12-14Jesus went straight to the Temple and threw out everyone who had set up shop, buying and selling. He kicked over the tables of loan sharks and the stalls of dove merchants. He quoted this text:
My house was designated a house of prayer;
You have made it a hangout for thieves.
(The Message 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 Eugene H. Peterson by NavPress Publishing)
I always thought it would be cool to have an older brother. I know some of your older brothers were jerks who picked on you mercilessly. But my older brother, the one I imagined, was awesome. He never picked on me and always defended me. I never got an older brother. Until I met Jesus.
Jesus goes into the Temple and he is fighting mad. About what? The bad guys are setting shop on holy ground. The place that God was to meet with His people was wrecked with greed. The special place had become a Walmart. So Jesus my big brother goes in to fight.
Jesus fights to keep a holy place for me and God to meet. He is going to go on fighting all the way to the cross. Fighting for a permanent house for me and the Father to be together. That’s the best older brother I could ever have.

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