Pentecost update

While preparing for the Pentecost sermon, I spent time in 1 Peter 2, where the Apostle calls Jesus the living stone, rejected by men, but chosen by God to be the cornerstone. He reminds his readers that they too are living stones, brought together to form a spiritual house… In order to make known to a lost world what God is up to in Christ.

I’m intrigued by the spiritual house image… A temple. The splendor of the Herodian Temple, Peter’s temple, astounds us. Josephus and the Mishna (Middoth) concur that the Temple was a wonder, wowing the Sion-bound worshipper. Golden gates and columned courts, altars and tables and candles and glory… All focused on a building 50 meters wide by 50 meters tall and nearly twice as long.

Inside stood a golden table and an incense altar and woven curtains protecting the worshipper from the Holy of Holies, walls covered in gold and curtains.

Yet, inside that Most Holy Place stood… Nothing. Absolutely nothing. No ark. No relic. No idol.

Two thoughts:
First, an empty temple, for the pagan, was absurd. He demanded idols. He needed idols. But God declared his identity, love and grandeur through his mighty deeds.

Second…