Den of Thieves - The Gospels

In this Bible Story, Jesus is making his way to Jerusalem, the place where he would make his final sacrifice. There, he tells several parables. He makes a fig tree wither, flipps over the tables of corrupt money changers in the temple and tells a parable about a landowner whose son is killed. This story is inspired by Mark 11:12-25; 12:1-12. Go to BibleinaYear.com and learn the Bible in a Year.

Today's Bible verse is Mark 11:17 from the King James Version.

Episode 207: As Jesus and His disciples walked into the temple gates, He saw once again a marketplace set up where the nations were meant to worship. Once again, man's greed was getting in the way of true worship. Jesus, furious at this corruption of what was supposed to be holy, cleansed the temple and kicked out the greedy. On the way back to Bethany, the disciples saw a fig tree that Jesus had cursed earlier that day. While there, Jesus gives them a lesson on prayer and us a lesson on looking healthy on the outside but being dead inside.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let us pray, and he taught saying unto them. Is
it not written my house shall be called of all
nations the house of prayer, But ye have made it
a den of thieves. Mark eleven seventeen. As the truth
of Mark eleven and twelve hits my soul. May it

(00:21):
serve as a reminder to never allow my life to
be as a fake tree. Never allow my life to
have the appearance of godliness and the appearance of obedience,
when in reality there is no fruit of it in
my life. At this moment, I am making the conscious
choice to allow my words and my actions to remain

(00:46):
in alignment. Give me the boldness to stand up for
righteousness like Jesus in the temple court yard, to oppose
anything and everything that is counter cultural to the word
of God. Let me speak with the authority of Heaven
behind me, Let me speak with the love of Jesus

(01:07):
within me, and let me speak with a caring heart
to restore people back to the rightful place. With you, God,
I decree and declare that I will not be intimidated
nor silenced by those who give the appearance that they
are in power, but who are corrupt in heart and deed.

(01:28):
From this moment on, I will live with a full
assurance that whatever I speak in your name, I will
be able to receive it, because I live in direct
obedience to you and your word in Jesus name. Amen,

(01:50):
thank you for praying with us to day. Continue your
time with God by listening to to day's Bible story
brought to you by Bible in a Year dot.

Speaker 2 (01:59):
Com Den of Thieves. In our last story, we learned
about the triumphal entry of Jesus. People made way for
Jesus to take over as king of Israel. However, Jesus

(02:19):
was not the king they expected. They expected him to
sit on a throne and overthrow Rome. However, Jesus was
coming to hang on a cross and overthrow Sin. Now
we see Jesus rebuking the things that outwardly look holy
but are filled with corruption and greed. Inspired by the Gospels.

Speaker 3 (02:42):
Hello, I'm Jack Graham with today's episode of the Bible
in a Year podcast. But before we began, I want
to let you know about a unique ebook that's yours
to download absolutely free today. It's called Breaking Free from Stress,
and my prayer is that it will help you conquer
the daily ask and pressures and burdens that bring stress

(03:02):
in your life. Download your free copy of Breaking Free
from Stress today by visiting Jack Graham dot org slash stress.
That's Jack Graham dot org slash stress. In our last episode,
we heard how Jesus was anointed by Mary in a
generous act of worship that foreshadowed his coming death. We

(03:24):
also heard how Jesus entered Jerusalem to much jubilation and
celebration before a crowd who sought a military conqueror, a
king who would throw off the rule of Rome. But
this crowd missed Jesus' true purpose. He came not as
a conquering king the first time, but as the suffering
savior to give his life for us on the cross,

(03:45):
to die and to rise again on the third day.
This is the message of the Gospel. It's why Jesus came. Today,
we're going to hear Jesus calling out those who have
an appearance of righteousness, but in their self righteousness they
are far from God God. So let's listen now to
the reading of God's word.

Speaker 2 (04:05):
After Jesus had entered the city of Jerusalem, he was
walking with his followers from Bethany. The sun was high
in the sky, and the day was long and drawn out.
Jesus saw a fig tree in the distance and walked
to it so he might have a snack. As he
drew closer to the fig tree, he saw that it
had no fruit. Its leaves were deep green, and its

(04:27):
branches were healthy, but there was no fruit. Jesus looked
at the tree for a long moment. He scanned its
branches and leaves. Then he whispered, may no one ever
eat fruit from you again? And then he walked off.
They walked to the temple. Even from a half mile away,
the ground shook from the crowds gathered at the temple.

(04:49):
The disciples could hear the sound of the money changers
and vendors growing louder. They looked at Jesus. They could
see intent in his eyes. They had seen this type
of anger before. Jesus was about to do another cleansing.
He marched through the temple gates and walked up its steps.
Jesus looked at an entire market place set up in

(05:10):
the only place gentiles could come in worship. Jesus teemed
with righteous anger. They sold only the temple animals for sacrifice,
keeping the poor from worshiping. They only took a special
temple currency, which made the priests money. Once again, men
were keeping people from worshiping God with their greed. Jesus

(05:31):
wasted no time making a whip like he did last time. Instead,
the Son of God leaped into the fray of vendors
and flipped over their tables. Jesus displayed an intense strength
as he lifted stone altars onto their sides. He went
to the table where the money was being changed and
flung its wooden frame against the temple walls. Jesus saw
that some men were trying to bring their items into

(05:53):
the temple. Jesus seized their bags and tossed them aside,
forbidding them to enter God's holy house with greedy hands.
The whole temple courtyard stirred, and they all looked upon
Jesus with fear, respect, and wonder. Jesus's chest heaved with
anger as he walked up the temple steps. He looked
out into the crowd and yelled, Is it not written

(06:15):
that this place should be a place where all are
welcome to connect with God? It is supposed to be
a house of prayer and love for all nations, poor
and rich alike. Jesus looked to the Pharisees who watched
him from the corner. He looked them dead in the
eye and said, but you have turned it into a
den of thieves. The chief priest and his men watched

(06:37):
from the lattice of their upper prayer room. They watched
Jesus inspired the crowd with wonder and authority.

