My House Shall Be Called A House of Prayer.
This scene comes during the Palm Sunday entry into Jerusalem. After Jesus comes riding into the city with everyone cheering and singing praises there is this little verse where Jesus goes into the Temple and looks around.
Verses:12-14 He curses the fig tree and a few verses later we see that the tree has died.
• First, I believe that there is a metaphor between the fig tree not having any fruit and what Jesus saw in the Temple the day before.
• Second, Jesus is teaching the disciples a lesson about faith filled prayer.
Verses 15-16 Jesus now enters the Temple again. But this time He has a plan,
• He begins driving out the merchants.
• What is the problem with the merchants?
o Briefly: They were preventing people from worshiping.
o They were charging exorbitant prices.
o The Temple had become more about the business than worship and prayer.
Verse 17 Then He says that, “My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.”
• This is a quote from Isa 56:7
o This passage in Isa has a heading and a topic of “Salvation for Others.”
First, that the Lord’s house will be a house of Prayer.
Second, The Lord is making a way for other nations to come to Him.
o Back in Mark And the den of robbers is a quote from Jer 7:11
The prophet Jeremiah was warning against what he called false religion.
• When God says house of prayer, he means the essence of the Lord’s house is to be prayer.
o And the subsequent fruit. Prayer always bears fruit.
Then the next part of the quote is “For all nations”
• Because God is a God of all nations, His house is to be a house for all nations.
o The church is to be a church for all nations.
Verse 17 continues “But you have made it a den of robbers”
• Jesus’ teaching or admonition then turns to that quote from Jer.7:11
• The topic or heading in that passage in Jer is “False Religion is Worthless”
• The people in the Temple of Jesus’ day had made it about religious practice.
o But it certainly wasn’t about prayer and true worship.
• It could be really easy today for any church or leader to fall into that same trap.