The Lord has come to his temple. He is going to destroy it. So what?
Large sections of Matthew, Mark, and Luke are taken up with Jesus teaching his disciples about the destruction of the Temple (Mt 24; Mk 13; Lk 21). Jesus not only speaks about it, he prophetically acts out the destruction of the Temple when he turns over the money changers’ tables, drives everyone out, and shuts down the Temple for a day. The Temple occupies a central place in the life of God’s people and becomes a focal point of Jesus’ ministry in the transition between the new age and the age to come. But why? Why take so much time in discussing and focusing on the Temple? Why should we care about what happens to an ancient building back in the first century? Well, if Jesus thought it important enough to talk about, and the writers of the Gospels under the inspiration of the Spirit believed it was important enough to record among the massive amounts of other information that could have been recorded (cf. Jn 21.25), then it must be important to the continuing life of the church.
The story of the Temple is long and checkered. Its story begins in the beginning. When God created Adam, his son (cf. Lk 3.38), he created him with a project; a project that would involve making the world look like his throne room, the highest heaven. Once that project was complete, the entire creation would be united into being one big house for God and man to dwell together. Even before the fall of man into sin, this was his mission. The world had to flourish to become this place that God intended. This would take time and faithfulness to the mission. When sin entered the world, this house-building project became impossible to complete. What began as a simple growth from immaturity to maturity became a death that had to be overcome by resurrection. Nevertheless, the project for God’s son remained. Through the years God chose a special son–the seed–to be this temple-builder. The faithful son was the one through whom the world would meet God. What he built would be that point where heaven and earth were united.
Sons came and went; Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jacob became twelve tribes of Israel. Israel was the son of God (cf. Ex 4.22, 23). Once Israel was delivered from Egypt, he was given a task: build the house of God, the tabernacle. As God’s son, Israel was the place where the world would come to meet and know God. What Israel had to do was remain faithful to the task, continuing to build God’s house according to his plan; plans he revealed to them in his Law. Time and again Israel failed. They decided that they would build and maintain God’s house following the wisdom of other gods. Each time God stopped the project. Eventually, God destroyed the Tabernacle for good through the hands of the Philistines at Shiloh (1Sam 4; Jer 7.12-14).
Was the project over? No. God raised up a new son: David and then Solomon. He put it in David’s heart to build the Temple, and Solomon built the Temple. But if Solomon or his successors became unfaithful, God would rip the house of Israel apart again: the people would go into captivity and the Temple would be torn down. Solomon himself became unfaithful and his son, Rehoboam followed suit. God ripped Israel into two kingdoms. The kings that followed fared little better, so God eventually tore the house completely down, destroying the Temple and Jerusalem and sending his people into captivity.
Was the project over? No. In the Jordan River one day, a prophet was baptizing. One came to be baptized and something spectacular happened: the heavens ripped open and a voice from heaven declared, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” God provided his Son, the seed, the King of Israel, to complete this building project. What had to be done first was to remove the old Temple that had become corrupt through the years. Out of the rubble, from the Jews, God’s Son would build a new Temple. Jesus’ announcement of the destruction of the Temple was the proclamation of his authority as God’s Son, the King, who could destroy the old and make a new Temple. All those who pledge their allegiance to him are God’s people, the new Temple.
Dear Christian, you are a living stone in this Temple built to be the dwelling place of the Spirit (1Pt 2.5). You are the place where the world comes to see and know God because you are in Christ. You are a little bit of heaven on earth; the place where heaven and earth are united. You are what the Son of God came to build because you, in your participation in the church, are the Temple of God (1Cor 3.16).
Be faithful to your calling.
