John 2:17 His disciples remembered that it is written: "Zeal for Your house will consume Me."
Jesus is passionate about the dwelling place of God. He is passionate about keeping it holy, revered, purified, and filled with righteousness. We do not often see Jesus in this state; angry even violent with the whipping of the ropes. This can be a difficult image to reconcile with the beatitudes in which Jesus calls us to be meek and peaceful, but it stands out that something here is vitally important to Jesus to arouse such passion. One thing that always comes to me when I read this passage or hear a teaching is the use of the word temple.
Jesus tells the Pharisees to tear down this temple and He will rebuild it in three days. The scripture tells us that Jesus is passionate about the temple, but the temple to which He is referring is His body.
(John 2:21) As Jesus is referring to His body as the temple, we can call to mind the other times in scripture where the body is called a temple.
1 Corinthians 6:19
"Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?"
It it then not a far leap to hear Jesus' zeal for us.
Can we insert ourselves into that first passage and hear that Jesus' zeal for us will consume Him?
Jesus is passionate about our purification, our holiness, our righteousness. As if with a rope made of chords, we can sometimes feel the sting of His rebukes against our unformed consciences as He drives out our sins of gluttony, materialism, consumerism, and self-importance. It is His love for us that consumes Him. His deep love for His Father and for us that we should be purified so as to be presentable to God. I encourage you to feel this love Jesus has for you as a passionate zeal that took Him to the cross. His love is not a mild or soft feeling but an intense, all consuming zeal. That spurs me on to a greater desire to be worthy of such a love!
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