Jesus came to save us, to save me

John 2

Cleaning house

“13 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15 So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, 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! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” 17 His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”’

Seeking God. It brings a lot of people. Back in the day in order to meet with God you had to bring an offering. An animal offering. If you didn’t have one you had to buy one but you couldn’t buy it with regular money. You had to use temple money so first you would exchange your money for temple money. A small(ish) service fee would apply. This was the system. It had the potential to be abused and it was. People who came from all over to seek God in his temple had to first be fleeced by the market on the front steps.

It’s not meeting with God that’s the problem. It’s the greed in the hearts of men. Always looking for a way to get a little bit more.

“The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”

19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”

20 They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” 21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body. 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.”

The cross was always in the plan. Jesus knew what he had come for and how it would end. It wasn’t a surprise. Jesus knew how wicked men are and had come to take care of them, all of them. He would die for all men. He would die for me. Jesus died for me, for my sin. He paid for the evil in my heart.

“Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name.[d] 24 But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. 25 He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person.”

Thank you Jesus for knowing what’s in my heart and dying to pay for the sins hidden there anyway.