CHILDREN’S DEVOTIONS FOR THE WEEK OF: 9/7-9/13/08
LESSON TITLE: The Cleansing of the Temple
THEME: Jesus is worthy to be the Lord of our lives.
SCRIPTURE: John 2:13-22

Dear Parents…
Welcome to Bible Time for Kids! Bible Time for Kids is a series of daily devotions for children and their families. Our purpose is to supplement our Sunday morning curriculum and give you an opportunity to encourage your children to develop a daily devotional life. We hope you and your family will be blessed as you study God’s Word together.

This week in Children’s Church we learned about the time that Jesus cleansed the temple. The religious leaders in Jesus’ time were taking advantage of the people. They were actually stealing money from God’s people by charging them too much money for the things needed for them to worship at the temple. This made the people feel very bad about coming to the temple to worship God.

This upset Jesus very much. We are told that Jesus had a zeal for the house of the Lord. It wasn’t right for the leaders to steal from the people. Jesus took a whip and started to overturn the tables in the market area. Jesus was showing how important it is to not do anything that would keep people from knowing the Lord.

The section of scripture that we studied was John 2:13-22. The following five devotions are based on either the scripture and/or the theme for Sunday’s lesson. As a starting point it would be good for you to review these verses with your children.

These devotions are designed to help you reinforce Sunday’s lesson throughout the week with your children, provide some more ideas for the application of God’s Word in your children’s lives and provide a tool to help in family devotions.

Obviously children at various age levels will respond to the devotional in different ways. You may want to add your own ideas to these to make them more age appropriate.
May the Lord bless you as you study His Word together!

Day One
Behaving in God’s House
Text: 1 Timothy 3:14,15 - “These things I write to you, though I hope to come to you shortly; but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.” Also read John 2:13-16

Have you ever had a time when you just didn’t feel like behaving in Children’s Church? Maybe some of your friends were kind of acting up or making some jokes and it just looked like a lot of fun. Have you ever thought about why it is so important to behave when it is time to listen in church? We get to have a lot of fun and do all kinds of fun things, but there is a time when we need to get serious about learning God’s word.

The moneychangers in our story this week sure didn’t know how to behave in God’s house. They were taking advantage of the people who came to worship God, even stealing money from them. It got so bad that it wasn’t a very happy time when people came to the Temple to worship God. God wants His house to be a place of worship, a place where people can come and get to know Him, not a place where they would have their money stolen from them.

The church is God’s house today. Maybe joking or not listening to our teachers is not as serious as stealing from people, but it is still just as important to the Lord that people who come to church get to hear about Jesus and His love for them. It is important to obey and listen in church so that we won’t get in the way of others who need to hear the Bible story as much as we do. Maybe there is someone in your class who has never asked Jesus into their heart. Let’s look for ways to help others to get to know God better, not be a distraction. It is important for us to respect the things of the Lord.

• Why do you suppose it is important to the Lord how we act in His house?
• How were the moneychangers acting in God’s house?
• How do you think the Lord would want you to act in His house?

Kid’s Bible Dictionary
Moneychanger: People who would “trade” money from regular money to temple money so that they could purchase things for worship. They were known for robbing the people of money. Jesus drove them out.

Day Two
“Be Angry and Sin Not”
Text: Ephesians 4:26 - “Be angry, and do not sin:” do not let the sun go down on your wrath, Also read Ephesians 4:26-32

“I’m never going to speak to Katie again!” Joel boldly declared, “This is the final straw! I’m so mad I could just…just…” “Just forgive her?” Joel’s mom interrupted. “Well, that’s not quite what I had in mind,” Joel said. “She lost some pieces to my Monopoly game and not only that, she tore the corner of the box! Can you believe that? And I just got this game! What do you mean forgive her? Didn’t Jesus get mad one time and throw everyone out of the Temple? Well, I’d like to throw Katie out of my room!” “Before you do that,” mom replied, “let’s look at what really happened in the Temple that day.”

“Jesus definitely got angry that day, but it was a “right” anger. He had a good reason to be angry because the religious leaders at that time were turning God’s house into a place where thieves hung out, stealing from all of God’s people. Jesus had a ‘zeal’ or excitement about the things of God. He could not stand to see the religious leaders stealing from people who really loved God and wanted to worship Him.. He saw this terrible thing happening and took action to correct it. His anger was in no way a selfish anger, but was to help others.”

“Jesus still loved all of the people, and desired to forgive them. He even asked the Father to forgive those who put Him on the cross because He said they didn’t understand what they were doing. What love He has for us. What Jesus would have us to do is to forgive others as He has forgiven us. Ephesians 4:32 says, ‘And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also forgave you.’”

Katie went up to Joel and said, “please forgive me for losing some of your game pieces. I’ll keep on looking real hard to try to find them.” “I forgive you,” Joel said, “I’ll help you to look for them.” “Doesn’t it feel better to make things right?” mom asked Joel. “It sure does!” Joel quickly responded.

• Tell about a time when you were angry. How did you handle it?
• Can you think of an example of what “right” anger would be?
• How does “right” anger compare with “selfish” anger?

Kid’s Bible Dictionary
Anger: Getting really mad about something.

