You Are the Temple

Your culture, worldview, and their theological underpinnings both influence and limit, often subconsciously, the way you read and understand Scripture. People can read the same Bible passage and interpret it differently based on their backgrounds. One of my favorite undergraduate courses was called Global Perspectives in Scripture (not a Bible class, but part of a larger series in global perspectives required for all undergraduates), and it examined this phenomenon. For instance, was the destruction of the Tower of Babel based on God’s rejection of colonialism (the understanding of natives in colonized countries who equated government and towers with colonial regimes), His lack of desire for a relationship with humanity (the understanding of sub-Saharan Africans familiar with the Bluebird Myth), His fear of a no-limits humanity (a Luceferian understanding), His response to humanity’s rebellious disobedience to His commands to “fill the earth and subdue it” (my personal understanding), or something else entirely? You don’t have to answer, but hopefully you can see how your culture and worldview influence your reading of Scripture, or anything else for that matter.

One student in this class was a Brazilian atheist. We were required to bring our Bibles for the class, and he had to buy one since he (as an atheist) didn’t already own one. Of course, this wasn’t like his other textbooks where the campus bookstore carried the most recent edition. So, he went to pick out an English translation (there were not a lot of Portuguese options in the local Christian bookstore) and was very concerned about how many options were available. He picked one that he was able to afford and read, and completed the first reading on the syllabus, Genesis 1-3. When everyone began to discuss it in class, this young man became very discouraged, thinking that he had purchased the wrong edition of the textbook (the Bible). It seemed everyone else’s Bible mentioned Satan in the reading, but his Bible just talked about creation, a garden, a man, a woman, and a serpent. After noticing the look of confusion and frustration on the young man’s face, the professor asked him to explain. That’s when the rest of us realized that we had been taught our whole lives that the serpent was Satan, but it did not explicitly state that anywhere in those three chapters (go ahead and check; I’ll wait). Worse, when asked where we had heard that, none of us could recall. We just knew it from church, home, Sunday School, VBS, or somewhere. This belief (based on Revelation 12:9 and 20:2) was so ingrained in our collective consciousness that we had all just assumed it was there in Genesis 1-3. These assumptions are not necessarily wrong, but they influence and limit how we read Scripture, and it is sometimes helpful to remove these scales from our eyes so we can see what the Holy Spirit wants to reveal to us through God’s Word. I recently became aware of another such assumption, and I believe it will change the way you understand your role as the temple of the Holy Spirit.

Temples are essentially buildings around an altar. An altar is a location where humanity encounters (or at least tries to encounter) the presence of a divine being through sacrifice and/or worship. They are not exclusive to Jewish or Christian worship, which is why the Corinthians could understand what Paul meant when he said their bodies were temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16-17, 6:19). However, they are important to both Jewish and Christian worship. Noah built an altar, Abraham built an altar, Jacob built an altar, and many modern believers accepted Christ at an altar, were married at an altar, and partake in Communion at an altar. At my church, many people worship through singing and giving at the altar. We come to the altar to meet with God.

God actually prescribed an altar where He would meet with humanity (Exodus 20:24-25). This altar was to be built of earth or unhewn stones, required sacrifices, and God said He would come to His people and bless them there. The initial fulfillment of this commandment came through the tabernacle (and subsequently the temple), which had two altars. The bronze altar was for sacrifices and the gold altar was for offering incense. I would personally consider the Holy of Holies to be a third altar, as it was sprinkled with blood seven times on Yom Kippur each year, and this is the place where God met with His people.

The tabernacle was the beginning of what we now call the “temple system.” It grew into a major operation, with a workforce of around 20,000 priests who would prepare and sacrifice the offerings. This included selecting the perfect animal to sacrifice, binding it and leading (or carrying) it to the altar, slaughtering it, cleaning it, and cooking or burning the meat, depending upon the nature of the sacrifice. It was bloody, hot, and heavy, but sin made it necessary.

During the week leading up to His crucifixion, Jesus fulfilled the requirements of the temple system. Just as God sacrificed an animal (Genesis 3:21) to reconcile Adam and Eve to Himself, Jesus acted as our priest by making a sacrifice to reconcile humanity to Himself. Of course, Jesus was not only the priest, but also the sacrificial Lamb (John 1:29, Revelation 13:8). Because of this, Jesus has also become our altar (Hebrews 13:10-13). He is where we encounter God (John 14:6).

Beginning with Jesus’ final Sabbath, He gradually fulfills these roles (priest, sacrifice, and altar), and ultimately replaces the temple system with something much better. On the Sabbath, Jesus was anointed at Bethany (John 12:1-3). This was one of up to three possible anointings, but collectively they prepared Jesus as priest by washing Him with water (Exodus 29:4) and anointing Him with oil (Exodus 29:7), and prepared Him as the altar by cleansing and anointing Him (Exodus 29:36).

On Palm Sunday, Jesus entered Jerusalem (Zechariah 9:9, Luke 19:36-40, John 12:12-19), wept over Jerusalem (Luke 19:41-44), and then visited the temple (Mark 11:11). On a previous visit, Jesus had cleansed the temple (John 2:13-21), much like a priest would clean a contaminated house (Leviticus 14:33-53). The process involved cleansing the home, waiting, inspecting to ensure the plague had not returned, and judging whether the house was clean or needed to be dismantled. Three years after this initial cleansing of the temple, Jesus went back to inspect His house and saw that the plague had returned.

