The glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord. 1 Kings 8:11
This described the temple in the days of Solomon, but by the time of Jesus it was a very different place.
The place of prayer for all nations had been leased out to traders, and the temple was no longer a place of atonement. It was destroyed and the ark was lost, so there was no mercy seat where you could make atonement. All you could do was come to God and say, “I’m sorry.”
Centuries had passed since the cloud of God’s presence had come down to the temple. What God intended for the temple was not happening, and Christ’s passion was that it should.
Making God’s house all that God intended it to be took more than driving out traders. Christ came to replace the temple. And that is the great significance of this exchange: “The Jews said to him, ‘What sign do you show us for doing these things?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up’” (John 2:18-19).
“The Jews then said, ‘It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?’ But he was speaking about the temple of his body. When therefore 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” (John 2:20-22).
Christ becomes the new temple. He is the meeting place between man and God. You don’t have to travel to some religious site to meet with God. You meet with God by coming in repentance and faith to Jesus Christ.
You can meet with God now. Will you come to Jesus in repentance and faith today?
