luke 19:41-48 - A Godly Interruption

This is a striking image of Jesus entering the capital Jerusalem, lamenting and grieving over the spiritual blindness of it's people and the destruction that lies ahead.

The great temple area was the centre of Jewish faith, a place where people met God and indeed a place where Jesus was taken to as a child. On arriving at the temple area Jesus' sorrow spurs Him to action when He sees that the temple is being used to exploit. Jesus does not hold back - He challenges and drives out those who are using the temple for their own gains rather than to worship and glorify God. He calls out the practices, the attitudes that have crept into temple worship and sets about redeeming worship practices through His teaching. People are so gripped by his words that the scheming of chief priests to kill Jesus are interrupted.

From these events we see Jesus' desire to restore the relationship between the Lord God and all people. Easter is a time of deep challenge and rich comfort. We are the temple of the living God. It may be this Easter that we are aware of things that need cleansed in our lives. Jesus teaches us to confront these issues so that we can live in peace and obedience to God whose desires for us are revealed through His word. He came that we "may have life and have it to the full." (John 10:10). May our lives be interrupted and shaped by the truth of His Word.