Purifying The Temple
The sanctification of the body

John 2:13-22.

The scene of purifying (clearing 1) the temple is very well-known. It was close to the celebration of the Passover -the main festival amongst the Jews - when Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

Arriving at the temple he found merchants selling and money changers engaged in their transactions, and so Jesus, taking a whip made of cords, vehemently drove them all out.

The Holy temple had been transformed into a house of merchandize, and Jesus -the Lord of the House - would not stand for it.

The allegory of the temple

The Holy temple had three divisions: the atrium, the Holy place and the Most Holy place. The atrium was the external courtyard that all could see and visit. Here, worship offerings, consisting of live animals were brought to the altar to be offered. Second was the Holy place was where only the priests could enter. They were close to God, but were still outside the veil, that separated the Holy place from the Most Holy place; they were not still in God's presence. The innermost room was the Most Holy place, where no-one was allowed to enter except the high priest, once a year. The only light in the room was that of God Himself.

The Scriptures say that we are threefold beings; that is to say that have a body, a soul and a spirit. (1 Thes.5:23) This threefold formation enables us to compare our being with the structure of the Holy temple: our body with the atrium (or courtyard); the soul with the Holy place, and the spirit with the Most Holy place.

When the Lord Jesus cleansed the temple, He was clearing the courtyard because it was there that the merchants and money traders had set up their trade.

Indeed, the problem was not in the Holy place, nor in the Most Holy place, but in the external atrium, because it was there that they offered the animals which the merchants sold. Of the three parts of the temple, the external atrium was the most exposed.

So, the temple, in this passage, speaks to us about the body. The Lord himself made the analogy of the temple being the body (John 2:21). So the purifying of the temple which the Lord Jesus speaks to us about is the sanctification of the body.

The sanctification of the body is the first step in the believer's sanctification. For that reason Paul later had to say to the brothers in Rome:

- Therefore I urge you brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship. (Romans 12:1)

In that epistle, Paul lectures widely on the basic principles of the Christian life (chapters. 3 to 8); after which he concludes with a call of consecration that begins with the body.

The temple of the body

Just as the external atrium was the most exposed part of the temple, due to the hundreds of people that daily bustled through, so it is with our body, because it is the means through which we communicate with the external world. The diverse stimuli that the world sends to us enters our soul through the body.

Our body is a physical entity, that consists of sensations, appetites and desires. The nervous ends that are disseminated through all their extremities are truly like radar antennas that capture all that surrounds us. The physical senses (sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell) are true 'parabolic' in that they capture everything. They are like tentacles that always go in search of gratifying sensations. These natural senses will always induce us to look for pleasure and to avoid pain.

In reality, the Lord speaks to us very clearly about how we should react towards the appetites of our body, in his actions towards the merchants and money traders. There are few occasions when the Lord was as severe as this. He Himself made a whip out of cords, and with it drove all those that sold and exchanged out of the temple area. This is also the path that we must take with our external atrium, so that it doesn't contaminate or hinder the operation of our being's more intimate parts.

Master, steward and servant

A brother has proposed a very useful allegory for the spirit, the soul and the body that can help us to visualize the function that each of these should carry out in the life of a Christian.

He has said that our spirit must be like a master, our soul like a steward and our body like a servant (or slave). The master is ultimately in charge, and gives orders to the steward, who in turn gives orders to the servant to be carried out. The master gives orders in private to the steward, who then imparts them to the servant. Although the steward seems to be the owner of everything, the owner of everything is, in fact, the master.

Now then, if this master is really he who governs within us, we will be spiritual. If the steward is he who is in control, we will be carnal Christians; if it is the servant who does his own will, then we are like an unbeliever who lives only for the appetites of the body.

This is because the body and the soul are closely linked together, (this is confirmed by the existence of many psychosomatic illnesses) our body can be a great hindrance to the soul in becoming a docile steward. The body is selfish by nature and will inevitably seek to exercise dominion over the believer's soul. The body, being our being's most exposed part, has demands that are usually completely opposite to those of the spirit. Therefore, we should exercise authority over it.

We need to be masters of our body and not slaves to it.

Beating the body

Overall, the body is not -as the ascetics say - a nuisance which we must undo, nor a source of evil. On the contrary, there is dignity within the body of a believer. That dignity is demonstrated by the fact that the Son of God took man's form; he inhabited a body like ours.

Nevertheless, the Scriptures teach us that we should refrain from the appetites of the body (James 3:2), and that we should beat it, reducing it to slavery (1 Corinthians 9:27), so that it ends up being an obedient servant and not a rebellious master. This is not asceticism, as one might think: it is the self-discipline necessary to make our body a slave in our service to the Lord.

The term beat, used by Paul, is not soft. Nor was the Lord's attitude toward the merchants and money traders. This suggests that it is necessary to take some measures with regards to the treatment of the body.

- Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. (1 Corinthians 9:24-27).

Paul's teaching is given in the context of an athlete that participates in the Olympic Games. Many are those that run, but only one takes the prize. Therefore, it is necessary to run in such a way that we achieve it.

We know what it means to participate in an athletic competition. Before the race, a rigorous control should be maintained upon the body. The expression, goes into strict training suggests that the body must not be allowed to make excessive demands: its freedom should be restricted.

As the demands of the body are legitimate -such as food, clothing, rest, recreation - service to the Lord carries a greater demand. When the Lord requires to be served, we must be in a condition to respond. Our body won't be able to do this unless it is exercised. This exercise should begin in the periods of normal life, so that the body is prepared, for when it becomes necessary to serve.

Ally or enemy?

This is a question that we (all those that want to serve to the Lord) must honestly ask ourselves. If our body is not our slave but our master, we will never be able to lend a useful and fruitful service, nor reach the fullness of life in Christ.

The disciples in Gethsemane could not conquer their sleepiness (Mark 14:37), because they were not exercised in having control over their body. (Mark 14:38) The Lord, on the other hand, could talk with Nicodemus, even though it was late at night, and he could assist the spiritual necessity of the Samaritan woman in spite of his own necessity for food.

When the disciples urged him to eat he told them: - I have food to eat that you know nothing about.

And: - My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. (John 4:31-34).

There are times in which a Christian must fast (when the situation requires it); in others they must adapt to very precarious situations; and sometimes they must endure an insistent illness. In order to do all of this, our body must be exercised.

The Lord made the body, and he made it with certain impulses, but he wants it to be our servant and not our master. We will only be able to serve him as we should in this way.

Paul feared being disqualified from the race, if he didn't reduce his body to servitude. What will we, who are lesser than Paul, say to this? Mustn't we also fear the same thing?

For the love of the Lord, we will order our body so that, by the power of Christ's resurrection, it will be our ally and not our enemy in God's work. We will take the authority of the Lord to clear everything that offends the sanctity of the Lord out of this temple.

This is the first step in our sanctification, and, at the same time, is a very practical form of beginning to die to ourselves.

(1) In the NIV version, purifies is translated as clears, but shall be used throughout in the more literal translation of the Reina-Valera 1960.

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