”Our driver will wait 30 minutes,” we were told by our guide on a tour through the Georgian mountains. This stop was in the city of Stepantsminda after an off-roading adventure up to the Gergeti Trinity Church viewpoint where we would walk through the monastery located on top of the mountain.
Just like the other stops, we put on the head coverings and skirts waiting in baskets before entering the monastery and walked through the small doorway entrance. Inside, numerous picture frames and relics hung on the walls. People walked around solemnly and without a sound, kissing the frames and kneeling before them. As I walked around observing and wondering the true heart of the people- whether they were worshiping Jesus, Mary or the relics- I also noticed a large crowd was building around a table set up inside where a man dressed in a black tunic and long beard was selling jewelry, pictures and other relics. I became angry.
I observed for a few minutes then couldn’t do it anymore and stood outside the doorway becoming increasingly upset about what was happening inside. My friend’s parents, Denis and Glenys, also stepped outside and expressed their frustration before continuing to explore the mountaintop. It was Glenys that put my frustration into words, “My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations, but you have made it a den of robbers.” – Mark 11:17
Just before this passage in Mark it says, “Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts.“ And as he taught them, he recited Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:11 (the verse Glenys quoted above).
I meditated on this for a moment and knew I could not deny what the Holy Spirit wanted me to do.
I stepped back through the entrance of the monastery and every head turned to me as I spoke to the people, “Have any of you ever read the word? Jesus himself said his house is meant to be a house of prayer.”
“Excuse me, be quiet. Please leave or go pray,“ the man selling merchandise said to me.
“I just want everyone to know this is meant to be a house of prayer and not of buying and selling.”
“Leave now.”
”Okay, I will go.”
“Respect yourself and respect us.”
“I respect my Jesus, thank you.”
“Jesus is for all of us.”
This might seem like a short, small interaction but it was huge for me. It put into perspective the kind of man Jesus was and how he taught the people with authority how to give glory where glory is due. Any greed or earthly distraction from praising and communing with the one true God is absurd. It also put into perspective the concept of ‘religious leaders’ in Jesus day i.e. the men selling dressed in black tunics, and the fact that in so many places in the world people believe coming to these monasteries is the closest they’ll ever get to Jesus…
A few minutes later I was walking back down the mountain and noticed the woman in front of me was one of the woman I saw in the monastery. She was walking with a crutch and I felt the nudge to pray for her when I was inside but I ignored it then… now I felt the nudge a second time. She was with two friends and all of them spoke perfect English. They explained she was in a parasailing accident and sprained her ankle.
I noticed a few men in black walk by while we were talking and when I asked if I could pray, she was very touched. I knelt down to pray for her ankle and when I stood back up she handed her crutch to her friend and attempted to walk down the hill without it.
After a few steps, both her and her friends were freaking out! “Who are you? What did you do?” they asked me. I myself was amazed at what just happened- she could walk! She said she believed in Jesus and I explained how over and over again he demonstrated the healing power of God in the Bible.
We both cried, talked for a little bit, took photos and said goodbye! Then she walked down the mountain carrying her crutch instead of depending on it to walk!
God is so good! What a powerful and emotional 30 minutes it was…
