March 26: Jesus Drives Money Changers from the Temple
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♫ Music:
Day 41 - Monday, March 26
Title: Jesus Drives Money Changers from the Temple
Scripture: Mark 11:12-25
On the next day, when they had left Bethany, He became hungry. Seeing at a distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if perhaps He would find anything on it; and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” And His disciples were listening. Then they came to Jerusalem. And He entered the temple and began to drive out those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves; and He would not permit anyone to carry merchandise through the temple. And He began to teach and say to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a robbers’ den.” The chief priests and the scribes heard this, and began seeking how to destroy Him; for they were afraid of Him, for the whole crowd was astonished at His teaching. When evening came, they would go out of the city. As they were passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up. Being reminded, Peter said to Him, “Rabbi, look, the fig tree which You cursed has withered.” And Jesus answered saying to them, “Have faith in God. Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you. Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions.
Poetry: A Pun for Al Gelpi
By Jack Kerouac
Jesus got mad one day
at an apricot tree.
He said, “Peter, you
of the Holy See,
Go see if the tree is ripe.”
“The tree is not yet ripe,”
reported back Peter the Rock.
“Then let it wither!”
Jesus wanted an apricot.
In the morning, the tree
had withered,
Like the ear in the agony
of the garden,
Struck down by the sword.
Unready.
What means this parable?
Everybody
better see.
You’re really sipping
When your glass
is always empty.
ONE DEGREE OF SEPARATION
If I’m headed to a destination, and I’m off course by just one degree, I’ll never make it there. After a mile, I’d be off target by 92 feet, which might not seem like a big deal. But if I started in San Francisco and went around the globe, I’d actually end up in either Orange County or Oregon. And if I took SpaceX to the moon, I’d miss it by over 4000 miles – nearly two times the moon’s diameter! That one-degree makes a world of difference.
This is why Mark’s narrative is so important for us today. Jesus’ first act after entering the City of David as the Son of David and rightful Messiah was to head for the temple. He sees the consumerism that’s replaced liturgy, and his first decree as the rightful king is to judge those who’ve turned the house of prayer for all nations into a den of robbers for personal gain. This wasn’t an impulsive, irresponsible outburst of excessive anger, but an intentional, instructive verdict (he even deliberated the night before, vs. 11). This was the result of generations veering off course little by little, and the judgment is not only against present Israel, but what Israel had become over the years.
And this is made clearer by the narrative that sandwiches the account. The fig tree was a common metaphor for Israel in the Old Testament (Ps. 90; Jer. 8, 24; Hos. 9; Joel 1), and it’s significant that the cursed tree is leafed, yet fruitless. It has the semblance of life without being life-giving. The temple is seemingly teeming with life where other nations have gathered for Passover festivities, but it is completely lifeless in its mission to proclaim God’s goodness and effectively reach all peoples. Every generation that veered one degree away from God’s heart resulted in the compromised marriage of the market and church that exchanged other-focused gospel proclamation for self-centered piety.
How then can we make sure we stay on course? Jesus, the true north for our compasses and the true vine in which we bear fruit, provides the answer: we need to have faith in God (vs. 22). We can attempt to align ourselves as best as we can, but what matters is not the precision of our alignment per se, but our faith in the Aligner. And God will calibrate our hearts as we partake in two acts of faith that Jesus delineates. The first act is prayer (vs. 23-24), which develops a partnership with the powerful God who aligns our hearts vertically to Him. The second act is forgiveness (vs. 25), which rightly appreciates the reconciliation that needs to happen with those around us, and aligns our hearts horizontally to our neighbor.
Take a few moments today to ask the Lord where you might need some alignment. Allow the music, art, and poetry to guide your reflection. Where might God be asking you to exercise some faith today?
Prayer:
Many, Lord my God,
are the wonders you have done,
the things you planned for us.
None can compare with you;
were I to speak and tell of your deeds,
they would be too many to declare.
