The House of God
A few days before Passover began, the Temple was crowded with those who had come from all over Israel to celebrate the feast. They could not bring their animals such a distance, for the required sacrifices, nor for the Passover meal, so they were obliged to purchase the kosher animals in the Temple courtyard. Before such an important feast, the Temple became an authentic marketplace. The demand created an opportunity to inflate the prices, as those responsible took advantage of these weary pilgrims. On the Monday morning, preceding Passover, Jesus entered the Temple and was outraged at what He saw. He overturned the tables of the money changers and those who sold pigeons as He cried out: “Is it not written, My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations? But you have made it a den of robbers.” (Mark 11.17)
The purpose of the House of God had been perverted by self-interest and legalities. Jesus’ violent reaction to this was interpreted by His disciples as the zeal of the Lord. (John 2.17) It was not the sanctity of the building that concerned the Lord, but rather the purpose for which it was built. If the Temple was to be called the House of God, then it needed to be true to the reason for which it was built. In this “outer court”, which was open to all, there was to be cleansing, sacrifice, offerings and prayer. The exterior service was to reflect in inner condition of the heart.
The first mention of the concept of the House of God, is in the book of Genesis. Jacob had fled from the wrath of his brother and one night he had a vision of an open heaven, with angels ascending and descending a ladder that extending into heaven. There the Lord met him and confirmed the Abrahamic blessing and covenant with Jacob. Jacob set up a pillar and anointed it with oil and called that place Bethel, which means House of God. It was there that Jacob vowed to serve the Lord and to give Him a tithe of all he would receive. (Gen. 28.17, 22) The House of God is a place to encounter God and to respond to Him in worship and service.
Even though the House of God later became the Tabernacle and then the Temple, it was never intended to contain God or to be equated with God. The prophet Isaiah voices the Lord’s intention, when he says: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool, and what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? …But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.” (66.1-2) God desires to dwell in man and to manifest His presence in the coming together of His people. Bethel was the experience that happened in Jacob and his subsequent transformation in becoming Israel. (Gen. 35.1-10)
In cleansing the Temple, Jesus was confronting a people who had drifted far from a relationship with God. The building did not concern Him, for He had prophesied of its destruction. He was preparing another house, not made by man, but for man. A dwelling place in the Spirit, where true worship would take place and the presence of God would be manifest. It is the house that Jesus would build in three days. (John 2.18-22) It is the resurrected Body of Christ. In Christ, we have communion. In Christ, we live and move and have our being. In Christ, we are family. The Church, His Body, is His and our dwelling place. The Church is His House.
Scriptures to meditate on:
Gen. 28.17, 22; 31.13; 35.1, 3, 10; Is. 56.7; 66.1-2; Mal. 3.10; Mark 11.17; John 2.16-17; 14.2; I Tim. 3.15