Scripture Scribbles: March 3, 2024

the Gospel

John 2:13-25

Since the Passover of the Jews was near,
Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves, 
as well as the money changers seated there.
He made a whip out of cords
and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen, 
and spilled the coins of the money changers
and overturned their tables, 
and to those who sold doves he said,
“Take these out of here, 
and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.”
His disciples recalled the words of Scripture, 
Zeal for your house will consume me.
At this the Jews answered and said to him,
“What sign can you show us for doing this?”
Jesus answered and said to them, 
“Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.”
The Jews said, 
“This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, 
and you will raise it up in three days?”
But he was speaking about the temple of his body.
Therefore, when he was raised from the dead, 
his disciples remembered that he had said this, 
and they came to believe the Scripture 
and the word Jesus had spoken.

While he was in Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, 
many began to believe in his name 
when they saw the signs he was doing.
But Jesus would not trust himself to them because he knew them all, 
and did not need anyone to testify about human nature.
He himself understood it well.

the devotion

So often, we can’t see what God is doing in our lives until more pieces of His plan have come to pass.

Today, we hear how the Jews were confused by Jesus’s words: “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.”

It wasn’t until much later, after Jesus had been taken from them, horrifically tortured and crucified, laid dead in the tomb, then miraculously rose and appeared to them glorified and Resurrected, that they finally understood these words. 

So much darkness, confusion, despair, betrayal, and heartbreak happened in between. 

Isn’t it wild to ponder this? 

Especially when we connect it to the events of our own lives and the mysterious ways in which God is working – amidst all the chaos, confusion, despair, and heartbreak. Sometimes we wonder: “Lord, where are you in all of this?”

It reminds me vividly of Mark 4:35-41, when Jesus calms the storm. 

Jesus intentionally asks the disciples to get into the boat and cross to the other side. He knows all about the storm that is about to hit. Yet He propels them forward and then proceeds to fall asleep in the stern of the boat. When the storm hits, and the boat begins to sink, the disciples are terrified. They wake Jesus, who is still sleeping, and ask him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”

Isn’t that so us sometimes, in the midst of our storms? “Lord, where are you? Don’t you care that this is falling apart? Don’t you care that we are suffering? Don’t you see this heartbreak? How could a good and loving God allow for such a large and horrific storm?”

I imagine that the disciples felt similar when all hope seemed lost. When their Savior was taken, beaten, crucified, and put to death, they must have wondered, “Lord, do you not care that all of your plans have been wrecked?!”

And yet. In both cases, the disciples are blind to the reality and truth of Who God Is. 

He is the source of all goodness, the One who heals every broken heart, who finds the lost sheep, who cures the ill, who drives out evil, who calms the storm, who raises from the dead.

When Jesus wakes up in the boat, He calms the storm, and then responds to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?”

What a seemingly crazy and unexpected response. Why are we afraid?! Did you see those waves?! Did you see that we were drowning?!

But Jesus is pointing to a much deeper truth, putting his finger right into their lack of faith, their lack of understanding, their lack of trust in God, in His Goodness, in His faithfulness, in His authority, in His plans. 

The truth is, the storm did not take Jesus by surprise. He was not afraid, no matter how big the waves got. He was able to sleep right through the storm, knowing that His loving Father had everything taken care of. 

This is the kind of peace the Lord wishes to miraculously pour into us. A peace that glows in our hearts, even amidst life’s greatest and most perplexing storms. When we truly trust in God, we cannot be shaken by the ways of the world, the circumstances of our life, or the suffering that may come our way. Because we have hope; hope in the One who is Goodness Himself. Hope in the One who makes all things new. Hope in the Savior, the Redeemer of the world. 

It is this kind of hope that allows us to trust in His plans, even when they seem to go against everything we understand in the natural world. 

He has not forgotten you, friend. He sees you in the raging storm. And He invites you to come down into the stern with Him. Surrender all your worries to Him. 

Come lay down and fall asleep.

Today’s devotion is written by Rachel Smith