Temple Stones

The temple where Jesus worshiped and taught is known as Herod's temple.  King Herod, in addition to being a wicked, evil man had a passion for building on a magnificent scale.  He had built many pagan temples, his own opulent palace, the Antonio Fortress (named after his friend Marc Antony) and must have decided his capital city, Jerusalem, should have something equally magnificent.  Whatever his reasoning the project, which was begun in 18BC was such a massive undertaking that although the temple proper was finished in about a year and a half, it would be another 70+ years before all the outbuildings and embellishments were finished.  Then, of course, it stood in all its glory for about 5 or 6 years before it was utterly destroyed in 70AD by the Roman army.  At the time of Jesus' death, the temple had been under some type of construction for almost 50 years.

The Jewish historian Josephus describes the Most Holy Place itself as being built on an immense foundation of solid blocks of white marble covered with gold.  Each block of marble measured 67 1/2 feet by 9 feet and the structure rose to a height of 188 feet.  The stones which built up the sides of the temple were enormous.  Some were as long as 45 feet, 10 1/2 feet high and 11 to 14 feet thick, weighing well over 400 tons each. Imagine the engineering that must have taken place to be sure they all fit together as they rose up in beauty and magnificence.  Man's attempt at a building fit for the presence of the God of the Universe!

And yet when Jesus died on the Cross all those years ago, the Temple Veil in the Most Holy Place was torn in two and as a Rabbi friend says:  "God left the building."  50 days after Jesus' death, on the Feast of Pentecost, God took up residence in another temple.  We are God's Temple the Apostle Paul writes in Ephesians.  We are :

 "...built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets,

with Christ Jesus Himself as the chief cornerstone.

In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become

a holy temple to the Lord...

a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit."

Eph. 2

The Apostle Peter writes that you and I together:  "...like living stones are being built into a spiritual temple to be a holy priesthood..."

We are Living Stones.  Think about that analogy for a few minutes with me.  Remember the stones in the Temple in Jerusalem?  Remember how massive - some 45 feet long and weighing 400 tons?  They had to fit together perfectly, block upon block making up this beautiful building that rose towards the sky!  If there were bumps, if there were rough edges, if there were pieces that jutted out - they would have to be chiseled, cut, sawed off, smoothed out in some way.  Because if one stone did not fit right, the integrity of the whole structure would be in jeopardy.

We as living stones being built into God's spiritual house, into His holy temple, have our own rough edges as well; pieces that jut out, that cause friction; things about us that get in the way of another living stone being able to fit perfectly alongside us, or to lay level on top of us.  God will take those rough edges and He will remove them, He will smooth them out, He will chisel them away.  As a contractor friend would say:  Perhaps a Change Order is necessary at this point of construction.  Sometimes that Change Order from our Master Builder hurts, but consider this as you go through the refining process that allows us to fit together:   God left Herod's temple - in all its opulence, all its gold, marble and great beauty - to make His home in us.  Living Stones, Temple Stones. Imperfect, not so magnificent perhaps, but home to the God of the Universe.  What a thought!  Who else but God...