After Jesus overturns the tables in the Temple area, the
disciples are reminded of Psalm 69:9; “Zeal for your house will consume me.” I
went and looked up that Psalm and give it a quick once over. This zeal for the
house of God makes the Psalmist a reproach in the eyes of people around him.
Interesting that John in the power of the Holy Spirit would quote this verse.
As Jesus becomes the replacement for the temple or at least refers to himself
metaphorically as a temple the disciples remember a verse about zeal for a
temple being a reproach. Later in this same Gospel account Jesus reminds his
disciples that “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have
overcome the world.”
We live in an age where it is believed that the only time
religion should be good is when its byproduct is that people get along better.
The problem is that Christianity is a counter-cultural religion. Jesus brings
people face to face with their idols and our hearts react as only a heart in
bondage could; rejection. When we encounter Jesus he does to our lives what he
did to the money changers, he overturns and makes chaos from our treasures. For
some the Holy Spirit uses this event to break the bondage of sin and call us
home. For others it makes Jesus and his church a reproach.
Let us never fool ourselves into thinking that our commitment
to Christ will be well received by the world. We share the plight of both the
psalmist and the Lord. We will be a reproach. “In the world you will have
tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
Have a blessed weekend!
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