On this day during Passion Week, our Lord goes to the
temple. The temple was God’s sanctuary on earth. Perhaps, knowing His plight,
Jesus just wanted to visit His Father’s house once more before His gruesome
death. But when He arrived, He was more than displeased to find money changers
there instead of true worshipers. It is one of the few times recorded in
Scripture where Jesus displays righteous indignation.
“And he entered the temple and
began to drive out those who sold, saying to
them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of
prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers.” Luke 19:45 & 46
Though the Gospels do not specifically say so, Jesus’ cleansing of the
temple seems to be a clear fulfillment of Malachi 3:1-3, a Messianic prophecy:
“See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then
suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the
covenant, whom you desire, will come," says the LORD Almighty. But who can
endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be
like a refiner's fire or a launderer's soap. He will sit as a refiner and
purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and
silver. Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness."
In other words, Jesus' cleansing of the temple, is a direct fulfillment of
this Old Testament prophesy. This was one of the salvific works that the
Messiah was to do.
And what comfort we can take from this! For just as Jesus cleansed and
purged the physical temple many years ago, we know from Scripture that we are
now the temple of the Holy Spirit.
“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of
the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?” 1 Corinthians
6:19.
Jesus comes into our hearts and examines what is there and purges what is
not of Him. The salvation of Jesus Christ is complete and finished for forever.
We do not earn it or deserve it; it is given freely to us. Once we receive this
amazing gift of salvation, we have subjected ourselves to God for Him to inspect
our hearts on a daily basis so that we can grow to be more like Him. We bow to
the Refiner’s fire because we desire to be in fellowship with Him. And what an
awesome, wonderful, beautiful thing it is to be cleansed so that we can be a
glorious temple for Him to reside!
Something that struck me is the fact that Jesus was truly angry when He saw
ungodliness in the temple. This is such an example to us for our own hearts. We
should become angry at the ungodly things we find there and waste no time in
seeking to be rid of it. Our anger towards our sinfulness should drive us to
Jesus and beg Him to purify us of our unrighteousness.
Of course, these thoughts beg the question…what do I need to invite Christ
to purge in my own heart? What is there that is not of God? As difficult and
painful as it may be, I must let the cleansing of the temple take place if I am
to become more Christlike.
And because this is my one true desire, Lord, cleanse away!
No comments:
Post a Comment