Day Three
Raising Up the Temple
Text: John 2:19 -“Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’” Also read John 2:18-22

The religious leaders became pretty mad at Jesus when He cleared out the temple. This meant that their way of stealing money from the people was going to stop for a while. They wanted a sign from Jesus to prove He had the right to drive them out of the temple. In other words, what made Him the boss? Now, Jesus had already done a miracle at the wedding feast in Cana. That was where he turned water into wine. No doubt the religious leaders had already heard about this. But they still demanded a sign from Jesus.

Jesus gave them an amazing response. He told them that if they destroy this temple, then in three days Jesus would raise it up again. They did not understand what Jesus was saying to them. They thought that He was talking about the temple building, which took 46 years to build. They said there was no way that the temple could be rebuilt in three days. But that wasn’t the temple that Jesus was talking about. He was talking about the temple of His body. His statement never really made any sense to anyone, even His disciples didn’t understand until He had risen from the dead.

This was actually a prophecy that Jesus gave about His death and resurrection. That prophecy was the sign He gave them that He was God come in the flesh. He knew that one day His temple (body) would be destroyed, He would die on a cross. He also knew that three days later He would rise again from the dead. This would forever be a sign that Jesus is the Son of God and has every right in the world to come in and clear out the moneychangers. Jesus gave sign after sign to the religious leaders of His time. But they were blind and didn’t want to change. Even the sign of Him returning from the dead wouldn’t be enough for them to believe. It is sad that their hearts were so hard towards Jesus. Have you opened your heart up to Him?

• What was the sign that Jesus gave to the religious leaders?
• What temple was Jesus referring to?
• How did Jesus fulfill this promise of raising up the temple in three days?

Kid’s Bible Dictionary
Sign: Something used to show or prove something. Usually refers to a miracle in the Bible.

Day Four
We Are His Temple
Text: 1 Corinthians 6:19 -“Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?”
Also read 1 Corinthians 6:19,20

If you were to go to Jerusalem today you could go to the very place where the temple once stood. You can go to the same exact spot where the Israelites worshipped the Lord. You won’t see the temple though since it has long since been destroyed. In that old temple there was a place called the Holy of Holies, which was a special place inside the temple. Inside you would find the Ark of the Covenant. God had Moses build the Ark of the Covenant as a symbol of God’s presence with His special people, Israel. When Solomon built the temple in Jerusalem he put the Ark into the Temple in order to represent God’s presence with His people.

When Jesus came things changed in how God “dwells” or lives with His people. Instead of dwelling in a temple made with hands, God now dwells in each one of us who believe in Jesus. Your body is called the temple of the Holy Spirit, because He is living inside of you. God’s very presence lives inside of our hearts! What a wonderful thing! He helps us to live for Him and to choose to do what is right. He helps us to become more like Jesus.

But sometimes we have things in our hearts that need to be “cleared out” like the moneychangers we read about in John 2:13-22. Maybe it is a bad attitude towards someone else, or maybe we are refusing to forgive someone. Well, Jesus will sometimes need to come and clear all of that out of our temple. Sometimes it may not always be fun while He is doing it, but anything He ever does is always for our good. All of our lives we will continually need to have Jesus work in us to become more like Him. What a blessing it is that He is willing to do that for us. Praise the Lord!

• What city was the temple in during Jesus’ time?
• When God dwells with His people today, where does He live?
• What does the Lord do in our temples?

Kid’s Bible Dictionary
Temple: God’s dwelling place, a place of worship. Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit.

Day Five
A Living Sacrifice
Text: Romans 12:1 -“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” Also read Romans 12:1,2

We’ve learned a lot about temples this week. We learned about the temple where Jesus drove out the moneychangers, and we learned that our bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit. Romans 12:1 tells us that we do not belong to ourselves anymore. When we believe in Jesus, we belong to the Lord, and need to present ourselves to the Lord to serve Him. God has a purpose and plan for our lives and He wants to use us for His glory. We can bring the Lord glory in our temple.

We get to have the opportunity to present ourselves to the Lord to serve Him. What do you suppose that the Lord would have you to do? Don’t think that you are too young to be used by the Lord. There are a lot of examples in the Bible where God used some very young people to do some very great things. Just continue to follow Him and He will show you what His plan is for your life.

Have you ever thought much about what you want to do when you grow up? You can start asking now what Jesus would like for you to do with your life. There is no telling how many other people you can share the love of Jesus with whenever your life is submitted to the Lord. Whatever you choose to do in your life, make sure to include the Lord in your plans and He will help you to accomplish exactly what He has for you. And you will have a very “blessed” life.

• According to Romans 12:1 what should we present our bodies as?
• Do you know what plans the Lord has for you as you grow in Him?
• Why is it so important to include the Lord in our plans?

Kid’s Prayer Time
This week as you pray, thank the Lord that He has given you eternal life. That He chooses to dwell in our temples and helps to clear things out from time to time in our hearts. Ask Him to help you to know what His plans are for your life and to help you to present yourself to Him to do all that He asks.

First and Second Grade
“Then His disciples remembered that it was written, ‘Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.’”

Third Grade and Above
“Then His disciples remembered that it was written, ‘Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.’”