Articles
Cleansing the Temple - Part 4
Why did Jesus cleanse the temple (Mt. 21:12-13; Mk. 11:15-18; Lk. 19:45-47; John 2:13-17)? In the previous articles we’ve observed some answers to this question. Jesus cleansed the temple because He had the authority to do so. Jesus also cleansed the temple because the people had turned God’s house into a place of business, thievery, and a convenient short cut. Those are all true. However, that is not the answer to the question that the disciples gave. When they saw Jesus cleanse the temple the first time, they remembered “that it was written, ‘Zeal for Your house will consume Me’” (John 2:17).
The disciples’ answer was a quote from Psalm 69:9. They saw what Jesus was doing and concluded the Psalm was about Him. It is significant enough that the disciples were able to recognize Jesus as fulfilling Old Testament prophecies. Right away they realized He was the person the prophets had been pointing to and preparing them for. That’s a big realization. But, more than that, their conclusion offers an explanation for why Jesus cleansed the temple. He did it because He cared, deeply, about His Father’s house.
Had Jesus thought the temple was just an everyday, insignificant building then He wouldn’t have made a scene. But this was someplace special; it was His Father’s house. That makes the location personal and holy. The temple was not to be misused! Doing so was not only inappropriate but it dishonored Jesus’ Father. That could not be tolerated.
Because the temple was important to Jesus, He had zeal regarding its misuse. Zeal is a word that describes strong internal feelings. The Greek word is most frequently translated as jealous. We associate jealousy as a negative feeling (and for good reason as it is a deed of the flesh – Gal. 5:20) but there is also godly jealousy (II Cor. 11:2) such as when a husband refuses to share his wife with other men. That isn’t wicked. That is righteous and godly. It is also passionate and intense. That’s the word used to describe the way Jesus felt about the temple.
Jesus cared so much about the temple, in fact, that He was “consumed” by His zeal. It ate Him up on the inside. It pushed Him to action. He practically had to do something to stop the abuse.
Why does this matter to us? The temple that Jesus cleansed is long gone, but that was just a shadow, a fuzzy imitation of the real temple (Heb. 8:5). The church is the real temple (I Pet. 2:4-5). We are God’s building (I Cor. 3:9). If Jesus was consumed with zeal because the shadow was misused, how much more will He be consumed if the real temple is abused?
God has been perfectly clear on this subject. “Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are” (I Cor. 3:16-17). Jesus cleansing the temple is only a foretaste of the judgment that will come on those who damage His temple. So, as we have observed before, it is critical that we follow God’s patterns for the church. The assembly of God’s people should not be treated like a common place of business. But our application should go deeper than that.
It isn’t just the work of the church that we should be careful about. We need to be concerned about the way we treat the structure itself. Don’t be fooled into thinking this is a message about treating a church building as holy. It’s just a building. The Christians around you are holy bricks being built together into this spiritual building (I Pet. 2:4-5). We are the temple. Therefore, to harm another Christian is to harm the temple. That must not be done! Zeal for God’s temple should consume us—it should compel us to be careful how we treat each other. Be careful how you treat the church.
The spiritual temple is holy. It is the bride of Christ (Eph. 5:22-30). We must be careful how we speak about the church. Many members of the Lord’s church have had no fear publicly denouncing “churches of Christ” when they are displeased with something. They ridicule the church even to unbelievers. Maybe it is because they see people caught up in heartless traditions. Maybe they feel like everyone is a hypocrite. Maybe they were hurt by a Christian. And maybe they aren’t wrong. Those things do happen and some Christians should be called out. But the church—it is special. It is holy. It is the temple. We must treat it as holy and not blaspheme it. Remember, Jesus’ zeal consumes Him. Be careful how you speak about the church.
