When Nothing Changes, Yet Everything Feels Lost (John 2 :13-22)

Jesus wasn’t shocked to see animals and money changers in the Temple. He had grown up seeing them there. It was part of how worship worked, people exchanged Roman coins for temple coins, bought animals, and offered sacrifices. It was normal. It was business as usual. Jesus didn’t come to destroy religion; He came to awaken it. He came to overturn business as usual, that dull, automatic way of living that makes us forget what is holy, what is human, and what is real. Haven’t there been times in your life when you realized that business as usual was costing you your life? Haven’t there been times when you realized that business as usual was leaving you spiritually bankrupt? Haven’t there been times in your life when you were keeping on keeping on but nothing changed?

 

 It can happen anywhere — in families, friendships, marriage, community, or ministry. We see similar thing in religious communities, we can be regular to prayer and still come out of the chapel only to criticize, blame, or speak unkindly of others. We say we are close to God, yet fail to treat our brothers and sisters with love and equality. We live with people in community but often create fixed images of them, never looking at them with fresh eyes. We become so used to each other that we stop seeing the goodness, the mystery, and the presence of God in the other. That too is business as usual.

 

We can easily fall into this trap. Life becomes a list of things to do. We wake up tired, rush through the day, scroll through our phones, say the same polite words, and collapse into bed feeling that nothing has really changed. We smile and say, “I’m fine,” while something inside feels empty. We work hard, but the joy fades. We pray, but it feels mechanical. We care for others, but forget to care for ourselves. We love, but without tenderness. That’s business as usual — when our hearts run dry even while life goes on. We start to move through life half-awake. We look, but don’t really see. We listen, but don’t truly hear. We talk, but don’t connect. We do what is expected, but lose touch with what truly matters.

 

 And beneath it all is forgetfulness. We forget who we are — beloved children of God. We forget that creation is good and that life is meant to be lived, not managed. We forget that God’s Spirit is closer to us than our own breath, and that every ordinary moment holds something sacred. When we forget, life turns into a series of transactions — one more meeting, one more message, one more duty. We start making a living instead of living a life. Our relationships lose warmth. Our world grows small. The heart becomes a marketplace instead of a holy place.

That is what Jesus came to overturn — not just tables in a temple, but everything that keeps us asleep to God’s presence within us. Each time we allow Jesus to disturb our comfort, to challenge our patterns, and to awaken our hearts, the temple of our life begins to rise again. That’s the promise behind His words: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. “Christ still walks quietly into the temples of our daily lives — into our busyness, exhaustion, and routines — and whispers:
“Wake up. This place is holy. You are holy. Let Me bring you back to life.”

 

 - Lilly Pushpam PBVM