Zealous Love: John 2:13-22 - Third Sunday in Lent

 ¹³The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁴In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. ¹⁵Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. ¹⁶He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” ¹⁷His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” ¹⁸The Jews then said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” ¹⁹Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” ²⁰The Jews then said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?” ²¹But he was speaking of the temple of his body. ²²After 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.

Cleansing of the Temple

I’m very thankful for the Leechburg Recycling Center—because nothing accumulates faster in my office than junk mail. 

Every day, we receive catalogs—selling everything from bible verse fortunate cookies, inspirational socks, to a $25,000 three-piece sterling silver communion ware set. 

When used properly, these things can help share the love of Jesus. But some things, like the communion ware set, make you question: do these things advance the mission of Jesus, or do they get in the way? 

It all boils down to question of why. 

Turning to today’s Gospel, there was a good reason why there were moneychangers seated outside the temple: and it wasn’t to extort money from the faithful. The buying and selling of sacrificial animals, and the exchanging of pagan currency, were all necessary for the proper functioning of the temple. Roman coins bore the image of the emperors, who called themselves gods. Such profane images which had no place in holy temple. Certainly, there were abuses. But they are not the reason why we see Jesus overturning tables; brandishing a whip made of cords; destroying property; acting violently.

For Jesus, the commerce at the temple gates had become a barrier to the presence of God. Before you could worship in God’s presence, you had to offer a sacrifice. You had to pay your dues. Ultimately, the temple wasn’t bringing God to the people. It was keeping people away.

Jesus came to change all that. Jesus was the new temple of the true and living God—because the temple building was much too small. But the powers-that-be were not about to let anything or anyone threaten their authority over this sacred institution. 

I know it’s difficult to visualize Jesus acting violently. But such is Jesus’s zeal for those who hungered and thirsted for God’s presence, only to be stuck at the door. Such is Jesus’s zeal for the people of the world—especially the poor, the weak, and the lost. 

So how would you feel about Jesus being this zealous in your life? In your home? In your church? Would you welcome Jesus laying waste to everything in your life that hinders the growth God wants to give you? 

Common sense would suggest that the greatest threats to your faith are your struggles, pains, and losses. To an extent, that is true. Never will God seem so distant than when suffering and danger are so near. 

But I would argue that the greatest threats to your faith are the things you choose for yourself. 

Martin Luther famously said: “Whatever your heart clings to and confides in, that is really your God, your functional savior.” As sinners, we cling tightly to the things we believe we are entitled to; the things we desire; the things we cannot see ourselves living without—all the while believing, “I have no other gods in my life.” Yet, you deceive yourself if you believe that you’d give these things up if Jesus asked politely. Jesus was crucified by people who believed they were doing God’s work. Jesus was the way, the truth, and the life—but they insisted on going their own way. Jesus was crucified by people who refused to own their own brokenness and their sinfulness. 

It’s no accident that the people who loved Jesus most were broken people. They were the sick, the poor, and the despised. But there were also powerful and privileged people who welcomed Jesus—because they knew something was missing from their lives. They welcomed Jesus’s forgiveness, mercy, and grace—because they knew how much they needed it.

How much do you need Jesus? How broken are you? To what extent to you keep God’s gifts to yourself? How much do you run yourself down worrying about people and circumstances you cannot control? Do you hold grudges? Are you bearing a constant rage against people you believe are ruining your life and the world, because of how they live, where they come from, or how they vote?

Many of you know all too well how broken you are—because your body is broken with illness; your heart broken with grief; your spirit broken with fear and worry; your home is broken; your ability to make ends meet is broken. 

Can we own the fact that our congregations are broken? Covid-19 has much to do with that, but we were broken even before the pandemic. How do we know? Because no matter how much we may love keeping things the way they are; if we’re not reaching people, then something needs to change.

But it is the zeal of the Lord Jesus that changes everything. Today, you are being challenged to take a step forward in faith—by taking a step back, and welcoming Jesus’s zeal in your life. Are you okay with him overturning a few tables, driving things out, shaking up how you live so that resurrection life can flourish in you? Are you okay with Jesus turning you inside-out, so you’re no longer living exclusively for yourself and your own interests, but are living out God’s love for the lost and broken people of the world? Jesus will not be gentle with the things that draw you away from him—and more you value those particular things, the more threatening Jesus will be.

Why is Jesus zealous? Because he loves you with all the world. In his zeal, he bears the cross and destroys the power of death. Be prepared for Jesus to shake things up in your life, in your church, in your world, if that’s what it takes for you to live every day in the fullness of that love.