The Temple Today

1 Peter 2:4-10
4As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him— 5you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6For in Scripture it says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."[a] 7Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, "The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone,[b]"[c] 8and, "A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall."[d] They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for. 9But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Though the religious elite controlled the Temple, which was the symbol of God’s presence, that building was already crumbling before its destruction in AD 70. The moment that Emmanuel cam to Israel the Temple began to lose its significance. After all, the building symbolically housed God’s Shekinah glory, but his glory could not be found there. Instead it was found in human flesh wandering around the Galilean countryside. Like a stone rejected, the religious found no place for Jesus in their religious system. But he who was rejected became the chief cornerstone for the new and living temple of God.

This temple would be mobile, like the Tabernacle. The other was stationary. This temple would be for all nations and made from “stones” found and chosen at the four corners of the earth. The Temple in Jerusalem gave preference for Jews and was proudly quarried close to home. The new temple brought with it a new and representative priesthood. The old was by birthright and privilege.

As the religious leaders walked ceremonially through the old Temple, they literally stumbled over the Rock – the LORD Jesus Christ. His appearance was rough and he did not fit their meticulous plans. So they rejected him and sent him outside the city walls to be crushed for gravel and used to walk upon. He was crush, but with every blow of their hammer a piece of Messiah grew into another spiritual stone. They could not diminish his influence. They only expanded it as the new temple came to life through his resurrection.

And now I have become one of his elect – a chosen generation – a priest in his service. As a small, insignificant stone in the glory of his new temple called the Body of Christ, my presence beckons me to proclaim what the religious of his day could not see. Though I once was a useless piece of gravel, he has chosen me and incorporated me into his master plan. I stand only because the Chief Cornerstone is my foundation. I have obtained his disturbing mercy and have been made to understand what so many have missed – that the eternal Word of God is none other than Jesus the Messiah. And because I now believe, I will never be put to shame. I am a chosen part of his glorious new Temple – the Body of Christ.