What's wrong here?

Have you ever seen a puzzle that asks, "What's wrong with this picture?" You have to look hard at the drawing to see that there's a fish in a tree, someone's glasses are upside down and a dog has wings.

Jesus would have been great at those puzzles. In this week's Gospel (John 2:13-22), He knows right away what's wrong with what He sees at a temple.

Jesus went to the temple (like your church) and couldn't believe what He saw there. People were selling animals and charging others to get in! Jesus got so angry that He tipped over the money tables and threw all the salesmen out of the temple. "This is my Father's house, and you've turned it into a marketplace!" He yelled at them.

When you're working on a picture puzzle, you might miss a few things that are wrong with the drawing. Maybe you see the fish in the tree, but you don't see that the apples on the tree are purple! It's hard to catch everything.

It wasn't hard for Jesus, though. When He saw what was happening at the temple, He knew right away that it was wrong. People weren't supposed to be treating God's house like a store, where they could buy and sell animals! Jesus knew that people shouldn't have to pay to get into the church, either. If they gave money, it was supposed to be because they wanted to, not because they had to.

Picture puzzles are fun at first; but after a while, you get too good at them! You can see all the wrong parts of the picture so fast that the puzzle isn't as much fun any more. Jesus got mad at the people He met because they knew that what they were doing in the temples was wrong, but they kept doing it anyway. Seeing the "picture" of their bad habits wasn't fun for Jesus.

The next time you wonder, "What's wrong with this picture?", ask Jesus. He won't just tell you what's wrong; He knows how to fix it!

PRAYER FOR THE WEEK: Jesus, help me to see what's wrong with all my puzzles -- and what's right! Amen.

(11-06-97) [[In-content Ad]]