The Temple in Misuse

August 9, 2025

​​​Initiate

A video introduction using illustrations, personal stories, metaphors, or active learning examples to begin the discussion.

 

 

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​Interact

After the video, prompts are supplied for thinking and sharing with others personal perception and experience. This opening activity prompts participants to think about and relate to the topic, and to share with others. 

 

 

 

Can you guess what I am?

Here are five ways people use me—though it’s not what I was made for:

  1. Car Unlocker—to unlock a locked car. 
  2. Drain Cleaner—to clean the shower drain to pull out hair clogs.
  3. Campfire Stick—to roast marshmallows or hot dogs over the fire.
  4. TV Antenna Fixer—(for those who might recall the olden days).
  5. Back Scratcher—to reach the unreachable itch.

What am I? (Coat Hanger)

Consider other examples of how things lose their intended purpose:

Jesus witnesses a similar of misuse in the temple, but it has an even deeper meaning.

​Insight

The Bible discussion begins with a careful reading of the whole passage, either from your own Bibles, or from the provided images below.

Then participants are to ask:

  1. What is going on in this passage of Scripture?
  2. What are the key words and phrases? Highlight them.
  3. Why do you think this passage is included in the Bible?
  4. What does it contribute to our “knowing Christ” and “living in Christ”?

 

Download PDF of John 2:13-17

Jesus’ clearing of the temple in John 2:13–17 isn’t a moment of angry impulse but a bold act of cleansing and calling. Passover was meant to center on worship and remembering God’s rescue, but the temple had become a noisy place of buying and selling instead of prayer and praise. The outer courts, designed as a space for Gentiles and all nations to come near, were filled with animals and money changers. Instead of including all, the temple system created layers of distance for women, foreigners, even most men were kept at arm’s length from God’s presence.

Isaiah 56:7 called the temple a “house of prayer for all nations,” but by Jesus’ time, it had become something else (Read Isaiah 56:1-8). So, yes, Jesus made a whip, flipped tables, and scattered coins. His actions might feel disturbing, but they were deeply intentional. He was challenging the way people had blocked God’s grace with greed and exclusion.

How do our worship practices or our “church experience” need a reminder of its intended purpose?

 

​Insight Out

A parting video clip with a personal invitation to apply the message to “knowing Christ” and “living in Christ” in the coming week.

 

 

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