John 2:13-17, ‘13The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14And He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. 15And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables; 16and to those who were selling the doves He said, “Take these things away; stop making My Father’s house a place of business.” 17His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house will consume me.”’
It was the time of Passover of the Jews, it was a time of feast, when Jesus went to the temple. It is a special festival to the Lord, remembering the deliverance of the first-born of Israelites, from the plague of death in Egypt. It is a time of thankfulness for the Jews. At this time, Jesus went to temple and saw the selling of oxen and sheep and doves and the money changers. Jesus was disappointed and drove them all out of the temple, saying, ‘Take these things away; stop making My Father’s house a place of business’.
We see the same verse in Psalms.
Psalms 69:9, ‘9For zeal for Your house has consumed me, And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.
Let us be thankful in all the different ways God had led us this past year.
1 Corinthians 6:19, ‘19Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body’.
Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you! Just like Jesus visited the temple in Jerusalem at Passover time, if He comes visit us, as His temple, where do we stand, today? In this New Year, a time for thankfulness, are we thankful? Will Jesus find us in a grateful spirit? What would He point out, in our lives? It is just between us, individually with the Lord – ‘no one knows our heart, thoughts and our deeds, our relationship with others, how do we place Lord Jesus in our lives? Our attitude towards money, how is our attitude when we come to the Body of Christ?’ – When Jesus is visiting us, will He say the same thing, ‘stop making my Father’s house, a place of business?’ There are many things corrupting the body which is the temple of God.
‘Do we have the zeal for His house?’
The Zeal for the Father’s house has consumed me, the Lord says. How is our attitude towards His temple, the body of Christ? If that zeal is not consuming us, let us examine ourselves and return to the Lord. Let us cherish our gatherings. Let us value our meeting together as a body of Christ, even if it is virtually. Let us be thankful. Let us worship the Lord, keeping Him as Supreme in our lives. Let us have a heart for the lost, be self-less, honor God in the way we spend our money – all these matters, when we have a zeal for the Lord’s house, and it should consume us! We need to set ourselves, right, by keeping away from this corruption! Let us encourage others, having a heart for the lost.
Solomon after building the Lord’s temple, in his prayer of dedication,
1 Kings 8:22-24, ‘Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven. 23He said, “O Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like You in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing lovingkindness to Your servants who walk before You with all their heart, 24who have kept with Your servant, my father David, that which You have promised him; indeed, You have spoken with Your mouth and have fulfilled it with Your hand as it is this day.’
King Solomon is giving glory to the Lord, Praising God for the promise fulfilled. We see Solomon’s selflessness here, giving God, all the glory! Let us give Supremacy to Lord, giving glory to the Lord, whether we succeed or in failure! Not just money, but there are many attractions we are corrupted from! Let us set our house, let us be zealous for the house of the Lord. Let us have a healthy fear, the reverence for the Lord and come to Him, for cleansing and living right. Godly divine love should fill our hearts! Giving God glory always! Let us be humble and selfless and be faithful in everything! This zeal should consume us!
Purification – We should always have this in our lives!
Hebrews 12:4 -11, ‘4You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin; 5and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons,
“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, Nor faint when you are reproved by Him;
6For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He scourges every son whom He receives.”
7It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? 10For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. 11All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
Let us submit to the Lord for our cleansing and the purification of our hearts, even if it costs much in terms of the earthly gains! God deals with us as His sons! Our call is to take the discipline of the Lord, very seriously! Let us examine ourselves, if we are in faith!
2 Corinthians 13:5, ‘Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?’
Let us be in the zeal, as we progress in our walk, having our first love to Him, then Lord helps us and gives us more burdens for His house! Let us carry on with having that first love towards God. We can have many shortcomings in our Spiritual life in – our obedience, prayer, selfishness – let us cleanse ourselves from anything by which we are led away, from having the zeal, let us not get corrupted by these things! Let us focus, repent and return back to the Lord. Let us ask for the fulness of the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 11:28, ‘28But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly’.
Let us judge ourselves. If we are having this zeal for the Lord’s house, we will be sensitive to what Holy Spirit is saying. Let us work out our Salvation with trembling and fear.
God kept us past year from any kind of flu or diseases – We had also followed the rules that were made, we were cautious and sensitive. Similarly, let us take more strong steps to be cautious in our Christian walk, to have the zeal and may the Lord be pleased and find joy in us. Let us not stay in the state of making the Lord’s house busy, let us not delay in setting things right when the Lord disciplines us! This zeal should consume us! Let us do our part of using our free – will to do God’s will. Let us glorify our Lord having fervent love towards God and one another.
Thank God.