Sacrifice and offering you did not desire—
but my ears you have opened—
burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require.
Then I said, “Here I am, I have come—
it is written about me in the scroll.
I desire to do your will, my God;
your law is within my heart.
Psalm 40:5-8
Mike Ahn
Director of Worship and Formation
Host of The Biola Hour Podcast
Biola University
About the Artwork # 1:
Christ Overturning the Money Changers Tables
Stanley Spencer
1921
Oil on canvas
74 x 59 cm
This image was designed to form the right wing of a triptych in a chapel in Bourne End, Buckinghamshire, England. The left wing was to be St Veronica Unmasking Christ, while the central panel was for the larger painting, Expulsion of the Money Changers, which depicts Christ's cleansing of the temple. The chapel setting had inspired Spencer to consider a triptych format, though the works were never hung together in this manner. This boldly colored composition with limited detail is as brash as the action of Jesus overturning the tables.
About the Artwork # 2:
Expulsion of the Money Changers
Stanley Spencer
1921
Oil on canvas
74 x 60 cm
The reduced detail and strong color of the Expulsion of the Money Changers, also used in Christ Overturning the Money Changers Tables, creates a strong graphic narrative of the story behind the painting. The Christ figure divides the canvas between light and dark, echoing His stand between right and wrong.
About the Artist:
Stanley Spencer (1891–1959) was an English painter. Shortly after leaving the Slade School of Art in London, he became well known for his paintings depicting Biblical scenes, which he set in Cookham, the small village beside the River Thames, where he was born and spent much of his life. Spencer's early work is regarded as a synthesis of French Post-Impressionism, exemplified by Paul Gauguin, plus early Italian painting typified by Giotto. In later life, Spencer remained an independent artist and did not join any of the artistic movements of the period. As his career progressed Spencer often produced landscapes for commercial necessity and the intensity of his early visionary years diminished somewhat while elements of eccentricity came more to the fore. Although his compositions became more claustrophobic and his use of colour less vivid, he maintained an attention to detail in his paintings akin to that of the Pre-Raphaelites.
About the Music:
“Guadamecí” from the album Memoria de los Sentidos
About the Composer/Performer:
Vicente Amigo (b. 1967) is a Spanish Flamenco composer and virtuoso guitarist. He has played as backing guitarist on recordings by Flamenco singers El Pele, Camarón de la Isla, Vicente Soto, Luis de Córdoba, and the rociero band Salmarina. His album Ciudad de las Ideas won the 2001 Latin Grammy for the Best Flamenco Album and the 2002 Ondas award for the best Flamenco work. An admirer of Paco de Lucía, the Spanish virtuoso flamenco guitarist, composer, and producer, since childhood, Amigo took part with him in the show "Leyendas de la Guitarra" (Legends of the Guitar) that was held in Seville.
About the Poet:
Jack Kerouac (1922–1969) was an American novelist and poet of French-Canadian descent. He is considered a literary iconoclast and, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Thematically, his work covers topics such as Catholic spirituality, jazz, Buddhism, drugs, poverty, and travel. He became an underground celebrity and, with other Beats, a progenitor of the Hippie Movement, although he remained antagonistic toward some of its more politically radical elements. Since his death, Kerouac's literary prestige has grown, and several previously unseen works have been published. Kerouac's internal struggle to reconcile his Buddhist and Catholic beliefs, and his ultimate attempt to embrace Catholicism, had a profound effect on his writing, giving it the religiously tumultuous charge that is essential to Kerouac's distinctive writing style.
About the Devotional Writer:
Mike Ahn (Talbot ’09; Twitter: @mikeyahn) oversees Biola’s more right-brained chapel expressions including the worship teams, Singspiration, The Biola Hour, and Image of God chapels. He also serves on the Pastoral Care team. Prior to working at Biola, Mike was a high school teacher/chaplain and local church pastor for 10 years. He and his wife, Mary, have two young children, Zoe and Zane.