The Heart
What does the Bible say about our
heart? The Bible mentions the heart about 1,000 times. In essence, the heart is
portrayed as the center of our being – our emotions and our desires. For
example, Proverbs 4:23 says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the
wellspring of life.”
The condition of the heart matters because our heart is the very place where we communicate with God. Jesus says in Matthew 5:8, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." In other words, a clean heart is essential to have a deep and meaningful relationship with God.
Old Heart Vs. New Heart
But there’s a problem here. Our
natural heart condition is not pure. Instead, it is depraved and deceitful since
the Fall of Adam and Eve. Jeremiah 17:9 says, "The heart is deceitful
above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" Our heart has
been damaged by sin. Our heart has become a heart of “stone,” which means we
are unresponsive and dead to God.
That’s the reason why transformation of the heart – “being born again” – is necessary. In Ezekiel 36:26, God promises while his people were still dead in their sins, "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh (a tender, responsive heart)." Jesus says in John 3:3, “You must be born again.” Transformation of the heart is necessary and possible for us to live a life with God.
In His Way
How does Jesus give us a new
heart? When Jesus came to the temple of his people’s lives, it was a mess.
The temple was initially made for worship, prayer, listening to God’s Word, and
sacrifice. But many people were there to use God for their benefit. The money
changers were there to change foreign currency into Jewish currency because
foreign money was not acceptable for offerings in the temple. At that time, it
was common the money changers charged as much as two hours of a working person’s
wage to change a half shekel (temple tax). The inspectors wouldn’t approve of the
animals that the people had brought. The people had to buy a “clean” animal at
a high price from the temple merchants. This brought a lot of money into the
temple.
How does Jesus cleanse the temple? Jesus made a whip from some ropes and chased them all out of the Temple. He drove out the sheep and cattle, scattered the money changers' coins over the floor, and turned over their tables. The Jews protested, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” Jesus answered, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”
Here when Jesus said, “this temple,” he was talking about his own body. The old, tainted temple must be destroyed first, only then the new temple can be rebuilt. So how does Jesus cleanse the temple? How does Jesus give us a new heart? The answer is by destroying his own body and rebuilding it, that is, his death and resurrection. Jesus didn’t pour out his anger at sin upon his people. Instead, he did it upon his own body. When Jesus made a whip and drove out the animals, he whipped his own body. When Jesus overturned the tables, he destroyed his own body, the Temple. By his death and resurrection, Jesus cleansed the temple of our lives and gave us a new heart.
Life Begets Life
That is Jesus’ way. The way of the
cross is the only way to transform our heart. Tertullian, one of the early
church fathers said, “The blood of martyrs is the seed of the church.”
Two hundred years ago there were almost no Christians in Korea, today South Korea is now one of the most active missionary-sending bases in the world. It is now home to some of the world’s largest churches. For me personally, I am one of the beneficiaries. I received a new heart, a new life in Christ through the sacrifices of the missionaries’ lives.
The first martyr on the Korean soil was Robert Jermain Thomas (1839-1866), a Welsh missionary to Korea. He was born into the pastor’s family in 1839. He would receive an excellent education. He was a gifted young man, and particularly excelled in foreign languages. As he sensed God’s calling to ministry, he believed that he should use his linguistic gifts for God’s glory. In the same year in 1863 Thomas graduated from college, was ordained, was married, and sailed to China. But within three months in China, his wife died from a sudden miscarriage of their first baby. Devasted by his wife’s death, missionary Thomas wrote, “My wife’s death has left me utterly helpless… I feel weighed down by deep grief… but I thank God for her peaceful, painless end and say, ‘The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord.’”
After this, Thomas met some Koreans in China. He learned the Korean language and made plans to visit Korea. Because he was fluent in Korean and well aware of Korean culture, Thomas accepted an offer to become an interpreter for the French Navy, which was about to sail toward Korea. Thomas and his people were not welcomed by the Korean government. Their ship General Sherman was attacked and exploded. Everyone on board had to swim to the shore. Everyone was beheaded on the spot. Thomas swam out with a few Bibles in his bosom. He scattered his Bibles on the shore. Before Thomas was killed by the soldier Park Chun-Kwon, he prayed for him and gave him a Bible.
In His Time
It was around Passover when Jesus
cleansed the temple. When he did it, his disciples did not understand. About three
years later, it was again around Passover when Jesus’ body was crushed and he died
on the cross. The disciples didn’t understand. But after Jesus was raised
from the dead, his disciples remembered what Jesus had said. They then
connected the dots and believed the scripture and what Jesus had said (John 2:22).
Not only did they believe, but also their hearts were transformed and burned
within them. They became a new person and risked their life for Christ.
The story of missionary Thomas continues. After his death, Park Chun-Kwon picked up the Bible and took it with him. He read it and received Jesus Christ. Later he became an elder at his church. Also some of the crowds watching the execution picked up the Bibles that Thomas had scattered. One of them was Park Young-Sik who tore the Bible apart and used it as wallpaper. Later, he and his people read the Bible and became Christians and even founded the first church in Pyongyang.
Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:24). At that time, it seemed Thomas’ death was meaningless, but his sacrificial love became a cornerstone of the Korean church. The fruit of the life-giving work of Thomas gave birth to the Pyongyang Great Revival. It gave birth to millions of Korean Christians today. It gave birth to more than twenty thousand missionaries sent from Korea to the ends of the earth. Joyce and I consider ourselves missionaries.[1]
Jesus died and was raised again. By his death and resurrection, Jesus cleansed the temple of our hearts and our lives. By his death and resurrection, Jesus still gives a new heart and new life to everyone who believes and puts their hope in him. I don’t know about you, but for me, there are times when I feel like the sermons that are preached are all lost and thrown away. There are times when I feel like the exhortations given in pastoral visits are all wasted and forgotten. Perhaps you too may feel like the lessons taught by you to your children and grandchildren are all taught in vain. But through today’s scripture, I hear the Spirit say to us, “Preachers, keep on preaching. Teachers, keep on teaching. Parents and grandparents, keep on training up your children in the way they should go. Christians, keep on sowing the seed of the gospel in patience and love.”
Jesus died and was raised again. By his death and resurrection, in his own way Jesus cleansed the temple of our hearts. Because Jesus died and was raised again, our labor is not in vain in the Lord. Our prayers and our words are remembered far more than we think and will yet spring up in his own time. “Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying their sheaves (Psalm 126:5-6). In his way, in his time he will make all things new.
[1] Joo Young Kang, “Who Was Robert Jermain Thomas?” https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/missionary-robert-jermain-thomas
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