Cleanse your Temple

Today’s Gospel Text:  And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, 46 saying to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be a house of prayer'; but you have made it a den of robbers."

47 And he was teaching daily in the temple. The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people sought to destroy him; 48 but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people hung upon his words. Luke 19:45-48

Reflection: His ways are brash and this is nothing but arrogance, what sort of witnessing is this. Who will change or get converted or accept the message of Jesus at such rudeness?

There were merely selling things in the temple and he dares to insult them and seems to call them robbers.

Were those who were selling that bad that they should be referred to as robbers?

Indeed they were robbers, when they robbed that place, the temple, which belonged to God and no good son will tolerate an insult to his father, especially when one robs the glory and honor that the Father enjoys in his rightful place.

The temple was God’s dwelling place and for all ages it shall continue to be so and Jesus by cleansing the temple teaches us about the importance and relevance of the place and how he has to overwork and even make himself look like a bad example in order to retrieve its glory for his Father.

Every individual who accepts Jesus as their Lord and master, invites this same militant Jesus into their hearts and mind, who goes about the task of cleansing with violence driving out those evil spirits and demons who dwell within us like robbers.

In the process he may appear as bad and uncaring of our needs but unless he does it we cannot participate in the wonderful, peaceable life of God. 

He cannot do so unless we fully cooperate with him and his grace and he is able to work in us only in that measure in which we are able to surrender those areas of our lives which requires the cleansing.

Each time we sit in prayer, we acknowledge we are the temple of the Holy Spirit (I Cor. 6: 19-20) and that God dwells in us and that he needs to be allowed to drive away the robbers and thieves who comes only to steal, kill and destroy us through bondages of sin and evil (Jn. 10:10a)          

Prayer:  Lord, how great is your mercy towards us that if we put our confidence in you, you set about the task of cleansing us speedily according to the measure of our faith and surrender to you.

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