THIS MORNING, Father lead me right back to the story of the money changers in Mark 11.  I asked Him “Is there more?”  He showed me 3 things.

1.

Not only did Jesus cast out the money changers from the temple, but He forbid anyone to carry a vessel in the temple.  That’s interesting if we remember to think of the temple as our heart and as the dwelling place of our God.  I was personally checked by this revelation since I’ve been carrying some things about our finances and the sale of our home.  Those “vessels” were weighing me down and stealing my joy.  So the point of that verse was not just advice, but rather the importance of Jesus FORBIDDING the carrying of vessels in the temple.  Hmmm.

 

2.

Jesus went to the temple the day before, just to look around.  Mark 11:11.  He entered the temple and looked around at all things.  It doesn’t say he pondered or assessed the situation, but later He calls them thieves.  We assume there was dishonest money changing going on.  But history states that the money changing in the temple was carefully regulated and watched by the priests.  No interest was allowed to be charged inside the temple grounds.  However there was a fee assessed for exchanging currency.  Were their rates so high that Jesus called it thievery?

Whether their rates were considered fair or high, doesn’t truly seem to be a cause for the “thief” label after all, because in the parable of the wages, Jesus said the landowner had the right to pay whatever he offered and was agreed upon. So rates don’t seem to be a problem with Jesus as long as they are agreed upon.

Weren’t the money changers a legitimate business able to charge whatever they choose?  Sure maybe the rates were exorbitant in the temple just the same as they are at a concert, or fun park. However, there are other money changers in other places where people could get a better deal if they were so inclined.

I don’t think Jesus called them thieves because of their rates.  I think He called them thieves solely because they were inside the temple.  This is the place of prayer, He points out.

Being a place of prayer, it would be a place where people’s hearts were wide open and exposed.  They are not being guarded toward businessmen as they would be in the marketplace.

With an open heart, and emotions running over, people sometimes want to give God everything they own.  I’m not saying that is a bad thing.  But having the money changers so readily available is unfair advantage.  This is taking business to a new level of enormous profit.  This is not a fairly agreed-upon situation of trade made by two people whose minds are focused on business but rather this is one person with an open heart and one person with a business focus.

Isn’t this the same situation in our current day “church-lead” political issues?

Remember the temple is your heart – not the church.  However, when those issues are presented to you in the place where you open your heart, then you’ll leave church with that issue burning in your heart and carry it  inside as a vessel weighing heavy on your soul bleeding your peace and joy.  Issues that bleed us and weigh heavy in our hearts deny the power of God.   Carrying the weight of the world in our heart is FORBIDDEN because it’s carrying a burden we work hard to change through our own efforts.  Amazingly, not very much truly changes with this approach.

In the Kingdom, we learn to change the world by becoming Sons with dominion and power.  We learn to focus on that power which Father freely gives us.  We become worshipers understanding the presence.  We carry Authority, Presence, and Power not hearts/vessels full of issues/causes.

In my previous article I pointed out there were piles and piles of money at the bottom of the “causes”.  Just as the money changers had piles and piles of money at the bottom of their “cause”.  Even though we should open our eyes and stop emptying our pockets to “church-based causes” – it is not the main issue.

The main issue is the condition of our heart as a result of letting them become thieves of our peace and joy by doing business inside our temple – the place where our heart is open and exposed – the place where we are vulnerable.

Those “causes” are businesses.  They have to be to survive.  They belong in the marketplace where we can accurately judge whether or not to give to them.

3.

Jesus had one more trip into the temple in this chapter.  Beginning in verse 27 He has a chat with the priests, scribes and elders about the subject of “Authority”.  I noticed Jesus was very elusive in this discussion.  He never answered them.  I believe that’s because they didn’t answer His question correctly – the one that determined whether their hearts knew Father intimately.  Without that intimacy of relationship, they would not understand the answer to His question and they would especially not understand the Authority Father gives.

This is the ultimate solution to the thieves.  Authority.  When we understand and operate in our Authority as Sons, the thieves will not find a place inside our temples/hearts and they will become obsolete.