When the Jews asked for a sign that showed He had authority to drive out the moneymakers, Jesus pointed to the temple of His body. “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:18-19). Why did Jesus point to His body? 1) Because His body was the incarnation of the divine with the human. The tabernacle and temples were merely signs pointing to the true tabernacle of God’s presence. The Son of God “tabernacled” in the human body of Jesus. His was the true and superior dwelling place of God’s presence, v. 21, like a flame of fire that outshines a mere drawing of a match. God was working through Him.
2) Because the true light now shines to help people see the “real world” of God’s kingdom. Role-reversals like those of Christ ruling over the temple become commonplace in the kingdom of light. Christ and His work of preaching the kingdom with its healings exposes the darkness of men’s hearts, who are valuing things and activities over God Himself. Idols become apparent next to the character and power of God in Jesus. Who should you base your life on, God’s incarnate Son, or a man-made thing?
People don’t like their idols exposed as illusions, of no worth next to Jesus. Record-breaking auction valuations of rare and collectable items lose their value against the divine majesty of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who rules over life and death.
With Jesus, the kingdom of God has broken in, and His resurrection will be the death blow to the kingdom of darkness where Satan has blinded the eyes of all people. The gospel will go out to all, that when people claim Jesus’ rightful place as Lord of all, and believe that He beat sin and death by His resurrection, then true revolution will begin in their hearts.
The kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Repent and believe the good news. Repent–think differently about the kingdom and believe the truth of the world the incarnate Son made. Believe–live according to the startling reality that God works in the midst of mankind today, and wants to work in your life. God is real. God has invaded our world. Our worldly schemes has been proven false. Jesus the Son of God is true God after all. (Fallen men’s version of Christianity is another matter.)
With the resurrection, we see clearly that God bore a physical body in our known world, and He has revealed the superficiality of what we thought we knew. Believing the gospel, God the Holy Spirit enters our own bodies as well, and we receive startling insights into this kingdom and live as residents of His world alongside the wreck and ruin of the one we grew up in.
There is only one God. All others are man-made. This God is ruler over the temple. He is over the Passover. With the invasion of the divine with the human body of believers via the indwelling of the Spirit, the Jewish priesthood becomes obsolete. All believers are priests of God. All believers become mini-temples of God. All believers can know God personally.
The physical temples become obsolete. Churches become meetings where God works in love and power to reveal the light to those who see and hear His voice. “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (v. 19). After His resurrection and the work of the Spirit in their own lives, the disciples recalled these words of Jesus and believed.
Jesus commands us to repent, to think differently about the kingdom. Does the Spirit help you overcome the idols of your life? Is the darkness over your life being phased out by the kingdom of light? Will you believe that Jesus Christ is Lord over all and deserves the highest place of your heart?
