House Cleaning

John 2:13-22

In our busy culture, one business that has done very well is the cleaning profession.  These companies clean businesses, churches, hospitals, and homes.  We have one in our area of Texas called Molly maids, and my wife also has one she prefers, it goes by the name Bob.  In the last few weeks, we as a society have observed mobs of people who take over parks, I do not know what is in their hearts, but my observations are that they need someone to come behind them and clean up their mess, or better yet, they need to put their house in order.  They need to be responsible for their personal hygiene, and to the others camped around them to remove trash, and they have a responsibility to the owners of the park and the many who work and shop in the area to keep their protest from causing harm or being disruptive to many who do or do not share their views.  I’m almost sure you are asking, how does this tie into the action of Jesus cleansing the Temple?

I do believe there is some symbolism between the two events, though time and setting are vastly different.  The people that took over the park were using it for something the owners and designers never envisioned, and the same could be said about the Temple.  Those who sold oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the moneychangers were not part of the design and builder’s plans for the temple.  These people had an agenda and it was built around self, and if you get no other message from the people in the park, it was all about them, all about self.

If you are reading this paper, more than likely you are of the Christian faith, and many of us missed the story, just like the Jews did at the time Jesus made the whip of cords and drove out those businessmen with their sheep and oxen and turned over the tables of the moneychangers.  “And he told those who sold the pigeons “Take these things away, do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” (John 2:16)  Do you believe these businessmen were concerned that the outer court of the Temple smelled like a cow lot, no more than those people in the park who revealed by their actions that they did not care about the park or the businesses around the park?  But Jesus was telling a much bigger story, and once more we Christians, like the Jews, missed the message; the Jews wanted to know “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” (John 2:18-19)  The Jews said, are you out of your mind it took forty-six years to build this temple, and you will raise it up in three days?  “But he was speaking about the temple of his body.  When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.”

Is your body a temple?  The answer is found in 1 Corinthians 6:19&20, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?  You are not your own; you were bought at a price.  Therefore honor God with your body.”  This body of ours, houses the real you; mind, will, and emotions, and Scripture tells us it needs maid service, each and every day.  Ephesians 4:22&23, gives clear directions on what to put off.  “To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds.” Shall we look at the short list of what you and I need to put off: (1) Lack of Love - 1John 4:7, 8, 20, (2) Judging - Matthew 7:1,2, (3) Bitterness - Hebrews 12:15, (4) Unforgiving spirit - Mark 11:26, (5) Selfishness - Philippians 2:21, (6) Pride -Proverbs 16:5, (7) Boasting (Conceit) - 1Corinthians 4:7,  (8) Ungratefulness - Romans1: 21, (9) Disrespect for Authority - Acts 23:5, (10) Prayerlessness - Luke 8:1.

Folks, that is a very short list of what needs to be cleaned up in our temple, but we also need to do some refurnishing and we find that in Romans 13:14, “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”  Once more, this is a very short list of what needs to be put on: (1) Love - John 15:1, (2) Let God search my heart - John 8:9; 15:22, (3) Tender hearted and forgiving - Ephesians 4:32, (4) Forgiving spirit -Colossians 3:13, (5) Self denial - John 12:24, (6) Humility - James 4:6, (7) Esteeming others - Philippians 2:3, (8) Gratefulness - Ephesians 5:20, (9) Honor authority - Hebrews 13:17, (10) Praying - Matthew 26:41.

When you invited Christ into your life, at that moment you got all of God you will ever get, and your body is home to the Holy Spirit, is it not time to ask Jesus to send in His cleaning service?  But it will require you and me to listen and obey, and to put off and put on what He has instructed us to do in His Hand book on living life now.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice