House of prayer
nd he taught, saying unto them, is it not written, my house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves.” Mark 11:17 Of all the prayers made in the temple, I believe that none is so intriguing and revealing as the prayers made by the Pharisee and the publican. In our text verse, we have an example of Jesus' zeal for the house of God. He made a whip and evacuated the merchants from God's house with anger and great force. However, in one of His parables, Jesus seems to allow the Pharisee and the publican a fair show of what each of them was truly about in the secret places of their own hearts. And they did so publicly, in the temple.
In Jesus parable, we have a Pharisee who by his own confession and admission, was a decently good man. He was not an adulterer, a thief or unjust. Furthermore, he fasted twice in the week and gave tithes of all that he possessed. And then we have the publican…yes, the vile, putrid, nasty, sinful publican. Oh, was he a disgusting sight to behold! Just the sight of this sinful man in the temple would have been enough to make any Christian's stomach turn. How did he manage to make it past the guards of the temple doors? Somebody either slipped up, or God had a plan for this publican. Maybe God made a way for this publican to make it past the safeguards of the temple because He wanted to hear this sinner's confession. Or maybe, just maybe, Jesus was trying to prove that God's house must be called of all nations, the house of prayer. Not a den of thieves, nor a place where the most “dedicated” Christians could go and display their best behavior for all the world to see. Just a place where needy sinners could go and communicate with their Creator.
Oh yes, even sinners like the vile and detestable publican have a Creator. And believe it or not, their Creator knows them by name, and He is very aware of their need for His mercy, love, grace, forgiveness, blessings and unconditional acceptance. The fact that Jesus said that His house will be called of all nations THE house of prayer, tells me one thing loud and clear…
…Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.