Follow the Money; John 2:13-22

Jesus was not opposed to violence. He was opposed to injustice. It is unjust for any church or clergyman to interest themselves in making money because they will end up using people instead of ministering to them. Like the pyramids were built on the backs of slaves, so Saint Peter’s Basilica was built on the backs of the impoverished. Jesus sees religious leaders building their religious kingdom on the backs of people trying to honor God’s Law.

There is something to be said about churches that prioritize their buildings, budgets, and programs over people. Even if there are good people in the church, Christ actively stands against us if we idolize our material possessions and focus on those things. His church, like the Temple, is to be a house of prayer, not profit or even savings. We can either worship God or mammon, but we cannot have two masters. This doesn’t stop many modern-day local churches from trying to balance ministry in one hand and business in the other. According to Jesus, we always end up loving one and hating the other (cf. Matthew 6:24).

Instead of recognizing their error, some leading Jews asked for Jesus to provide a sign of His authority. Who do you think you are to come in here and tell us how to do things?

Jesus simply said He would rebuild the Temple in three days if it were torn down. Those Jews’ entire way of life would end in AD 70 when Titus raised the Temple. Jesus, the true Temple, would die and be raised to life within three days.

The resurrection is Jesus’s proof of His own position and authority. At His resurrection, His disciples believed. Because of His resurrection, we can all believe. Our religion can be pure and undefiled. We can worship God rather than mammon. Where our hearts are, there our treasure is also. For those looking for a healthy church home, I encourage you to look at the church’s spending. Spending habits say a lot about the heart of a church. Saving and hoarding habits also say a lot about the heart of a church. We can also investigate how churches make money and how staff-members are paid. The budget and actual spending reveals more about the cares of a church than any other document, website, sermon, or any program. On a personal level, our earning and spending habits reveal a lot about what we love as well. Time to examine ourselves.

The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables; and to those who were selling the doves He said, “Take these things away; stop making My Father’s house a place of business.” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house will consume me.” The Jews then said to Him, “What sign do You show us as your authority for doing these things?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” But He was speaking of the temple of His body. So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken (John 2:13-22).