TEXT: John 2:13-17

SUBJECT: Attributes of Christ #4: Zeal

For the last few months at the Lord’s Table, we’ve meditated on the human attributes of our Savior, Jesus Christ. His attributes are the things that make Him Him—and not someone else. His human attributes are the things that make Him the kind of man He was—and still is.

Most scholars make the Lord Jesus a rather shadowy figure, but the New Testament throws a floodlight on His character. It tells us, not only that He is a man (which is mind-boggling itself), but also what kind of man He is.

We study His human attributes—not to diminish His Godhead, but, in fact, to see it more clearly. When Philip, that beloved idiot said, "Lord, show us the Father", the Lord could only reply, "Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father". Jesus Christ puts a human face on the character of God. His human life helps us to see His Divinity. And makes us want to love and worship, adore, and serve Him!

The other reason we study His human character is to see what kind of person God wants us to be. Paul said we’re to "Be imitators of God as dear children". Fathers often see themselves in their kids—and the likeness is not always flattering. But our Heavenly Father wants to see Himself in His children—and that means seeing the character of Christ formed in us.

This is why we’re looking at the human attributes of our Lord—and why we’re doing it at the Lord’s Supper. Because, our eating and drinking must be in remembrance of Me, the Lord once said.

So far, we’ve looked at His wisdom, His humility, and His courage. Now, we’ll have a look at His zeal.

Today’s story comes as a shock to most Christians. And maybe an as embarrassment too. We have the Lord Jesus Christ—the most humble, patient, loving and self-controlled man in the world—becoming so angry that He pushes His way into the Temple, throws down the cash boxes, whips the livestock out of the place, and lashes out at the priests for turning God’s House into a shopping mall!

And in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, He goes even farther by calling the leaders of Israel a pack of thieves! They’re not only selling things in the Temple, but they’re swindling God’s people in the process.

The Lord is mad—not put out a bit or a trifle disappointed, but in a volcanic rage. It recalls Moses slamming down the Ten Commandments before the Golden Calf. Or Jehu, executing the wrath of God on the seventy sons of Ahab--and especially on the king’s demonic widow.

The Apostles must have been blown away by His anger—they had never seen anything like it. They must have wondered what got into the Man. Had He tossed and turned all night? Was He having a bad day? Had He lost His self-control? How do you explain this Man going off the way He did? At first His friends did not know. But later, a verse came to mind; it explained it all to them. It’s Psalm 69:9,

It wasn’t low blood sugar that set the Lord off; it wasn’t a bruised ego or a party spirit. No, it was zeal for God that seized Him that day and made Him cleanse the Temple.

Zeal is another word for passion or intensity or a burning enthusiasm. It is the opposite of lukewarmness.

In the New Testament it’s often used in a bad way.

Before he was converted, Paul’s zeal was something like fanaticism. Many Jews at the time were worried about the followers of Jesus and all the noise they were making about His resurrection and Lordship. But most of them were too busy with other things; they were lukewarm, you might say.

But young Paul wasn’t! He said "Concerning zeal, I persecuted the church". He hated the Lord Jesus with an intense and lasting hatred; he breathed out slaughter against the disciples; he had Stephen stoned to death; he got warrants to arrest renegade Jews all over the world and bring them back to Jerusalem in chains for torture and death.

In Paul’s early life, we have zeal at its worst—fanatically devoted to a bad cause.

In other places, zeal is more like a party-spirit. Paul said the false teachers in Galatia were more eager to recruit men to their sect than they were to Christ. Circumcision, Sabbaths, and other customs of Israel were more important to them than Christ was! To the people who were listening to them, Paul said,

If you’ve been with our kind of people very long, you know how prone we are to a party spirit. To major on minors and to work harder at making Arminians into Calvinists than we are to make sinners into saints!

Should you care about doctrine? Yes you should: doctrine matters because truth matters. But you mustn’t be devoted to some doctrines only—the ones you like best. And that devotion to truth must not cancel your devotion to love. Is zeal a good thing? Sure it is—but not if it becomes a party-spirit! Not if it’s full of self-congratulations!