Jesus also talked a lot about stones on Palm Sunday. When He entered Jerusalem, He told the Pharisees that the stones would cry out if the crowd became silent (Luke 19:40). Was He talking about how nature praises Him (Psalm 96:11-12, 98:7-8; Isaiah 55:12), about how the temple stones cry out because of corruption (Habakkuk 2:9-11), or about us (1 Peter 2:5)? When Jesus wept over Jerusalem, He said that not one of its stones would be left upon another (Luke 19:44). This also includes the temple stones, which would need to be removed due to spiritual contamination (Leviticus 14:45). We learned earlier that God commanded an altar built of earth or stones (Exodus 20:24-25), but people are made of earth (Genesis 2:7) and are called living stones (1 Peter 2:5). That means we qualify to be altars. Was Jesus planning to replace the temple stones (Leviticus 14:45, Habakkuk 2:9-11) with living stones (1 Peter 2:5)?

On Monday, Jesus cursed the fig tree on His way from Bethany to Jerusalem (Mark 11:12-14). This fig tree (symbolic of the Jewish people) appeared to have fruit (because of the presence of leaves), but had none. This was symbolic of the Jewish system that appeared righteous in the sight of men but was fruitless in God’s sight (Hosea 9:10, Isaiah 27:6, Micah 7:1, Jeremiah 8:13, Hosea 9:16). It is no accident that this happened after Jesus had wept for Jerusalem and inspected the temple. Cursing the fig tree signifies His rejection and tearing down of the fruitless temple system (Matthew 21:43).

Jesus then went into the temple and cleansed it again (Mark 11:15-17), and that temple would ultimately be torn down (Exodus 14:45, Luke 19:44). So why wait? If the temple had already failed Jesus’ inspection, and He had prescribed its destruction, why did He not dismantle it right then and there? I believe the temple had a final, unfulfilled purpose, hidden in plain sight, that many believers have overlooked.

The temple remained because the temple is the place where humanity encounters God. Just before Jesus ascended into Heaven, He told His disciples not to leave Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit had come (Acts 1:4). The Holy Spirit could come anywhere. Why did they have to wait in Jerusalem? Because the temple was in Jerusalem, and the temple is the place where humanity encounters God.

Your religious upbringing has taught you that the Holy Spirit came to the disciples in the upper room, but the Bible doesn’t explicitly say that. The Bible lists 11 men who were staying in the upper room when they returned from Jesus’ ascension (Acts 1:13). Whether they remained there through Pentecost, whether the women stayed there with them, whether 120 people were all staying in one upstairs room, and whether thousands of Jews from all nations happened to be passing by that upper room when the Holy Spirit came down is all a matter of speculation.

Instead of speculating, we can look at what the Bible has to say. We know that as observant Jews, the disciples would have presented themselves at the temple for Pentecost (Leviticus 23:16-21, Deuteronomy 16:11). We also know that thousands of other Jews would have been at the temple for Pentecost. And we know that humanity encounters God at the temple. We know that the sound filled the “house” (Acts 2:2), which is the same Greek word used to describe the temple in several other passages. We know that the Jews from all nations heard that sound, and subsequently heard the disciples speaking in their own languages (Acts 2:5-6). Based on what we know, the disciples and other Jews would have been at the temple on Pentecost, not hanging out in the upper room. They would have had two purposes that day. As Jews, they would go to the temple to encounter God, and as Christians, they would await the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem.

Jesus had rejected the temple system while fulfilling its requirements. The tearing of the veil underscores this transfer from one system to another (Matthew 27:51). Jesus is our priest, altar, and ultimate sacrifice. While we certainly celebrate His resurrection, we “proclaim His death” (1 Corinthians 11:26) because it marks the fulfillment of the temple system. Everything has been paid in full by Jesus’ suffering and death. and Jesus is now the chief cornerstone of the Kingdom altar (1 Peter 2:6-8, Hebrews 13:10-13). 

However, despite rejecting the temple system, Jesus allowed the temple to remain standing. This is where the disciples and other Jews would have gone to meet God at Pentecost. However, on this holy day, the veil was not present, or at least not intact. Because God honors His word, He came to His people at the time (Pentecost) and place (temple) He promised, but there was no veil to contain His Spirit. At that point, the Holy Spirit found those who were waiting for Him and filled them with His presence. Instead of the Spirit being upon a man for a momentary purpose, He now indwelt these men eternally because the price of their sin had been paid in full. Because Jesus fulfilled the temple system, they were and we are now the temples of the Holy Spirit!

Under the newly established system, believers like you and me can carry the same power that used to be contained within the Holy of Holies. You are now the temple, the place where people encounter God. They don’t have to climb to the top of a mountain, make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, or build an altar of unhewn stone; they just need to get close to the Holy Spirit within you.

Since Eden, God has desired to dwell with people, but sin was an obstacle. Thanks to Jesus’ substitutionary sacrifice, God can now be with us all the time. This is not only in heaven, but here on this earth right now. Pentecost is not just a footnote or postscript to the resurrection; it was God’s purpose from the very beginning. Pentecost was not about merely spreading the Gospel, completing the New Testament, or any other misguided cessationist limitation you may have been taught. Jesus came to earth so God could dwell with people. He lived a perfect life and suffered and died in our place so God could dwell with people. And on Pentecost, we celebrate the fulfillment of both thousands of years of the temple system and God’s eternal plan, being able to dwell with people.

The Holy Spirit living within you is no trivial thing. He came at a great cost, and you carry God’s presence with you wherever you go. So if you aren’t filled with the Holy Spirit, don’t continue to live the Christian life in vain. Jesus died so the Holy Spirit can live within you. Accept His presence today by praying with faith: Holy Spirit, I ask that you baptize me NOW and fill me until I overflow with Your presence in Jesus’ name. I receive it by faith and thank You for it. Amen.