John

Check out all the previous John readings here.

John Reading Plan | Week 2, Day 3

Prayer

Pause for a moment of quiet and stillness. To center yourself fully, take a deep breath in and exhale slowly. Repeat this process three times. Ask God to open your eyes to the amazing truths in His word today.

Bible Reading: John 2:13-17

Read these verses three times slowly.

When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

Reflection & Questions

At one of the pinnacle moments in the Jewish calendar (the passover), Jesus heads to the central city for the Jewish faith (Jerusalem), to the most important place of worship (the temple) and what does he find? Does He find worshippers? Does He find prayer? Does He find faith? Surely at this most auspicious place and such a sacred moment He would find the most holy people. But instead, “He found people selling cattle, sheep and doves and others sitting at tables exchanging money.” Rather than a place of worship and prayer, the temple had become a place of making money. Rather than a place of generosity and sacrifice, it had become a place of greed and thinking of “me, myself and I.” Jesus’ anger is righteous. He is jealous for His Father’s glory and zealous for His Father’s house. There is no longer a temple in Jerusalem. It was destroyed in AD 66. This was by God’s design, because as Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 that we are now “the temple of the Holy Spirit.” Given that, it is worth stopping and considering. As Jesus comes close to us, His temple, what does He find in us?

As you consider yourself to be the temple of the Holy Spirit, what do you need to clear out of your heart? What do you need to do more of? Ask God to reveal that to you.

Prayer

Talk to God in response to today’s reading.

Worship Song

You might use this song today to worship Jesus today:

Check out more Bible Reading Plans here.

Questions?

Ed Applegate