Speaker 1 (06:43):
They hated him.

Speaker 2 (06:45):
They could not stand the truth he spoke. His words
challenged their traditions, his actions challenged their authority. They feared him,
and when evening came, they conspired against him. Morning dawned
and the light shone over Jerusalem like golden arrows. Jesus
walked with his disciples in the coolness of the morning.

(07:05):
They went back to Bethany to eat and pray. As
they passed by, they saw the same fig tree Jesus
had cursed the day before. It had withered and died.
Its once green leaves were brown and falling into the dust.
Peter noticed this first and said, Rabbi, look at the tree.
It has dyed. Jesus nodded and pointed it out to

(07:27):
his followers. Have faith in God, my friends, pray to
him with conviction and confidence in his goodness. Whoever says
to a mountain move, we'll see it move only do
not be double minded. Believe in what you have received,
and when you pray, make sure to also forgive others.
Jesus and his disciples walked away from the tree, but

(07:48):
Peter looked back to observe it once more. In many ways,
the brown leaves were the true representation of what the
tree really was. It bore no fruit, so it might
as well have been dead. For many people may look
outwardly alive, but within they are dead and bear no fruit.

Speaker 3 (08:09):
As we begin today, Jesus is walking with his followers
outside of Jerusalem in Bethany. He was hungry, so he
approached a fig tree, and from a distance the tree
looked healthy with leaves that covered the branches, but upon
closer inspection, the tree had no fruit. Jesus spoke to
the tree, saying, may no fruit ever come from you again.

(08:31):
Jesus once again entered Jerusalem, just as he had before.
The temple was infested with greedy, dishonest money changers and
merchants who were in effect con artists, cheating the people.
This angered the Lord. God's house was intended to be
a place of prayer, a place where people could find forgiveness.
But rather than helping people worship God by selling animals

(08:55):
for sacrifices at reasonable prices, these merchants were taking advantage
of those who came to seek God. We should never
presume that the gentleness of Christ, the kindness of Christ,
is equal to weakness or permissiveness, and today's reading is
a clear example of this. Seeing the wickedness and greed

(09:15):
on display in the temple courts, Jesus rushed into the
temple and began overturning tables and driving out the money changers.
He would fiercely protect the house of his father. And
in Mark eleventh, seventeen to eighteen, here's what we read.
And he was teaching them and saying to them, is
it not written my house shall be called a house

(09:35):
of prayer for all the nations, But you have made
it a den of robbers. And the chief priest and
the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to
destroy him, for they feared him because all the crowd
was astonished at his teaching God's house. God's temple is
to be a place for all the nations. Yes, Israel
had a special part in God's plan, but his desire

(09:59):
is that all would know him and worship him and
seek him. The good news of Jesus Christ is for
all people of all nations, that includes our neighbors and
the nations of the world. Just as Israel was meant
to point the nations to God, we also are to
point others to Jesus. Because we are his witnesses and

(10:19):
because we have experienced his love and grace in our lives,
we want to tell this good news to others. We
want everyone we know, and even people we don't know,
to know who Jesus is and how to find salvation
in him. The Pharisees and other religious leaders watched on
as Jesus taught the people. They were afraid of his power,

(10:41):
and so they hated him. So they amped up their
efforts to get rid of him and begins conspiring to
have him killed. The next day, is the disciples and
Jesus walked back along the countryside. They saw the fig
tree that Jesus had cursed. It did not look like
the healthy tree full of leaves that they seen before.
Its branches withered and the leaves had turned brown and died.

(11:05):
Peter noticed it and pointed it out in surprise. Despite
all they had seen Jesus do, they were still amazed
by his power to do anything he chose to do.
Jesus replied to Peter and the others that they must
have faith in God and not doubt. Their faith would
enable them to do even greater things that Jesus was doing.
And because we can do it together in the power

(11:27):
of the Holy Spirit. God does great things and even
greater things through us the disciples and all of us
can move mountains by faith when we pray and trust
in a God, the Savior, who can do anything. Dear Lord,
we know that our bodies are the temple of the
Holy Spirit according to the scriptures, and that you want

(11:48):
the temples to be cleaned our temples, So Lord, remove
anything in our lives, Drive out anything in our lives
that is dishonoring to you that your temple would be
a place of prayer, that we would be people of prayer.
And help us to remember that by your power, the
power of Jesus alive in us, that we can do anything.

(12:08):
We can move mountains according to your will in Jesus' name. Amen,
Thank you for listening to today's Bible Any Year podcast.
Before we go, I want to let you know about
a unique ebook that's yours to download absolutely free today.
It's called Breaking Free from Stress, and my prayer is

(12:29):
that it will help you conquer the daily task and
pressures and burdens that bring stress into your life. Download
your free copy of Breaking Free from Stress today by
visiting Jack Graham dot org slash stress. That's Jagraham dot
org slash stress