John 2:12-25“Holy Zeal”
Dear Friends of Jesus Christ,
Imagine a family getting together for Thanksgiving dinner. The kids are home from college. Dad and mom are in the kitchen cooking the turkey and the meal. Festive music is playing in the background. Family members are making small talk. Suddenly, the oldest son pulls into the driveway. He has just arrived from another state. He walks in the door and screams. He walks to the dining room table and swipes all the plates and silverware off of the table. They crash to the floor. He stomps into the kitchen and grabs the turkey from the countertop and tosses it across the kitchen. He empties the pots that were on the stove onto the floor. He then makes his way into the living room. He grabs all the family photos off the wall and cracks each one over his knee. And then he shouts, “This family is a sham! We are all just pretending! There is no love, no joy, no integrity, no faithfulness, no bonding! All I’ve ever seen is selfishness and gossip and back-stabbing. I’ve had enough!” The father and mother confront the son, saying, “Who do you think you are? By what authority are you doing this?” The son replies, “I am going to start my own family and show you what a family is supposed to look like.” And then he leaves.
I am trying to communicate the shock of this text where Jesus clears out the temple with anger and force. The temple was the center of Jewish religion. N.T. Wright has called it “the beating heart of Judaism.” It was where God’s people gathered for worship festivals. And none was bigger than Passover. Jews from Palestine and around the Roman Empire came to celebrate. And there were a ton of animals. Travelers found it too difficult to bring their own animals for sacrifice. So instead they brought money and bought animals. Their money needed to be exchanged and so money changers were needed. All of this business was good and fine. But, it was supposed to take place outside the temple.
Jesus is upset that the temple has been turned into a marketplace. He is angered that the businessmen have moved their tables into the court of the Gentiles. This was the only place in the temple that the Gentiles could set foot in for prayer. They were being pushed out of God’s house. It was disrespectful to them and, worse, it was dishonoring to God who was to be worshiped.
Jesus is filled with zeal. He is consumed with God’s house. We think of our church buildings as just buildings. It was not like that in Judaism. God was especially present in the temple. Place of worship was more critical than it is for is. To disrespect the temple was to disrespect God. It robbed God of honor and worship. Jesus is consumed with God’s house because he is consumed with God. He is consumed with worship of God. He is zealous for God’s honor and reputation.
Thus, he makes a whip and sends the animals away and turns over the tables and scatters the coins. He is righteously angry. It is an anger that is rooted in his goodness and reverence for his Father.
“Give us a sign,” demands the Jewish leadership. “By what authority are you doing this?”
“I’ll give you a sign,” he says. “Destroy this temple and I will raise it again in three days.” He is telling them that his crucifixion and resurrection will prove his authority as the Son of God and Jewish Messiah. But, they don’t understand this. And when he does other signs during the week in Jerusalem, all he can inspire is a shallow faith. They don’t really get him.
This story helps fill out the character of Jesus for us. We know from other texts that he is gentle and compassionate and bursting with love. We know he is wise. We see here that he is also strong and confrontational and sometimes angry. He stands up for what is right. He fights for his Father’s honor.
How could this text correlate to our lives today in the church? What is Jesus Christ saying to us in this text?
We are God’s temple today. At the crucifixion and resurrection and Pentecost of Jesus, God’s presence moved from the temple into God’s people. Ezekiel prophecied of this (Ezek. 36-37). The first century disciples experienced this. It has been God’s way ever since. He resides in his people. Our bodies are God’s temple.
Jesus was consumed with God’s house. He was consumed with his Father and his Father’s honor. If you are a Christian, God’s Spirit resides in you. You are God’s house. And so it would make sense that you be consumed with God. Are you consumed with God? Or is he just an add-on to your life? Does God dominate your attention? Is he your fuel? Are consumed with him?
Jesus was filled with zeal. Are you filled with zeal? Zeal is fervent energy, enthusiasm, and devotion. Are you filled with fervent energy, enthusiasm, and devotion for God and God’s kingdom? Or are you passive and timid? Paul says, “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord” (Romans 12:11). We are instructed to be fired up for God and God’s kingdom. It is not okay to be spiritually passive. It is not okay to be spiritually timid. We are instructed to never be lacking in zeal, but to keep our spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
What are some reasons for a lack of spiritual zeal? One reason might be that you are not born again. You don’t know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. The Spirit of God is not in you. You need to bow before Jesus Christ and ask him to take over your life.
Another reason is unconfessed and unrepentant sin. Jesus cleansed the temple of God. We are the temples of God today. Does Jesus need to cleanse sin out of your life? Verse 25 says, “He knew what was in a man.” He knows what is in you. May he show you your sin specifically. The businessmen at Passover were excluding the Gentiles from the temple. Are you excluding anyone from your life? Whatever your sin, may God convict you. And make you confess it. That means agreeing with God about it. May you repent of your sin. That means having a changed mind and heart toward it and thus changed behavior. Unconfessed, unrepentant sin tames and ultimately kills holy zeal.
How might our spiritual zeal increase? Continual prayer increases it. Devouring God’s word increases it. Fellowship with zealous believers increases it. Serving God also increases it. Romans 12:11 says, “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.” Serving the Lord is not only a byproduct of zeal. It also encourages zeal. The more you serve someone the more you care about that person. The more your serve God the more you will care about him and be zealous for him. If your whole life is an offering to God, you will be zealous for God. Jesus said, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me…” (John 4:34). Doing God’s will is fuel for your spiritual life. It encourages zeal.
I would like to come at spiritual zeal from another angle. There are Christians who are in a spiritual desert. There are Christians who are sleepy. There are Christians, who try as they might, just can’t seem to get past certain sins or addictions. We need the Spirit of God to be poured out afresh in our lives to wake us up and empower us and increase our zeal. The Spirit of God filled the early church and made them bold and zealous. They preached with zeal. They loved with zeal. They endured persecution with zeal. But, they were not so special. Peter and John and James and Mary were not so special. The Holy Spirit was and is special. He changed them. He filled them. He empowered them. He poured himself into their lives. We need the same Spirit of God to be poured afresh into our lives. We need the Spirit of God toincrease our zeal. Pray that he will.
I will take zeal for God over knowledge about God if I have to choose. People who know a lot about God, but lack zeal are ineffective for God’s kingdom. They are poor witnesses to the world. People who are filled with holy zeal, but lack a lot of knowledge, serve passionately and speak boldly. Their zeal will lead them into God’s word to increase their knowledge. Zealous people may stir things up unwisely sometimes, but I’ll take that over spiritual apathy.
One more comment on zeal. It looks different in different personalities and temperaments. I am not asking you to be a different personality. I am asking you to look to God to fill you with zeal so that you will have spiritual passion and express it according to the way God made you.
The grace of the text is Jesus Christ cleaning out God’s temple, which is you and me. The challenge of the text is be filled with holy zeal for worship and service. May God fill us with holy zeal for his name, for his kingdom, and for his glory. Amen.
©Nathan Gritter