Mark 11:12-25
Have
you ever gone back to a place and found it very different from what it was
before? You have memories of the place, but when you arrive, it is nothing like
your memory. You wonder if your mind could have been playing games with you. Or
maybe you have the wrong place. Or maybe your mind attached the wrong images to
the right location. Puzzling!
Sometimes
we remember a person a certain way, and then when we see them again, they seem
totally different: different personality, looks, and attitude. And you wonder
what happened to that other person. You wonder how they could have changed that
much in such a short time.
Jesus
is on His final visit to Jerusalem, at least His final visit for a few thousand
years. He has been welcomed by a very large crowd, proclaiming Him the promised
deliverer, the Messiah. But His initial foray into the city is late in the day,
so He returns to His lodging for the night. The city and its surrounding towns
are filled with Passover Festival visitors, pilgrims, if you will. They will
all travel into Jerusalem each day and then out after the day’s activities.
Jesus does the same.
Our
text tells us of three of these journeys, two into the city and one out of the
city. Morning, evening, morning. And during that day Jesus declares with His
actions that Jerusalem has lost its ability to be fruitful. The Temple area is
so filled with commercial enterprises that the sacred activity of prayer can’t
happen. The central activity the Temple was designed to protect is the very
thing it can no longer practice. Prayer, and the resultant repentance and
sacrifices, was the activity of the Temple. Without prayer, the Temple might as
well cease to exist.
Jesus
engages in some activity that flies in the face of the “meek and mild” image so
many have of Jesus. He is downright violent. He could be charged with
destruction of personal property, disturbing the peace. His anger rages. Sounds
like He is starting a riot.
But
He is not out of control. His actions match His words. His actions raise the
volume on His concern for the spiritual state of the Jews, and of the world.
Something must be done. Complacency can’t continue. There has to be a change.
I
wonder if Jesus were to wander through our days, would He see our activities
and declare us unfruitful? Would He notify us that our lives have lost their
purpose, their eternal direction? Would He knock the activities and turn over
our tables?