Meditation: John 2:13 It was almost time for the festival of Pesach in Y’hudah, so Yeshua went up to Yerushalayim. 14 In the Temple grounds he found those who were selling cattle, sheep and pigeons, and others who were sitting at tables exchanging money. 15 He made a whip from cords and drove them all out of the Temple grounds, the sheep and cattle as well. He knocked over the money-changers’ tables, scattering their coins; 16 and to the pigeon-sellers he said, “Get these things out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market?” 17 (His talmidim later recalled that the Tanakh says, “Zeal for your house will devour me.” )[John 2:17 Psalm 69:10(9)] 18 So the Judeans confronted him by asking him, “What miraculous sign can you show us to prove you have the right to do all this?” 19 Yeshua answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again.” 20 The Judeans said, “It took 46 years to build this Temple, and you’re going to raise it in three days?” 21 But the “temple” he had spoken of was his body. 22 Therefore, when he was raised from the dead, his talmidim remembered that he had said this, and they trusted in the Tanakh and in what Yeshua had said.
What sign can you show us for doing this? (John 2:18)
If you’ve ever seen a superhero movie, you know that at some point, that hero will have to prove himself. Someone in trouble is going to ask him, “What can you do for us?” Or the villain will say, “Show me what you’ve got.” That’s what makes characters like Spiderman, Batman, and Superman interesting to us. They look like ordinary people, but we love seeing them use their superpowers to get the bad guys!
Of course, the Jewish religious leaders in today’s reading are not villains. But they do want a sign from Jesus to justify his treatment of the money changers. In fact, throughout John’s Gospel these leaders demand signs. But there really isn’t a sign Jesus can do to prove that he has authority over the Temple. That’s because he is the real Temple, the dwelling place of the glory of God! He tries to explain that to them but only proves it later on by rising from the dead.
People are still looking for signs today. Some are lost and searching for God, and some are questioning or perhaps even hostile to faith. The only real sign we can give them is Jesus—just as Jesus himself did back then. And this is something we all can do. Remember: you are a temple of the Lord; he is alive in you through the power of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16). So you just might be the very sign that someone is looking for!
Don’t underestimate how much God can use you to bring people to him. If you are trying your best to stay close to the Lord every day, people are going to notice it—even more than the cross around your neck or the Bible on your desk. They will notice that you’re peaceful when you should be stressed, collected in the midst of chaos, and forgiving when you have every right to be angry. They’ll notice that there is not just something different about you, but someone.
So be at peace; Jesus is at work in you. He is the hero who can really save the day!
“Lord, fill me with the desire to know you and to walk in holiness. I want to be a sign of your presence in this world.” Amen!
Ezekiel 47:1 Then he brought me back to the entrance of the house, and I saw water flowing eastward from under the threshold of the house, for the house faced east. The water flowed down from under the right side of the house, south of the altar. 2 Next he led me out through the north gate and took me around outside to the outer gate, by way of the east gate, where I saw water trickling from the south side.
8 He said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and continues down to the ‘Aravah. When it enters the sea, the sea of stagnant water, [the Dead Sea,] its water will become fresh. 9 When this happens, swarms of all kinds of living creatures will be able to live in it wherever the streams flow; so that there will be a vast number of fish; for this water is flowing there, so that, wherever the river goes, everything will be restored and able to live.
12 On both riverbanks will grow all kinds of trees for food; their leaves will not dry up, nor will their fruit fail. There will be a different kind of fruit each month, because the water flows from the sanctuary, so that this fruit will be edible, and the leaves will have healing properties.”
Psalm 46:2 (1) God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
3 (2) Therefore we are unafraid,
even if the earth gives way,
even if the mountains tumble
into the depths of the sea,
5 (4) There is a river whose streams
gladden the city of God,
the holy habitation of ‘Elyon —
6 (5) God is in the city.
It will not be moved —
when daybreak comes, God will help it.
8 (7) Adonai-Tzva’ot is with us,
our fortress, the God of Ya‘akov. (Selah)
9 (8) Come and see the works of Adonai,
the astounding deeds he has done on the earth.
1 Corinthians 3:9 For we are God’s co-workers; you are God’s field, God’s building. 10 Using the grace God gave me, I laid a foundation, like a skilled master-builder; and another man is building on it. But let each one be careful how he builds. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Yeshua the Messiah.
16 Don’t you know that you people are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? 17 So if anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you yourselves are that temple.
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