John 2:13–25, 1 Corinthians 3:16–17,
Matthew 15:18–20
This week’s scriptures invite us into a profound and searching question: Where does God dwell? For generations, people looked to temples, sanctuaries, and sacred spaces to locate the presence of the Holy. But our readings challenge us to look closer—much closer.
In John’s Gospel, Jesus enters the Jerusalem temple and disrupts everything that has distorted its purpose. Yet the most startling moment comes when he speaks of a different kind of temple altogether. “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” His listeners imagine stone walls and holy courts, but John tells us plainly: Jesus is speaking of the temple of his body. God’s dwelling place is not confined to a building. It walks among us in flesh and bone.
Paul extends this revelation to the community itself. “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” Not someday. Not metaphorically. Now. The divine presence is not distant or abstract—it is at home in human bodies, in our shared life, in the very breath we carry.
And Jesus in Matthew reminds us that what defiles is not what enters the body from outside, but what flows from the heart—our words, intentions, and choices. Holiness is not threatened by the world; it is expressed through how we live.
So where does God dwell?
In Christ’s embodied life.
In the community shaped by the Spirit.
In the sacred, imperfect, beloved bodies we inhabit.
(adapted from Biblegateway.com)
Pastor Greg
