Mar. 5, 2023

Heluhelu Baibala
Bible reading
13 Ua kokoke mai ka mōliaola a nā Iudaio; a piʻi akula ʻo Iesū i Ierusalema, 14 a loaʻa akula iā ia ka poʻe e kūʻai ana i nā bipi, a me nā hipa, a me nā manu nūnū, a me ka poʻe kūʻai kālā, e noho ana i loko o ka luakini. 15 Hana ihola ia i mea hahau no nā kaula liʻiliʻi, a hoʻokuke akula ʻo ia iā lākou a pau i waho o ka luakini, a me nā hipa, a me nā bipi; lū akula i nā kālā o ka poʻe kūʻai kālā, a hoʻokahuli i nā papa; 16 ʻŌlelo maila ia i ka poʻe kūʻai manu nūnū, E lawe aʻe i kēia mau mea mai kēia wahi aku; mai hoʻolilo ʻoukou i ka hale o koʻu Makua i hale kūʻai.
– Ioane 2:13-16

13 The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 And within the temple grounds He found those who were selling oxen, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. 15 And He made a whip of cords, and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables; 16 and to those who were selling the doves He said, “Take these things away from here; stop making My Father’s house a place of business!”
– John 2:13-16

He Manaʻo o ke Kahu Kalani Wong, KS Maui
When I first moved to Maui, I was living in the parsonage on church grounds. I came home one evening to find that someone had broken in and stole some things. The place that I thought was safe, proved to be as vulnerable as any other. I was angry, “How could someone do this to my house?” When Jesus saw what people had done to His Father’s house, he got angry as well.

Merchants and money changers were performing a legitimate service, especially at Passover. Pilgrims traveled great distances and instead of bringing an animal sacrifice with them, they purchased one at the Temple. Money changers converted their foreign coins into acceptable offerings for Temple worship. What then was the problem? These stalls used to be further away near the Mount of Olives, but the merchants were allowed into the temple area, letting the secular into the sacred. So, Jesus lashed out.

What has crept into your life which has taken over your time with God? During Lent, consider what you need to get rid of that keeps you from being close to God, to remove the secular from our sacred time with ke Akua.

He Manaʻo o ka haumāna Richard Davenport III KSM’23
To keep the secular from the sacred during this Lenten season, I will fast from something that challenges me, something that I do or eat daily which has become routine. My purpose for doing this is because I want to be able to feel the absence of that thing in my life and use it as a reminder to spend more time with God, which is the goal of fasting.