Zeal for Your House

Jesus Clears the Temple "After this He went down to Capernaum with His mother and brothers and His disciples. There they stayed for a few days. When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts He found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So He made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; He scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves He said, "Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!" His disciples remembered that it is written: "Zeal for your house will consume me."^{[Psalm 69:9]} Then the Jews demanded of him, "What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?" Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days." The Jews replied, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?" But the temple he had spoken of was his body. After He was raised from the dead, His disciples recalled what He had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken." John 2:12-22

A friend invited me to visit her church, and this was the Scripture passage from the sermon. Once again, I felt like God was speaking directly to me. Now, I've read these verses several times - more times than I could count or remember and this is the first time that the Holy Spirit nudged me to view them in a different light. (Don't you just LOVE God's Word?) Now, I will admit to you that the pastor spoke on Jesus' zeal for His church. And I agree that God is zealous for His church; I don't disagree with the direction the sermon went. That said, that morning I felt like God was saying the following about these verses.

First, I will discuss the points the pastor highlighted because I thought they were extremely relevant. For one, we often think of Jesus as He welcomed children, viewing Him as peaceful and loving, gentle and almost cuddly and soft. This passage, however, depicts Him in a far different light. He was ANGRY! He drove animals away, overturned tables and questioned people "how dare you turn my Father's house into a market!?!?" The leaders of the time questioned His authority and we were asked to picture the scene. Jesus took charge of the scene and made a scene. His disciples remembered Psalm 69:9 "Zeal for Your house will consume me."

Just like 1 Corinthians 6:19 tells us, our body is "a temple of the Holy Spirit." It immediately stood out to me when Jesus answered the question of His authority by saying "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days" (John 2:19) that "the temple He had spoken of was His body" (John 2:21). Now picture God cleaning house... YOUR house! 'Zeal for Your house will consume me' takes on a whole new meaning.

In examining your own life, are there unholy practices taking place in your holy temple? As the pastor noted, buying & selling animals isn't necessarily a bad thing, but the people of that day were turning a holy temple into a common marketplace, which was contrary to God's instructions. So, again, examining the story in a different light, what's going on with your temple? Would Jesus find 'commonplace' things happening where holiness should be? I shudder at the thought of my holy God being angry with me - shouting "how dare you!?!?" and overturning and driving out what doesn't belong. But, if it needs to happen, there is no one else who has the authority than Jesus. Indeed, as He answered above, He rose again from the cross in three days, giving Him the authority to do with God's temple as He sees fit.

If Jesus is our one true example of how we are to live on earth (which I fully believe) then "Zeal for God's House" should be part of our mentality. Do we have a zeal for making sure our bodies (the temple of God) are holy and being used for holy purposes? If not, it's time to repent, ask for forgiveness, and change our lives with Jesus' help. To God be the glory!

Dear God, we thank You for Your example. God, it's amazing to see Your zeal for Your house and recognize the metaphor You use to describe our bodies as well. In fact, just in case we missed it, I love that Jesus Himself used the same expression in talking about His temple, or body. I see that You wanted to be clear with Your message. Please help us drive out everything that is unholy in our lives - including overeating and laziness - and replace it with what You have for us in Your Word. Jesus we ask for forgiveness and a renewed zeal for our temples - please change our lives, overturn what needs to be overturned and 'whip' us into shape. We need You, oh God. We can't do this on our own. But, we trust in Your authority and power that You can. We give You the keys to our lives. Transform us to be more like You. In Jesus name, AMEN!