‘Zeal for your house will consume me’ – John 2:13-25

When Jesus cleansed the temple, it wasn’t like chasing everyone out of a church basement. This part of the temple, the Court of the Gentiles, was as large as several football fields, and usually had thousands of people in it doing business before the Passover. There is no way that one man could go into such a large, crowded place and chase everyone out. That is, unless that man is also God. Jesus could not be resisted. He could not be stopped. He could not even be opposed. His power, authority and righteous anger left everyone fleeing. And what was the cause of His anger? The insult to the holiness of God. These people were doing business and exploiting poor Jews who had come for Passover. They were doing this in God’s house, as if they didn’t understand that God is holy, as if it meant nothing to cheat people in God’s house.

This happened in the Court of the Gentiles, where people who were not Jews were allowed to gather. The Jews didn’t consider this holy because Gentiles were allowed there. Jesus did consider it holy even though there were Gentiles there. This is another sign that His kingdom is for everyone. Gentiles and everyone else can be made holy in Him.

Who do you think of as not holy? You may know intellectually that everyone is eligible for new life in Christ, but is there one kind of people that you don’t feel in your heart are included in His kingdom? Pray for the Lord to search your heart and reveal the nature of your heart to you.


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