# 36 Zeal and Consumption

Joh 2:17 Then His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up."

We are not told if Mary and Jesus’ brothers accompanied Him to Jerusalem, but we know His disciples did. They witnessed this cleansing firsthand. Something in this incident causes the disciples to reflect on words from the 69^th Psalm. Specifically they make note of zeal for the temple, and how that zeal leads to a “consumption” an “eating up.”  We all know of people who are zealous for things and that zealousness eats up or consumes them. It’s like that’s all they can think about!

I don’t think we have to question God or His Son concerning zealousness for His church. Jesus gave His very lifeblood for it! But I think there is more going on here, especially in the context of the 69^th Psalm.

David wrote that Psalm because his enemies were riled up and they were after him!

Ps 69:1 “ Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck. 2 I sink in deep mire, Where there is no standing; I have come into deep waters, Where the floods overflow me. 3 I am weary with my crying; My throat is dry; My eyes fail while I wait for my God. 4 Those who hate me without a cause Are more than the hairs of my head; They are mighty who would destroy me, Being my enemies wrongfully; Though I have stolen nothing, I still must restore it.”

I think the disciples are thinking, “Oh Oh! This cleansing isn’t going to sit well with the spiritual leaders of the day!”  This is going to rile them up like David’s enemies were riled up! This temple and their way of doing things around this temple means an awful lot to them. They are proud of this temple and consumed by it. This is trouble for Jesus!”

And David prayed in  Ps 69:6 Let not those who wait for You, O Lord GOD of hosts, be ashamed because of me; Let not those who seek You be confounded because of me, O God of Israel.

 7 Because for Your sake I have borne reproach; Shame has covered my face.

 8 I have become a stranger to my brothers, And an alien to my mother's children;

 9 Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up, And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.

The Holy Spirit brought this psalm to the mind of the disciples because the spiritual leaders and the people  of the day had a misplaced zeal on the physical building of the temple. They were consumed by its exterior beauty and that misplace zeal will be laid bare in the days ahead by Jesus. It would also lead to the fixation that the spiritual leaders of the day had with