John 2:13-25
Thursday, 23 November 2023
His disciples remembered that the scripture says, “My devotion to your house, O God, burns in me like a fire.” -John 2:17 [GNT]
Our reading today shows Jesus who tries to bring back the focus of the Temple to its intended purpose- worship of God and prayer. Respect and regard for the Lord’s House is paramount for God’s children. As humans we are most often carried away by several desires and concerns around our daily activities and careers in life, such that our zeal for the Lord diminishes. Many a time people are dragged away by deceptive and counterfeit miracles, empty activities in the name of religion, other than fervor for the Lord and His House.
Zeal for our Lord and His House must have its right place in our lives. The Lord himself brought it to our attention when He entered the temple and discovered that people had abandoned the act of prayer and reverence for His supremacy. The lack of devotion to God and the things of God was evidenced by other businesses and activities taking place in the Temple courts as discovered by Jesus when He entered it. His zeal for His Father’s business made Jesus come against those activities. Jesus said, “Get these things out of here. Stop turning my Father’s house into a marketplace!” (John 2:16 NLT)
Jesus’ priority lay in reinstating the actual purpose of the Temple- to bring the people back to focus on God and His priorities. The people’s misplaced zeal led to their greater interest in temporary worldly desires that would profit them. Commitment for service was replaced with commitment for self aggrandizing desires. Burning desire for the Lord’s house was replaced with worldly flavor.
As a result of the extent of the spiritual damage the worldly passions and desires caused in the lives of the Jews, they could not easily comprehend the words of the Lord, neither could they understand that Jesus spoke with the authority of His Father who sent Him. Even when Our Lord and master of all creation told them, "Tear down this Temple, and in three days I will build it again." they were blind and could not understand; instead just like most Christians of today, they were asking for a sign as a proof for the Lord’s authority.
Its time to examine whether we have lost our zeal for the Lord and His house. What activities have replaced our worship services/our gatherings, when the Lord’s house is meant to be a house of prayer that honours Him? Have we turned our focus off Christ and turned it on ourselves? Or do we lift Christ and draw others to Him in our places of worship? When we lose sight of the zeal for the Lord’s House, the desires for the Lord’s purpose become secondary. Let us repent of those ways we have not honoured the Lord and His house and may both ourselves and our places of worships bring God glory.
When Zeal for the Lord’s House and desire for His righteous cause engulf our lives, the Lord himself will empower and strengthen us for His glory. Not only will He strengthen His people, but He will also enlarge their coast for the purpose of His glory. You can read of such an honour in Isaiah 56:4-7.
Think on: Many people shall come and say,
“Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
To the house of the God of Jacob;
He will teach us His ways,
And we shall walk in His paths.”…… (Isaiah 2:3)
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