You're Worth the Fight

Easter is such a wonderful time of celebration. It’s a great time, of course, to enjoy good food and fellowship with other believers. Churches host Easter productions, and we are reminded of the great sacrifice our Savior made for us 2,000 years ago.

This post is for anyone who has ever felt like an outcast. Have you ever felt like you just never fit in? You’ve wondered, Will my dreams ever take off? Will people ever accept me as I am? Maybe even with God, you’ve felt like your sin has counted you out and you’ll never step into what He has for you. Isn’t it the greatest thing when you find your place, your people, and you know they’ve got your back? It’s the greatest feeling. Well, today I am talking to anyone who has ever felt left out before.

As we celebrate Holy Week and look forward to Easter, I want us to look at a very important part of Holy Week that took place in Mark 11. One important part I’m reflecting on is Jesus’ mission to commune with His people, and how He came to clear anything that stood in His way of being with them. We know that He died for us so that the barrier of sin no longer speaks for us. But I want to focus on Jesus clearing the temple in Mark 11:15–26.

The temple in those days was where the presence of the Lord dwelt. I was amazed to find out that there were specific sections where people were to worship. For instance, there was a place called the Women’s Court, where Jewish women were permitted—notice, this was only for Jewish women. The Gentile people (women included) were to worship in an outer court of the temple called the Gentiles’ Court. This is where the infamous scene of Jesus flipping over the money changers’ tables occurred.

"Temple Building"

by HolyLandPhotosBlog via WordPress.com

Think about this: let’s say you had a special place in your home where you go and spend time with God. You have your Bible, highlighters, papers—everything you need to enter into God’s presence. What if you had people come and mess it up, even set up shop in your quiet place? That’s tough to imagine, right? This is what happened to the Gentiles. Money changers—people who bought and sold sacrificial animals—literally set up shop in their “quiet place” of worship. Their place to meet with God was turned into a local supermarket, if you will.

You can imagine God was not happy about this. Not only was their court already some distance from His presence, but now the very place where He longed to meet with them had been turned into a bartering station.

“He began to drive out the people buying and selling animals for sacrifices. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves, and He stopped everyone from using the Temple as a marketplace” (Mark 11:15–16, NLT).

Praise the Lord—He did not care about nationality. In fact, He said, “My Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations…” (Mark 11:17, NLT). Here we can see the Lord standing up for the outcasts, the people who were being taken advantage of. He will do anything to commune with His people and will stop anything that gets in His way.

As Jesus stood up for the outcast Gentiles, He does the same for you and me today. Let that dream rise again. Choose to be kind to yourself and see yourself as worth fighting for—because you are.