John 2:12-17: a reflection

12After this, he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, his brothers, and his disciples; and they stayed there a few days. 13The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14He found in the temple those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves, and the changers of money sitting. 15He made a whip of cords and drove all out of the temple, both the sheep and the oxen; and he poured out the changers’ money and overthrew their tables. 16To those who sold the doves, he said, “Take these things out of here! Don’t make my Father’s house a marketplace!” 17His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will eat me up.”

When Jesus goes up to the temple and finds it turned into a marketplace, with those selling animals and changing money, he acts with startling force: he makes a whip of cords, drives them out, pours out the money-changers' coins and overturns their tables, saying, Do not make my Father's house a marketplace. His disciples recall the words, Zeal for your house will consume me. Jesus is stirred by a burning zeal for the purity of God's house, unwilling to see the place of worship corrupted into a place of commerce.

Notice Jesus' zeal for the purity of God's house. He would not tolerate the place of worship being turned into a marketplace, its holy purpose corrupted by commerce and gain. His zeal for his Father's house was such that he acted forcefully to cleanse it, driving out what did not belong. He cared deeply that God's house be what it was meant to be, a place of worship and prayer, not a market; and that care moved him to act. The purity of God's house mattered intensely to him.

That zeal of Jesus for the purity of God's house is worth pondering, for it calls us to care about the purity of our own worship and devotion. We can let lesser things, gain, distraction, self-interest, corrupt our worship, turning what should be devotion to God into something else; and we can grow indifferent to it. But Jesus was zealous for the purity of God's house, unwilling to see worship corrupted. Consider whether things that do not belong have crept into your worship and devotion, corrupting them; and let Jesus' zeal stir you to guard their purity. Do not let your worship of God be corrupted by lesser things, gain or distraction or self-interest, but keep it pure, devoted to God alone. Let something of Christ's zeal for the purity of God's house move you to guard the purity of your own worship and devotion, that they be truly for God, and not corrupted into something else, as Jesus cleansed the temple of what did not belong.

Lord Jesus, when you went up to the temple and found it turned into a marketplace, with those selling animals and changing money, you acted with startling force: you made a whip of cords, drove them out, poured out the money-changers' coins and overturned their tables, saying, do not make my Father's house a marketplace. Your disciples recalled the words, zeal for your house will consume me. You were stirred by a burning zeal for the purity of God's house. Show me your zeal for the purity of God's house. You would not tolerate the place of worship being turned into a marketplace, its holy purpose corrupted by commerce and gain. You cared deeply that God's house be what it was meant to be, a place of worship and prayer; and that care moved you to act. The purity of God's house mattered intensely to you. Let that zeal call me to care about the purity of my own worship and devotion. I can let lesser things, gain, distraction, self-interest, corrupt my worship, turning what should be devotion to you into something else; and I can grow indifferent to it. But you were zealous for the purity of God's house. Help me consider whether things that do not belong have crept into my worship and devotion; and let your zeal stir me to guard their purity. Keep me from letting my worship of you be corrupted by lesser things; help me keep it pure, devoted to you alone, Lord. Let something of your zeal for the purity of God's house move me to guard the purity of my own worship.