In other places, zeal stands for something like pugnacity or the eagerness to quarrel. We’ve all known people (and some of them are believers) who are looking for a fight. They’re chomping at the bit to argue about—well, about anything!

These people are intense, enthusiastic, and ready for action. They’re zealous in a certain way, but not in the way our Lord Jesus was. And not in the way you ought to be.

Godly zeal is as far removed from these wicked passions as it can be. And no wonder: it’s a fruit of God’s Spirit while these lower enthusiasms are "earthly, sensual, devilish". Even—and especially—when they fly under God’s flag.

Godly zeal is set on the right object. Think of all the hideous things men did to Christ—from doubting His legitimacy to hanging Him on a cross. Yet "When He was reviled He did not revile". He was not zealous for Himself! Not eager to have a good reputation! No, He took the abuse of men quietly--like a lamb on its way to the slaughter.

No, what stirred the Lord’s heart was the dishonoring of God. This is what we ought to care about! Not that others respect us or think our church is the best one in town. We ought to passionately feel for the glory of God and do what we can to defend it and promote it in the world. This is the zeal our Lord had.

Godly zeal is controlled by the Law of God and tempered with God’s mercy.

When He saw the leaders of Israel making a mockery of God’s House, the Lord got mad—plenty mad. But He did not go past the lines of justice or mercy.

As a devout Jew, He had as much right to be in the Temple as the High Priest did. It belonged to all of God’s People; the priests were only the guardians—and that’s the point—they were not guarding it.

The money that was spilled did not belong to them; they had no more right to it than a purse snatcher has to the money in a lady’s bag. And, of course, the Lord didn’t pick it up and put it in His pocket.

The cord of whips was used on the livestock, not the men.

And the tongue lashing He gave them was part of His prophetic office. And He had every right to use it.

Thus, He broke no law when He turned them out that day. And, He also remembered mercy. When the sons of Aaron defiled the Tabernacle, God struck them dead—right then and there. What the leaders were doing in His day was even worse, and yet the Lord did not kill them for their sins, but merely drove them out and gave them something to think about. Something that might well have contributed to their salvation three years later, when…

When the situation calls for it, it’s right to be forceful and bold. But it isn’t right to sin, either in what you do or in what you say. What we call "righteous indignation" is often only half that!

Godly zeal doesn’t hold a grudge. It may act with great boldness, but it doesn’t fester and become bitter. At Antioch, Paul shot Peter down something awful. But they didn’t become enemies. Paul didn’t gloat over his victory and Peter didn’t stew over his loss. For, godly zeal is against sin—not sinners. It’s goal is to glorify God and not to win arguments or to come off smarter or holier than anyone else.

If Jesus Christ was zealous for the truth and holiness and glory of God, I have to ask: Are you?

When it comes to your devotional life, are you zealous or lukewarm? I’m not asking what you feel, but whether you consistently read the Bible and pray—and do them both with love?

When it comes to obedience, are you zealous or are you lukewarm? Not every duty is equally enjoyable—I know! But do you make an effort to run the way of God’s commandments?

When it comes to church-life, are you zealous or are you lukewarm? Is it a great joy to meet on the Lord’s Day or is it just something you have to get out of the way?

When it comes to evangelism, are you zealous or are you lukewarm (or maybe not that!)?

The Lord has never approved of lukewarmness. So why don’t you repent of yours? And seek a new intensity in His worship and service?

And why don’t you praise the Lord Jesus Christ for His zeal? If He had been listless in His obedience, you would not be saved. For it took the focus of a laser beam and the heat of a steam engine, to walk the path to the cross and to die for your sins!

When I look at myself and most others, I see the look of apathy, of half-heartedness, of whateverness. But when I look to Christ I see a man on fire for God!

And I love Him for it! And trust Him to complete my salvation, for: