Jesus speaks in your hearing today, saying,
“‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’”
Whenever we begin to talk about
prayer, the question is never “what shall we pray”, but “does prayer change
things”. We want to know if what we do makes any difference. We want to know
that if we do something for God, that He’s going to be sure and pay us back.
In this vein of thought, we
conclude almost immediately that prayer is not worth the time. Not only does it
appear as if God does nothing, but also that prayer doesn’t change things. God
knows everything ,after-all, so why would He change His mind for something like
a prayer, since He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow? (Num. 23:19;
Heb. 13:8)
When we think like that, we become
philosophers instead of Christians, and philosophers always doubt God.
Therefore, when today’s Gospel confronts us with an entire house dedicated to
prayer, we simply take it as a spiritual house with a metaphorical meaning,
telling ourselves that we can pray just by breathing, and forget the entire
thing right after the Divine Service.
Yet, plain as day, Jesus accuses
us of turning His House of prayer into a den of robbers. The quick answer is,
yes, prayer changes things, so don’t stop praying. The long answer is worth
exploring and has to do with what a House of Prayer has to do with a Den of
Robbers.
In the first case, we see an
obvious contrast. In a house, the word itself conveys a place of comfort and
giving; a home, if you will. That in a house you keep all of your valuables,
not just material wealth, but family as well. So, this house is a house of
giving as opposed to the robber, who only takes.
On a deeper note, Jesus uses some
Hebrew phrasing here. I mean, it is the Hebrew language that calls things
“house of” something, in this case Jesus says “Beth-teplah”. You are already an
expert in this, because you are familiar with its usage every time Christmas
rolls around. It is at that time we hear the word “Bethlehem ”, which is Hebrew for “house of
bread”. In this case, Beth-teplah is “house of prayer”.
Now, while there is a lot going on
in Jesus’ choice of names here, for today it is enough to say that Jesus
marries Himself very close to this house business, in that not only does He
build it Himself, but is then the very House of Prayer that is destroyed and
three days later rises, never to die again. Such is the force of the phrase
“house of prayer”.
Compare that to a Den of Robbers.
To translate this word as “den” is very politically correct, but in the Old
Testament, it is never used as a description of an animal’s house, nor even of
a secluded place of refuge, such as a den in a house. It is used to describe a
cave, but not just any cave, a cave where one buries the dead, such as what
Abraham does with his wife Sarah in Genesis 23 which says, “After this,
Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah east of
Mamre (that is, Hebron ) in the land of Canaan
So it is, that these robbers that
Jesus comes to drive out with a whip of cords are not just swindling people out
of their money and possessions, but also depriving them of life. This is why
Jeremiah says, “Many [pastors] have destroyed my [people]” from chapter
12 (v.10). It is in chapter 7 where Jesus first said that His house has been
made into a cave of robbers.
Jesus is not just getting angry at
poor, unfortunate money-changers and entrepreneurs. He is diving down into the
depths of cave and den to root and ferret out, not just those who would preach
and teach contrary to the Word, to seek and find you in your sin.
Jesus ransacks death and hell to
find you and raise you to new life. Jesus is the Robber of body and soul from
the power of the devil. His suffering and death are now the things that make
for peace or at least any peace worth having in this world.
Thus when the prophet Jeremiah
speaks of men falling and rising, in our Old Testament reading; when he talks
of the wise being put to shame, rejecting the Word, he is prophesying the
crucifixion of Jesus.
If there is no house built, there
is no prayer. If the house is a den or cemetery, then there is no prayer. Since
the Temple of God
“Christ Jesus is He who died,
yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also
intercedes for us.” (Rom. 8:34) Pray is
one of the things that Jesus repeatedly does, before His death. He prays with
His family, His friends. He prays for those who persecute Him and He prays for
His enemies, because it was His enemies that put Him to death and we were one
of them.
“He always lives to make
intercession for them.” (Heb. 7:25) It is
Jesus Who prays. It is Jesus’ words that make the difference. It is Jesus’
prayer that the Father hears, answers, and gives whatever He asks. “He
offers up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One
able to save from death, and He is heard because of His godliness.” (Heb. 5:7)
His prayer brings us from death to
life; from the grave of robbers, to the House of God. And this House is a Man,
the God-man, Who prays for us and teaches us to pray. If our Lord and Savior
finds it in His infinite wisdom to pray, should not we take a measly few
minutes out of our day and pray? Not only that but also teach our children as
well?
Such is what God leaves us
concerning prayer, but there is more about this Robber-God-man Who saves us.
For it is not by our prayers that we are saved, but by His actions. You would
think that a House of Prayer would be silent in order to allow those present to
communicate properly with God. However, this house of prayer of God’s is never
silent or inactive.
Daily was Jesus teaching in the Temple , so were many
others. Jesus prayed in the Temple .
So did many others. From sacrifices required for new births, new jobs, and
everything else, the Temple
was a regular festival practically everyday. Divine Service was offered every
day. Prayer services 7 times a day. Pilgrims were a constant flow in and out.
The air was heavy with the scent of blood and sacrifices. People being baptized
and judged.
There was a joyful noise then and
there is a joyful noise today. Then was the hope of the Robber-Messiah yet to
come. Today is the hope of Him coming again. Thus, we are brought into this
hope and this House-Who-is-a-Man through baptism. Dressing properly is a
requirement and the dress code is Christ. We must put Him on before entering.
Jesus cleanses us that we may
enter into His presence. Jesus clothes us with His righteousness, that our
prayers might be heard (Prov. 15:29). Not only does He make us and our prayer
righteous, but He gives us the words to pray. Not only does He give us the
words to pray, but He even sanctifies mouth, tongue, and heart with His true
Body and true Blood, taken to eat and drink.
So it is today, that you find
yourself in this House of Prayer. Where Divine Service is offered and where
lives are lived together. Real people come to this House so a real life must be
given to live, not just an imaginary one.
Just as the people of Jesus’ time
encountered flesh and blood on account of their prayers, so the same thing
happens to you today. Though the sacrifices have ended, we remember the one,
true sacrifice. We even retain the ruckus as God’s Word is never silent and
neither are our prayers. God will continue to make noise in preaching and
teaching so that even this house may be called a House of Prayer.
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