Jesuscraft

7.31.2011

John 2:15-16 15 So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!”

What a curious sight – Jesus making a whip. Hey Lord, whatcha doin? Something that shoulda been done a long time ago. Whoa! Jesus! Dude, what you planning on doin’ wit’ dat!? C’mon! We’re going to the Temple, you’ll see…

I read a commentary that said the whip Jesus made wasn’t really a whip but a symbol to the people in the Temple that what they were doing was wrong. Okay, whatever. I tend to think it was really a whip and Jesus really used it – it really got results; start swinging a whip around and people tend to get out of the way… You see, if we tame down the whip we might tend to tame down the overturning the tables and the yelling and chaos that ensued. Jesus was very insulted that the Temple – the Footstool of the Lord – was being used so disrespectfully. Their religion had become a circus sideshow complete with ponies!

Jesus was good at crafting things. John 1.3 says, Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. John 1.10 says, He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. And to think that He showed up at the Temple that day with a symbolic whip…I don’t think so! The Creator of the universe crafted up a real whip and chased a real crowd out of the real Temple to make a real point: all of this animal buying and money-exchanging was a load of crap and He wasn’t going to passively sit by and let it happen anymore. Enough! Jesuscraft.

Sometimes I think it’s important for us to think about what led up to some (or all) of the events of Scripture. God never intended for us to live such weird lives and do such weird things under the label of: In His Name. Just because we call it, In His Name, doesn’t mean it is. Most of our religion seems to be the result of peoplecraft, not Jesuscraft. What gets people all fired up is when the Creator of the Universe starts swinging a whip around…watch out, that thing hurts!

Makes me want to take inventory of my life and ask, Lord Jesus, what am I doing that isn’t of You; and how do I stop it (short of You beating me with a whip)? Jesus by His Spirit now calls me a Temple and if that’s the case, I should live accordingly lest He craft up something to make me quit using His Father’s property improperly. It’s worth thinking about…