Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“Jesus said, ‘It is written, “My house shall be a house of prayer”; but you have made it a den of robbers.’”
NL Daily Devotion for Tuesday, March 23, 2021
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
Technically, there was nothing wrong with what was going on in the temple. The money changers and the folks selling animals for sacrifice were just following God’s laws. So I’m thinking it wasn’t so much about the letter of the law as it was the spirit of the law.
Lots of oppressive rules and regulations started out as serving an important purpose and function within a community. But at some point, they go beyond their original intent, generally because someone figures out they can benefit from strict enforcement of the rules onto others who don’t benefit. Thus, for example, a law that started out as a positive way to protect a community becomes a weapon used to exclude anyone seen as “undesirable.”
God had good reasons for setting up the temple sacrificial system, which helped Israel understand its identity and relationship to God. But I’m sure it’s not out of line to speculate that there were some folks who were benefitting disproportionately from the practice at the expense of those who couldn’t afford it, never mind the reality that God had said repeatedly through the prophets that God desired justice, not sacrifice, and justice, clearly was not being done here. So Jesus lost it, making a clear case that sometimes the rules need to change, especially if they’re getting in the way of actual justice.
What rules and laws do I benefit from that victimize or oppress others?
