John 2:13 “And the Jews’ passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.”

John 2:14 “And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:”

John 2:15 “And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables;”

John 2:16 “And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise.”

John 2:17 “And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.”

The more you care about the Bible and seeing people saved, the more likely it is that you will get called a religious “fanatic” and “zealot”.

But for a Christian who is committed to the cause of Christ, such labelling that is intended to shame and shut you up should rather be held as a badge of honour.

Because the fact is, the church and this world could really do with more Christians who have a “zeal” just like Jesus Christ had “the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up”.

If you could place yourself in this scene, what would you have thought of Jesus Christ when he made a whip and chased the religious racketeers and the animals they were selling out of the temple with it?

Yeah… in today’s society, the reality is, most people would have called him an extremist, a fanatic, a fundamentalist, a Bible basher… not to mention judgmental, mean, intolerant and uncompassionate.

Why did Jesus do what he did? Well because the people had turned the temple worship and service of God into a “commercial” enterprise, like a lot of churches are doing today.

We’ve commercialized the Bible, releasing new perversions of God’s word constantly for money, we exploit the souls of men and women looking for truth for our profit, and churches have turned Christianity into a materialistic money making machine that blasphemes God’s name and repels many people from Christianity.

And it’s disgusting, and that’s why Jesus drove them all out. He didn’t ask them to leave, he chased them out.

But to be clear, there’s nothing wrong with being zealous for the Bible and truth, Jesus was, and so should Christians “But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing”.

And it is not people who are zealous for the truth that are harming the cause of Christ, no, it is apathy, indifference and spiritual coldness that is killing churches and has rendered the church to this world “good for nothing” exactly as Jesus said it would.

Blog Bible Christian Church God Gospel Jesus John 2 Money Religion Salvation Temple Zeal Zealot