Reading: For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me. Psalm 69:9

These words of the psalmist find their ultimate fulfilment in Christ. 

Following the changing of the water into wine at the wedding in Cana of Galilee, Christ and His disciples made their way to the temple. When they arrived there for the Passover they discovered men selling animals and changing money. Without a moment’s hesitation the Saviour made a scourge of small cords and drove the traders away from the temple, exclaiming that they had made His Father’s house a house of merchandise. It was an explosive intervention by the Saviour. As the disciples watched their Lord deal with the money changers they remembered the words of the psalmist, “The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.”

It is without question that Christ has zeal for His Father’s house. While He ministered here on earth He displayed an unquenchable interest in His Father’s glory. He was completely taken up with His Father’s will. He was strong and steadfast in all circumstances and in every situation. Christ was never slack or slothful. He was full of the Spirit and therefore full of zeal.

Real Christian zeal is often lacking in the church of Christ. First love declines to the level of a smouldering ember, and interest in the cause of God wanes. This ought not to be so. It is fellowship with Christ that causes the heart to burn again. When the two disciples on the road to Emmaus met with Christ, a strange but powerful transformation was wrought in their hearts. They rose up immediately and went back to Jerusalem renewed, refreshed, and revived in Spirit. It is only as we commune much with Christ that the zeal of God’s house will fill our hearts also.

“A zealous Saviour ought to have zealous disciples.” J. C. Ryle

Taken from A Word in Season edited by Alan Cairns, 2010. Used by permission.