“It was nearly time for the Jewish Passover celebration, so Jesus went to Jerusalem. In the Temple area he saw merchants selling cattle, sheep, and doves for sacrifices; he also saw dealers at tables exchanging foreign money. Jesus made a whip from some ropes and chased them all out of the Temple. He drove out the sheep and cattle, scattered the money changers’ coins over the floor, and turned over their tables. Then, going over to the people who sold doves, he told them, “Get these things out of here. Stop turning my Father’s house into a marketplace!” Then his disciples remembered this prophecy from the Scriptures: “Passion for God’s house will consume me.”“
John 2:13-17 NLT
The previous verses place Jesus in Capernaum with His mother, brothers and disciples, so the next event in John’s Gospel was Jesus’ visit to Jerusalem for the Passover celebrations. In the Temple He found a sad scene of materialistic mayhem as the local merchants engaged in practices designed to supply pre-approved animals for sacrifice and converted money into the only coins acceptable to the Jewish priests. To the Jews, the Temple was a sacred place – just read the accounts of its inception and the dedication ceremonies that took place. Jesus must have made a fearsome sight, as He whipped His way towards clearing out all those who shouldn’t have been there.
The Jewish religion had become hijacked by customs, materialistic expediencies, that assisted the outward form of its practices but had totally missed the whole point of why the sacrifices were taking place in the first place. Religion had veered away from what God intended into a box-ticking process that must have broken His heart. In Hosea 6:6 we read what God said to His people. “For I desire and delight in [steadfast] loyalty [faithfulness in the covenant relationship], rather than sacrifice, And in the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings” (Amplified version).
Today there can be a tendency to focus on denominational liturgies rather than the spirit that should be behind them. The more traditional facets of Christianity major on the recital of established prayers, and singing familiar hymns. Nothing wrong with this until liturgies replace relationship with God. Customs become more important than being in God’s personal space.
We read that Jesus was passionate, zealous even, for the integrity of His Father’s house, the Temple. But we pilgrims know that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. Paul wrote, “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honour God with your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). Do we share Jesus’ passion for the temples in which we live? How do we treat it? The list of harms that we can do to our bodies, corrupting this sacred place, doesn’t bear thinking about. But before we embark on the latest diet fads and fancies, it’s not just about foods but about our attitudes to something special created by God in His image (Genesis 1:27). We pray that the Holy Spirit will guide us to the sacred rather than the secular.
Dear Father God. It is a sobering thought that You cared enough about us to install within us somewhere for You to dwell. Please help us to keep it sacred. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 