The Temple
The Tabernacle in the Old Testament was often called the “Tent of Meeting” (Exodus 40:2,6,7). For the first time ever, God was going to dwell in the midst of a people He had sovereignly chosen – Israel. He could have stayed aloof from them. In fact they probably would have expected that. But God, who knew perfectly the weakness of humanity, still wanted to be right where the people were. He wanted the Tabernacle to be the place where He and Israel met together – literally, a tent of meeting.
Eventually the Tabernacle disappeared and the Temple took its place. Again, God wanted there to be a place of meeting between the nation and Himself. The Temple was to be that place. Unfortunately over time the Temple shunned the ordinary person and welcomed only the rich and religious.
John records that when Jesus drove out the money changers from the Temple, He said to those offended by his actions ‘Destroy this temple and I will raise it again in three days’ (John 2:19). So there could be no misunderstanding, John explains Jesus was talking about His body (v.21). So His body was to be God’s Temple – the new place of meeting between God and humanity.
When Jesus died, He took upon Himself in His body our sin – the same sin that had separated us from God. With this barrier now righteously dealt with, humanity could at last be reconciled back to God. Jesus’ body had become the new Temple, the means by which God and humanity could again be together. Don’t keep God aloof. Jesus died so you and I could meet and be with God eternally.
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