“The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the moneychangers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, ‘Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.’ His disciples remembered that it was written, ‘Zeal for your house will consume me.’” (John 2:13-17)
These days there is are several common threads running through both broadcast and social media. One of them is that Jesus, in His ministry had the most condemnation for religious people here represented by the hypocrites, the rulers of the Jews and their cronies such as those who did the buying and selling in the Temple. The common theme is that Jesus rejected religious zealots who looked down on the poor and the marginalized people of society. This is correct. He fellowshipped with the outcasts and sinners, but not because He approved of their sinful behavior. He wanted them to come to repentance and faith in Him. The condemnation was reserved for those religious rulers and their cronies who prevented sinners from coming to God, who showed only hatred and condemnation to them, who not only led people astray by commanding them to follow the law, but they also used the things of God to line their pockets and make their own lives easier.
Jesus’ response was to clear the Temple of those people who saw worship as an opportunity to make money or relied on worldly methods to worship God. They had no zeal for God, though they probably couched their sales as pious and devout attempts to facilitate the worship of the masses much as some preachers do these days.
These days our culture finds such a zeal as Jesus manifested to be frightening. They do not want a God who rebukes sins in any fashion it may take. They do not want a God who is not safe. They want a God they can manipulate and use for personal gain, one who will allow them to fulfill all their personal desires and lusts. This is not the God Jesus reveals Himself to be here in clearing the Temple. Consequently, to avoid “offending people” many churches and Christians lack zeal for the Gospel so that they have compromised with the cultural norms and softened their position on sin. In addition many Christians have denied the uniqueness of faith in Christ, preferring to maintain that all religions are equal. They preach grace only, no law, thus depriving the gospel of its core, allowing sinners to wallow in their sinfulness thinking they have a clear path to heaven while they are bound for Hell.
However, zeal as expressed by Jesus manifests itself as intense hatred of sin in general and religious hypocrisy in particular. We do not help people by avoiding or ignoring sin. For certain the zeal of God is not safe for it will consume all sinners who do not repent and who deny His name and His Word. And yet His zeal allows the faithful to place the things of God and His Kingdom first above material and personal gain or reward. Zeal will enable the Church to worship God purely, free from the ideas, ways and methods the world uses.