Woo wee! I’m worn slap out from celebrating Resurrection Sunday with my Heart of Mesa H.O.M.ies! It took me all of 30 seconds to get in the house and change into my napping clothes. As I type this, my sweetie is chanting, “Sleep. Nap. Sleep. Nap.”

I hope you had a glorious Easter, too, my blog friends. I don’t tell you enough how grateful I am that you take time out of your busy day to visit my little spot on the web. I take the ministry aspect of this blog very seriously. I want every word that’s published on here to point you to Jesus and encourage your heart. Every. Word.

At the Heart of Mesa, we celebrated Resurrection Sunday with a beautiful choir cantata followed by a “quickie” sermon from Pastor Gary. He packed a ton of truth and insight into that quickie sermon!

He took us back to John 2. Last week, he shared about Christ’s first miracle: turning water into wine for a wedding and how He’s there for us now to work miracles in our lives.

This week, we went to verses 13-22:

Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business. When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables. And He said to those who sold doves, “Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!”

Then His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house has eatenMe up.”

So the Jews answered and said to Him, “What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?”

Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

Then the Jews said, “It has taken 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.Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them;and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.

In many artistic representations of Jesus, He is portrayed as being meek and mild, almost gaunt in appearance. But Jesus was no wimp. He didn’t blow His stack every time something got on his nerves, but Jesus did, in fact, get angry, as is shown in these passages.

Let’s examine the text to see what got Jesus so worked up.

When Jesus arrived at the temple, He found a ruckus instead of a place of reverence.

In hopes of making a Passover profit, people took over the outer courts and turned it into a makeshift marketplace.

What I didn’t know is that the outer court was called the “Court of the Gentiles.” This was the only place non-Jews could come to seek intimacy with God.

No wonder Jesus was ticked off! He saw the chaos and knew there was no way anyone could worship God like that.

The court of the Gentiles was full of distraction…and even blatant sin.

Bawling livestock and hollering merchants were everywhere, and greedy, dishonest money changers were swindling people right out in the open with no consequence.

So what did Jesus do? He cleaned house. He whipped up a whip and drove animals and people alike out of the temple court. He overturned the money changers’ tables sending coins rolling in 100 directions. I don’t know about you, but Jesus doesn’t sound very meek and mild here.

“Get your things out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a shopping mall!” (John 2:16 MSG)

 Jesus gets angry when distractions and sin interfere with intimacy with God.

Just as the outer courts were unsuitable for worship, we allow our “temples” to get clogged up with competitive interests.

Some are good things that we can’t eliminate from our lives: family, friends, work, church service.

Some have positive qualities when used correctly: hobbies, volunteerism, social media, exercise.

Even good things, out-of-proportion become distractions and even idols. Anything we ponder and pursue more than our relationship with Christ is a distraction.

Then there are those sins that we can’t seem to kick. The ones we hold onto while saying, “It’s just the way I am.”

A flaring temper. A tendency to overindulge. A propensity to laziness. A collection of grudges. A critical spirit. A craving for approval.

Those are some of mine…you may have others to put on the list.

How can we pursue intimacy with God when we have so many competing interests screaming for our attention? We can’t.

Jesus is angry. He wants our temples to be clear of distraction and sin so we can worship in spirit and truth.

Just as Jesus drove the merchants and money changers from the temple that Passover day, He can clean house in us.

When Jesus brandished that whip and cleared out the temple courts, the Jewish leaders demanded proof of His authority to do such a thing.

I can just picture Him standing there amidst stunned onlookers. Skedattling cattle dust and dove feathers lingered in the air.

They asked, “What credentials can you present to justify this?” Jesus answered, “Tear down this Temple and in three days I’ll put it back together.” (MSG)

The Jews didn’t understand what He meant, but on this Resurrection Sunday, we know! On the third day, He rose!

He kicked sin and death in the teeth when that stone rolled away! He had authority, as God’s son, to drive the riffraff  from the earthly temple, and He has the same authority to drive the distractions and sin out of us.

The same power that raised Christ from the dead is at work in us when we have willing hearts. I want to be able to say with conviction, “I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection.” (Philippians 3:10 NIV)

What about you?

 I keep asking [You, Lord, to]give [us] the Spiritof wisdom and revelation, so that [we] may know [You] better. I pray that the eyes of [our hearts] may be enlightened in order that [we] may know the hope to which [You have] called [us], the riches of [Your] glorious inheritance in [Your] holy people, and [Your] incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength [You] exerted when [You] raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. (Ephesians 1:17-23 NIV) Clean out our temples, Lord! Make us into a place of worship and intimacy with You. Show us what needs changing and what needs permanent eviction from our lives. All for Your glory, Lord and in Your glorious name, AMEN

Do you have distractions that impair Your intimacy with God? Let’s encourage each other! Leave me a comment and you’ll be entered to receive a Clark Crosses car magnet! When you see that magnet on your bumper, let it serve as a monument to the day you asked Jesus to clear the distractions from your temple.

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Happy Easter! Let His resurrection power work miracles in your life!

Yesterday, I spent the whole day cleaning house with Christian music blaring. The premise was to acknowledge the way He made me clean on the Good Friday way back then by cleaning house and allowing Him to clean house in my heart.

It worked. Everywhere I turned, I touched something that made me think of Him.

While organizing the pantry, I found a dusty box containing two bottles of keepsake wine from a Texas vineyard. I threw out old bags of stale crackers, cereal, and croutons. I thought of the passover meal where Jesus said, “Take, eat and drink. This is my body and blood broken and spilled out for you.”

When cleaning out the spice cabinet, I found some ancient balsamic vinegar  that needed to go. As I poured it down the sink, the pungent aroma assaulted my nose. I can imagine the sponge soaked in vinegar burned Christ’s nose and throat and did nothing to quench his desperate thirst.

The hidden vinegar was surrounded by herbs and spices of many kinds. My mind wandered to the weeping women as they gathered the spices needed to prepare Christ’s bloody, bludgeoned body. Oh, the pain, horror, and confusion they must have endured as they waited for the Sabbath to pass. A day of not knowing. A day all hope seemed lost. A day of weeping whys.

I cut my finger on a piece of broken glass in the bottom of the dishwasher. It barely bled and only hurt a second. But Jesus. Jesus bled from head-to-toe. He shed tears of blood. I think His soul bled when our sin smothered out His communion with His Father.

I took some iced tea to my sweetie working in the backyard. As I turned to head back inside, my bare foot was pierced by thorn…one of those round burrs that stick and cling. Hopping on one foot, I yanked the burr out and went on about my day. The crown they crushed on Christ’s head wasn’t made of little burrs; it was made of dagger thorns that stabbed through his scalp and carved “Crucify Him” into his skull.

On hands and knees, I scrubbed the dust-caked corners and baseboards. I thought of Jesus taking on the role of a servant and washing the dusty feet of His disciples. I thought of Peter refusing at first and how I often refuse to allow Christ to do a cleansing work in my dusty heart.

As the day wound down, I drug my sore and weary body to the shower to wash off the funk of the day. At first, my filthy feet left blackened footprints on the shower floor, but as soon I applied some soap and scrubbing, they were clean and pink with life once again. Jesus did that to my heart. Black and dirty with sin, Jesus made me clean and full of new life.

The house cleaning continues on this in-between day. The day after He died and the day before He kicked death in the teeth.

As I fold laundry and dust shelves, my heart will reflect on Christ’s followers waiting in seclusion wondering what would happen to them now that Jesus was dead. I will try to understand them, but it will be difficult. Because I know what they didn’t. I know He rose again. I know He won the victory! I know He is alive!