再次到访耶路撒冷
约翰福音二章12至17节
12这事以后，耶稣与他的母亲、弟兄和门徒都下迦百农去，在那里住了不多几日。
13犹太人的逾越节近了，耶稣就上耶路撒冷去。
14看见殿里有卖牛、羊、鸽子的，并有兑换银钱的人坐在那里。
15耶稣就拿绳子做成鞭子，把牛羊都赶出殿去，倒出兑换银钱之人的银钱，推翻他们的桌子。
16又对卖鸽子的说：“把这些东西拿去！不要将我父的殿当作买卖的地方。”
17他的门徒就想起经上记着说：“我为你的殿，心里焦急，如同火烧。”
信息分享
倘若你曾到过某个庞大的牲畜市场或集市──特别是东方国家的市场──你便能大概想到当天基督在圣殿所见的景象、听见的叫卖声。圣殿怎么会变成市场呢？
答案就是因为图方便及贪婪。一切都是从小处开始的，或许有人提议说：「我们让来敬拜的人们方便些吧！从外地来守节的人，很难赶着牲畜来献祭，我们又不许人用罗马的钱币奉献，所以他们需要兑换犹太人的银钱。」这个建议听来很好，可是，在现实中却会变质。人的贪婪滋长，商人会残酷榨取朝圣者身上的一分一毫。难怪基督称它是「贼窝」。
虽然这一切的开始是为了「方便」，但神的心意却从不要我们的敬拜，变成一件简便的事。基督教信息的核心，正是在于牺牲──重价的牺牲。所以大卫说得好：「我怎可以将白白得来的东西献给主？」
我们还应该看到，他们将圣殿的外邦人院用作市场，但外邦人院的用途，是为了邀请外邦人前来敬拜真神。他们将那里用作市场，便等于表示：「我们不想有外邦人进来，扰乱我们的运作。」今天我们的教会有这种心态吗？
要洁净的不单是圣殿，更是犹太人──特别是犹太人宗教领袖的内心。愿神今天唤醒我们的心，帮助我们省察自己是否用心灵和真理来敬拜祂。究竟有甚么可能阻碍祂在我们里面和祂要透过我们做的工作呢？
ANOTHER VISIT TO JERUSALEM
John 2: 12-17
12 After this He went down to Capernaum, He, His mother, His brothers, and His disciples; and they did not stay there many days.
13 Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
14 And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business.
15 When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables.
16 And He said to those who sold doves, “Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!”
17 Then His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.”
Message
If you have ever been to a large cattle sale or to a huge market place, especially in an eastern country, you will have some idea of the scene Christ saw and the noise He heard in the sanctuary that day. How did all this grow into such a state?
The answer is convenience coupled with greed. It possibly began in a small way. Someone suggested, “Let’s make it easier for the people to worship. Out of town visitors can’t be expected to bring their own animals. And we can’t allow anyone to use Roman money in the temple. They need to change it to Jewish coins.” It all sounded so good but it didn’t stop there. Greed then took over and the dealers exploited the worshippers unmercifully. No wonder Christ called it “a den of thieves”.
It all began with convenience but God has never planned that our worship would be a matter of convenience. Sacrifice, costly sacrifice, has been at the heart of the Christian message. David said it well, “Shall I offer to the Lord that which costs me nothing?”
Here we also need to see this market was held in the court of the Gentiles. Yet that court had been an invitation to the outsider to come and worship the true God. Now it was a market place. That said plainly, “We don’t want any strangers coming in and spoiling what we have.” Are any of our churches saying that today?
The Temple needed cleansing but the hearts of the Jewish people, especially the leaders, needed cleansing even more. May God quicken our conscience today and help us to see how real our worship is or what may be hindering His work in and through us.