Insightful Musings on the New Testament
by
Ray Sparre, NU class of '67

Ray has a wealth of experience as a Husband, Father, Pastor, Missionary, and student of the Word. He believes and practices his faith where the rubber meets the road. You'll find his writings to be practical, insightful, and grounded in a truly Christ-centered world view.

Below are links to a printable daily Bible reading guide which Ray is following, and an archive of all his daily devotional writings for 2010.

|  Daily Reading Guide  |  2010 Devotion Archives  |
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27 Oct 10
            Greetings, dear ones.  
            With 5 little kids in this environment this morning, there is a good deal of delightful chaos here too.  
            Have a great day.
                        Love, Dad/Ray
 
27 October 2010
Passage: John 2
Focus: “But the temple he had spoken of was his body.”  John 2:21.
            Jesus had gone to Jerusalem to attend the traditional Jewish Passover and was very irritated with the state of affairs in and around the Temple.  He was certainly not acting in a role of the soft, gentle-mannered, and wimpy Jesus that so many like to portray.  He stomps right into the middle of the place and turns it into chaos.  He showed such a level of physical strength and authority that apparently no one dared to oppose Him at the time.  I doubt very much that His voice was kept soft and low.  Only later was He confronted.  “Then the Jews demanded of him, ‘What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?’  Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.’  The Jews replied, ‘It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?’  But the temple he had spoken of was his body” (John 2:18-21).
            I just looked up the word “temple” in the dictionary.  It confirmed that a temple is “a house built for the worship of a god or gods.”  It’s easy to see how this definition applies to both uses of the word in the Bible—even in this passage before us.  Without them recognizing it, Jesus flips from one to the other in His response to the angry Jewish leaders.  Even Jesus’ own disciples didn’t catch the switch—till after He had died and was resurrected (v. 22).  What are the two ways the word is used? (1) A physical building made by man for the worship of God (Old Testament). (2) A physical human body made by God for the worship of God (New Testament).
            “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” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
            How about it?  Is there any junky business going on in your temple?  Anything that needs to be tossed out?  Any practices that need to be discontinued  in order to maintain the right use and purpose of your temple?  Or is it maintained as a place where Christ reigns as King of kings and Lord of lords?  One thing for sure: We simply cannot remain on good friendly terms with Jesus and carry on with a desecration and defilement of our temples at the same time.
 
“God’s part we cannot do.
Our part God will not do.”