Hi, Zane.
How go things at present? Of primary importance, of course, is that you stay close to your Maker—especially in while making your way through these chaotic times. Don’t leave home without the relationship presented in Psalm 91:1. That idea is very compatible with the devotional message below.
Love and prayers—Tua (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?
“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? Are there any tables that need to be overturned? 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, at the same time, carry on with a desecration and/or defilement of the temple that has been assigned to each of us.