God’s Property – Handle with Care

Bible Passage: 

1. Observations (Mark)

(a) Jesus and his disciples return to Jerusalem after spending the night at Bethany, and Jesus is hungry (v.12)
(b) Jesus who could read the intentions of people does something very unbecoming of his divine nature (v.13, John 2:23-25)
(c) Jesus’ only destructive miracle (v.14)
(d) Jesus’ actions in the temple run very contrary to his entry into Jerusalem the previous day (v.15)
(e) The only material thing on earth that Jesus was obsessed about was his Father’s house (v.17, John 2:13-22)
(f) Fear grips the Chief Priests and the teachers of the law, and they want to kill Jesus, not the first time that Jesus’ life was at stake (v.18, Matthew 2:13; John 10:33)

2. From God’s Point of View

(a) God had a desire to have a people of his own, a holy nation (Exodus 19:5-6, Deuteronomy 7:6, Is 61:6)
(b) In doing so he was not intent in exempting the rest of the people of the world (Isaiah 56:3,6-7)
(c) The temple of the Lord would be place for the nations to experience the true and living God (1 Kings 8:27-30, 41-43)
(d) The first and the second temple both failed in their missions, religiosity was solely ritualistic (Jeremiah 7:1-11)
(e) The temple is non-existent but the church still holds vision and mission of God, it is individual and it is corporate:
(e1) Each of us are his temple (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
(e2) All of us are his temple, units making the whole (Ephesians 2:19-22)

Take Away

Live with the recognition of your redeemed status and purpose (The Triune Lord is zealous about his church)