Love Him Back

What's the first thing you look for when you enter a town? Most likely, it's a gas station or a restaurant or a particular store. My Dad's eyes always went to the skyline because he was looking for a church steeple. After Jesus' exciting entrance into Jerusalem, Scripture tells us the first place He went was to the temple. As worship leader, I often find myself alone in the church sanctuary - what a peaceful place, a particularly reverent spot to listen to The Lord. Jesus did not find this to be the case as He entered the temple grounds; instead He found money changers and merchants. Jesus rebuked the chaos, "It is written in Scripture, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer' but you are making it a robbers' den'" (Matthew 21:13, Isaiah 56:7, Jeremiah 7:11). Why was Jesus so drawn to the temple? Within mere days Jesus would face the most difficult part of His mission to earth - the arrest, the mock trials, the beatings, the betrayals and rejections, the pain and suffering, the loneliness, the cruel agony of the cross ... death. Ephesians 5:25 tells us "Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her." It was His people that drew Him to the temple in those final hours; it was His people that led Him to the cross! The idea that we can love Jesus and not love His Church doesn't line-up with the deep love Jesus has for His people. Dad loved people but especially Church people! Oh, if we could but understand God's love toward those for whom Jesus died, I feel sure we would ... love Him back.