Consumed by the Glory of God (John 2:16–17)

And Jesus told those who sold the pigeons, take these things away. Do not make my father’s house a house of trade. His disciples remembered that it was written zeal for your house will consume.
– John 2:16–17

I want to really focus on as we pray that last phrase, because this is an addition, so this is something that John mentions that the other gospel writers don’t mention. So we’ve read, as we read through the gospels, this account of Jesus cleansing the temple, and we see him talking about how people had made it a den of robbers, this house of prayer. And John adds in John 2:16–17, his disciples remembered that it was written.

What consumes you? So often we can be consumed by things other than the glory of God. Lord, help us to live with zeal for Your glory.

And it quotes from Psalm 69:9 that says zeal for your house will consume me. I think about that phrase, will consume me. Zeal, and think about the house that’s being talked about here, this is the temple, this is the place where the glory of God, the presence of God dwells among his people. And Jesus is zealous. Jesus is zealous for the glory of his father. Jesus is zealous for the holiness of the father to be honored. Zeal for your house will consume me.

Jesus Is Consumed By The Glory Of His Father

So let me just ask the question. What consumes you? And what consumes me? Such an interesting word, isn’t it? What captures your mind and your heart such that you can’t get it off your mind and it’s constantly on your heart? You’re consumed by it. In fact, something is consuming you. It’s almost controlling you. Driving you. Directing you. So what consumed Jesus? Zeal for the glory of his father. And if Jesus lives in you, if Jesus lives in me, then shouldn’t we be consumed by what consumes him? So do you and I wake up in the morning consumed by the glory of God? Captured our minds, our hearts driven, directed, controlled by how we can glorify God in our lives, in our marriages, in our families, in the church that we’re a part of, in the world around us. We’re consumed with glorifying God.

This Verse Wants God To Open Our Eyes To Him

So God, we pray for this. We confess that we are so often consumed by so many other things. Normally, most often, by things that pertain to us, maybe even by our own glory, what people think about us or our own plans, or our own desires. God, so many different things that consume us in this world. We’re consumed by jobs. Consumed by money. Consumed by possessions. We’re consumed by sports. We’re consumed by just so many different things. So God, open our eyes to that which consumes us, that which where our minds are always going to, that which is most on our hearts.

John 2:16–17 Wants Us To Be Consumed By His Glory

And we pray that as you open our eyes to these things, that you would change our minds and you would change our hearts so that we are consumed by what consumes you, Jesus, that we’re consumed by your glory. That that’s what, when we wake up in the morning, we’re just driven. So how can we know your glory more? How can we spread your glory more? How can we reflect your glory in the way we love the people in our homes and our friends and family and coworkers? So how can we live to make your glory known among more and more and more people right around us and far from us, among the nations, as we pray constantly for unreached people groups? God, we’re consumed. We want your glory to be made known among all the nations.

John 2:16–17 Wants His Glory To Be Known Among The Pashtun Of Afghanistan

So God we want your glory to be made known among the Pashtun of Afghanistan. We’re zealous for this. Please make your grace and your glory known among them far from us and right around us. So God, we pray that you would teach us, help us to live consumed with zeal for your glory. May that consumption, that zeal, mark our lives. In Jesus’ name, amen.