Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Good morning, dear ones.

We have to be thankful that Thano and his little pickup truck are not worse off than they are. Last night while in the studio I had a call from Thano saying he was “in the bushes.” He had a lot of difficulty even reporting that much. It was enough to begin another guessing game as to what in the world he was meaning…and what happened. Well, he was on his way home from work at Safeway, approaching an intersection 2 miles away from our house. It’s a 4-way stop intersection, but he is given a free right-hand sweeping turn option as it is the continuation of Highway 211. So he’s approaching that point at about 55mph. He brakes to slow for the sweeping turn—but there are no brakes. In an attempt to slow he turns off the ignition switch in hopes of using the compression of the engine as a brake. But, alas!—turning the key off engages the steering lock. So, here he is flying through that intersection with no brakes and no steering—he finally leaves the road, barely missing a telephone pole, and burrows into thick blackberry vines. Whew! This is one time I like blackberry vines! I scrambled to change clothes and go to his rescue. I jerked the truck out of the bushes with my truck. But rather than attempt to tow him home with no brakes, I ran and hooked up to my flatbed trailer and gathered some other gear. We loaded the truck onto the trailer and hauled it home. I’ve already contacted our mechanic who has agreed to check it out and see what needs to be done. There is some damage to the truck—but not as much as one would expect. So there you have another little boring paragraph of Sparre trivia.

I wonder what today holds. Ready or not, we’re all going to find out. It sure is good to partner with the One with Whom there is no such thing as UNFORESEEN. That’s a relationship worth maintaining on good terms.

Blessings. Love, Dad/Ray.

Jesus had gone to Jerusalem to attend the traditional Jewish Passover and became very irritated (to say the least) 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 single-handedly 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. The Biblical record shows that God often chooses to use double-meaning cryptic language to disguise truth from those who prefer darkness over light—while making brilliant light and meaning available to sincere seekers. Even Jesus’ own disciples didn’t catch the switch at the time—till after He had died and was resurrected (v. 22). So what are the two ways the word “temple” 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).

In this view, our temples (bodies and beings) are not really ours in terms of ownership. Our Maker remains the Owner—we are only managers. So how about it? Are you allowing any junky business to be going on in your temple? Anything that needs to be tossed out? Any practices that need to be discontinued in order to reclaim proper 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.