And as he taught them, he said, "Is it not written: "'My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations'? But you have made it 'a den of robbers.'" (Mark 11:17)
After driving out the merchants or overturning benches, Jesus told about the essentiality of temple. It is quoted from the Old Testament, Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:11. “My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations" and “Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you?”
A house of prayer and a den of robbers are completely contradictive conception. If a spiritual fellowship occurs at a house of prayer then a den of robbers is ruled by greedy. The word of Jesus to make the holiest place into the ugliest place shocks us mightily.
It is not a high-flown expression but an exact diagnosis for our reality. If we simply understand this word as a warning for the corruption of church then it is embarrassing thing. Though it has such meaning too it says further fundamental something.
It urges us to dismantle our thought about holiness and secular. We like a high position in society and admire those who sit on that place. On the contrary we see a low post bad and look down those who were fallen down. Outwardly we say there is no difference between man and man and even their occupations but inwardly always give a line between them and think, judge and lives like that. This is really great misunderstanding.
It is the same in pastor’s world too. Normally a pastor is called as a sacred occupation. Though an occupation of pastor is distinguished it is exactly same as the occupation of the secular world. In other words, a pastor is nothing different from shoemaker or keysmith. There are tiny differences between a sacred and a secular. Or is the same as both sides of coin. At any moment a sacred becomes a secular and a secular a sacred.
After driving out the merchants or overturning benches, Jesus told about the essentiality of temple. It is quoted from the Old Testament, Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:11. “My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations" and “Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you?”
A house of prayer and a den of robbers are completely contradictive conception. If a spiritual fellowship occurs at a house of prayer then a den of robbers is ruled by greedy. The word of Jesus to make the holiest place into the ugliest place shocks us mightily.
It is not a high-flown expression but an exact diagnosis for our reality. If we simply understand this word as a warning for the corruption of church then it is embarrassing thing. Though it has such meaning too it says further fundamental something.
It urges us to dismantle our thought about holiness and secular. We like a high position in society and admire those who sit on that place. On the contrary we see a low post bad and look down those who were fallen down. Outwardly we say there is no difference between man and man and even their occupations but inwardly always give a line between them and think, judge and lives like that. This is really great misunderstanding.
It is the same in pastor’s world too. Normally a pastor is called as a sacred occupation. Though an occupation of pastor is distinguished it is exactly same as the occupation of the secular world. In other words, a pastor is nothing different from shoemaker or keysmith. There are tiny differences between a sacred and a secular. Or is the same as both sides of coin. At any moment a sacred becomes a secular and a secular a sacred.
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