Luke 13:34-35

Luke 13:34-35 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

John 2:18-22 Then the Jews demanded of him, “What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” The Jews replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” But the temple he had spoken of was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.

1 King 8:10-12 When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the LORD. And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled his temple. Then Solomon said, “The LORD has said that he would dwell in a dark cloud; I have indeed built a magnificent temple for you, a place for you to dwell forever.”

The Lord tells each Christian, "My temple is my Spirit dwelling in you." We who are IN CHRIST are not only collectively the body of Christ, but each of us individually is a place where God can abide. Because of the presence of God, we are the most holy of temples. We have in us the Holy of Holies, the intimate presence of God. Before Christ, the Holy of Holies was in a temple made by hands. When Solomon built the elaborate temple, he constructed it in such a prescribed manner that not one measurement or decoration was considered arbitrary. Everything about the temple was prescribed, inspired, and directed by God. This exactness, down to the most minute detail in construction and form, reveals God's perfection. God dwells only in that which is perfect.

The Jewish people allowed God's dwelling place, the temple, to be desecrated. It had become a place of commerce, a place to make money. Earlier, Jesus upset the tables of the money changers and drove out the people who were making money from the activities in the temple. Sadly, the people of Jerusalem were so corrupt they did not even respect the dwelling place of the God they supposedly served. Jesus laments the waywardness of the Jewish people: O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! Over the years they prostituted themselves out to other gods, serving their own desires rather than God. Now, even the temple of God became a place of disrepute. Jesus knew they would face the judgment of God because of their sinful ways. Jesus also knew the Romans would kill many of them because of their rebellion against Roman rule, and they would be scattered throughout the world. He laments this harsh judgment, for he loves the Jewish people, God's chosen. In their midst the temple was built to the one true God, and the Spirit of God came to dwell in the Holy of Holies, but they rejected his presence and desecrated his temple.

Jesus said, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” Of course, he predicted his death and resurrection. Christians are now part of that resurrected body. Collectively we are part of that temple, and individually we are his dwelling place. Just as when a technician biopsies any unidentifiable part of our body, even the smallest cell, and knows that it came from a human, so it is with every believer. No matter how insignificant we are, we are God's temple with the ability to hold the spirit of God within our spirits. As members of his body, we are perfect in him. He has made us perfect to his exact measurements. Jesus said they would not see him again until they would say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. In reality they will not see the Lord of their temple again until they see Jesus in all of his glory. Then they will praise him, for He will be recognized for who He really is, THE LORD ALMIGHTY. Yet today, people will see the resurrected Christ in you. Let him shine forth his love through your words and deeds in this dark world.