The Secret of the Cathedral Builders
Jn 2:13-25. The Jewish holiday of Passover was approaching, and Jesus went to Jerusalem.
In the temple courtyard he found sellers of oxen, sheep, and doves, and money changers. Then he made a whip of ropes and drove everyone out of the temple grounds, including the sheep and the oxen.
[media=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xAGyVZ2BBhQ]
He scattered the money of those who exchanged it and overturned their tables. And he commanded the pigeon sellers: "Take all these things out of here, and do not make my Father's house a market place."
The disciples remembered the text of the Scripture: Zeal for your house consumes me. The Jews asked Him, "What sign will you give us that you have the authority to do this?"
Jesus replied, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." The Jews replied, "It took forty-six years to build this temple, and you want to build it in three days?"
But he was talking about the temple of his body. So when He rose from the dead, the disciples remembered that He had said just that, and they believed the Scriptures and the words of Jesus.
While Jesus was in Jerusalem at the Passover, many people believed in His name because they saw the signs He performed. But Jesus did not reveal Himself to them, because He knew everyone.
He also did not need anyone to bear witness to Him about man, because He Himself knew what was hidden in him.
Usually, the sign of the cleansing of the temple is interpreted as a symbol of banishing from our conscience idolatry, which involves great greed. This is true, but if you looked at your life you would see that it is made of fear, anxiety, ambition, greed, lust and pride.
It is impossible to breathe healthily in such a building, its walls are toxic with fungi and therefore everything needs to be demolished. You defend your life plan, but you are not happy in it. Something must be destroyed in order to be rebuilt.
Are you allowing Christ to destroy and drive away your trade with the world? Do you allow Him to destroy your narcissistic beliefs that everything is due to you, that everyone should serve you, and everything should be according to your architectural plans, outlined by egocentric desires?
We complain that our lives are falling apart, that things are not going as we planned, that our egocentric architecture is not being realized. But if something falls apart, it is only because it has an idolatrous foundation.
If your life is in shambles, that's good, because you can finally put the construction in the hands of the carpenter's Son. Disintegration is the result of a false foundation of beliefs.
What do you really think about love? Haven't you imagined that love means constantly forcing others to idolize you and assure you that you are the most wonderful person in the world?
Isn't it true that you care more about other people's opinions than about the Bible? Haven't you convinced yourself that you have to be guided by your heart, i.e. by blind affections that have led you into a trap of hatred, dependence and jealousy?
And your false modesty, wasn't it actually the fear of making decisions and looking at others? What about your idea of perfection? What does it really have to do with evangelical perfection, and perhaps much more with the perfect and neurotic will to subjugate children and spouse, dog and aquarium fish?
Isn't your nobility really a concern for appearances? Or isn't the guise of savings hiding exploitation of others and simple fraud? And your prayers, aren't they orders? Don't you confuse being good with being good only for yourself?
You think you are exceptionally good and honest, but this may only exist in your imagination. Who you think you are must collapse, because it is not the truth, it is just a screen behind which fear, self-hatred and powerlessness are hidden.
There are many questions that cause our life edifice to crack, lashed by the lashes of truth. There are even more answers that give us a chance to rebuild. But they are all in Christ.
If you die with Him, you will also live in the new dwelling of the Spirit. The new edifice of existence is to be built on the words of God, on the Ten Commandments. They will never become outdated.
I am sending an additional comment to donors.
In the temple courtyard he found sellers of oxen, sheep, and doves, and money changers. Then he made a whip of ropes and drove everyone out of the temple grounds, including the sheep and the oxen.
[media=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xAGyVZ2BBhQ]
He scattered the money of those who exchanged it and overturned their tables. And he commanded the pigeon sellers: "Take all these things out of here, and do not make my Father's house a market place."
The disciples remembered the text of the Scripture: Zeal for your house consumes me. The Jews asked Him, "What sign will you give us that you have the authority to do this?"
Jesus replied, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." The Jews replied, "It took forty-six years to build this temple, and you want to build it in three days?"
But he was talking about the temple of his body. So when He rose from the dead, the disciples remembered that He had said just that, and they believed the Scriptures and the words of Jesus.
While Jesus was in Jerusalem at the Passover, many people believed in His name because they saw the signs He performed. But Jesus did not reveal Himself to them, because He knew everyone.
He also did not need anyone to bear witness to Him about man, because He Himself knew what was hidden in him.
Usually, the sign of the cleansing of the temple is interpreted as a symbol of banishing from our conscience idolatry, which involves great greed. This is true, but if you looked at your life you would see that it is made of fear, anxiety, ambition, greed, lust and pride.
It is impossible to breathe healthily in such a building, its walls are toxic with fungi and therefore everything needs to be demolished. You defend your life plan, but you are not happy in it. Something must be destroyed in order to be rebuilt.
Are you allowing Christ to destroy and drive away your trade with the world? Do you allow Him to destroy your narcissistic beliefs that everything is due to you, that everyone should serve you, and everything should be according to your architectural plans, outlined by egocentric desires?
We complain that our lives are falling apart, that things are not going as we planned, that our egocentric architecture is not being realized. But if something falls apart, it is only because it has an idolatrous foundation.
If your life is in shambles, that's good, because you can finally put the construction in the hands of the carpenter's Son. Disintegration is the result of a false foundation of beliefs.
What do you really think about love? Haven't you imagined that love means constantly forcing others to idolize you and assure you that you are the most wonderful person in the world?
Isn't it true that you care more about other people's opinions than about the Bible? Haven't you convinced yourself that you have to be guided by your heart, i.e. by blind affections that have led you into a trap of hatred, dependence and jealousy?
And your false modesty, wasn't it actually the fear of making decisions and looking at others? What about your idea of perfection? What does it really have to do with evangelical perfection, and perhaps much more with the perfect and neurotic will to subjugate children and spouse, dog and aquarium fish?
Isn't your nobility really a concern for appearances? Or isn't the guise of savings hiding exploitation of others and simple fraud? And your prayers, aren't they orders? Don't you confuse being good with being good only for yourself?
You think you are exceptionally good and honest, but this may only exist in your imagination. Who you think you are must collapse, because it is not the truth, it is just a screen behind which fear, self-hatred and powerlessness are hidden.
There are many questions that cause our life edifice to crack, lashed by the lashes of truth. There are even more answers that give us a chance to rebuild. But they are all in Christ.
If you die with Him, you will also live in the new dwelling of the Spirit. The new edifice of existence is to be built on the words of God, on the Ten Commandments. They will never become outdated.
I am sending an additional comment to donors.
