Cleanse the Temple
Podcast Notes: “Cleanse the Temple” – Teachable Woman Podcast with Rev. Michele Owes
Series: 5 Minutes for Your Day
Introduction
In this episode of the Teachable Woman Podcast, Rev. Michele Owes explores the theme of “spring cleaning”—not just in our homes, but in our spiritual lives. Drawing from Matthew 21:12‑14 and 1 Corinthians 3:16, she connects the idea of Jesus cleansing the temple with the need for believers to examine their hearts and remove anything that hinders their relationship with God. Rev. Owes reminds listeners that this “cleansing” is not a one‑time event, but a continual process that keeps our spiritual houses in order.
Podcast Notes
1. Spring Cleaning and Its Spiritual Parallel
- Rev. Owes begins with vivid memories of her mother’s spring cleaning rituals—washing curtains, polishing wood, waxing floors, changing linens, and discarding what was unnecessary.
- She draws a comparison between cleaning the house and cleaning our spiritual lives, emphasizing that just as a home feels renewed after such effort, a cleansed heart becomes a place of freshness for the Spirit to dwell.
- The key message: we need spiritual “spring cleaning” to remove things that are useless, harmful, or simply taking up space in our hearts.
2. Jesus’ Version of Spring Cleaning
- Referencing Matthew 21:12‑14, Rev. Owes highlights Jesus driving out the money changers and declaring, “My house shall be called a house of prayer.”
- This act symbolized purification of God’s house and setting it back into divine order.
- She links this to 1 Corinthians 3:16, which teaches that our bodies are now the temple of God—meaning that spiritual cleansing begins within us, not with others.
- Instead of judging or trying to cleanse someone else’s “temple,” believers should invite the Holy Spirit to reveal what needs to be cast out or overturned in their own lives—whether attitudes, habits, or distractions that displease God.
3. The Results of Cleansing the Temple
- Once Jesus cleansed the temple, “the blind and the lame came to Him, and He healed them.”
- Rev. Owes parallels this to the believer’s life: after personal cleansing, miracles, healing, and spiritual renewal can flow freely.
- She explains that continual cleansing happens through the washing of the Word—each time we hear or meditate on Scripture, we experience a renewed inner “spring cleaning.”
- The church, God’s preachers, and the ongoing teaching of the Word help maintain this living temple so that God’s power can move unhindered.
Summary
Rev. Michele Owes uses the imagery of her mother’s spring cleaning to illustrate how believers must regularly cleanse their spiritual temples. Just as Jesus purified the temple in Jerusalem, we are called to examine what clutters or corrupts our hearts—casting aside anything that hinders our communion with God. Through Scripture, worship, and obedience, the Holy Spirit continually refreshes and restores us. When our temples are clean, we invite healing, miracles, and deeper fellowship with Jesus Christ.
Teachable Woman Podcast
5 Minutes For Your Day
Rev. Michele Owes
Cleanse the Temple
[00:00:00] Welcome to the Teachable Woman Podcast, and to five minutes for your day. How many of you are familiar with spring cleaning? Spring cleaning at my mother's home was a production. There was so much to do. It was when the curtains were taken off of the windows and they were either washed or dry cleaned and then put back up, but not before.
The windows were cleaned inside and outside. We also had to clean the baseboards and we had to. Sweep every room and vacuum and mop and yes, even wax the floors. It was also when every spot on the wall was cleaned or spot painting was done to cover up anything that would not, couldn't be washed off of the walls.
It was when all of the clothes were washed and folded and or hung and put away. [00:01:00] All of the linens were changed from winter, winter lenins to spring linens. Winter ones were washed and folded and put away, and the spring ones were put out. Everything in the house had to sparkle and be clean. If it was wood, it had to shine.
If it was glass, it had to shine. And so that was spring cleaning. And my mother would always say, oh, the house smells so fresh and so clean. We also at that time threw away anything that was not useful, anything that was harmful or anything that was just taken up space that was spring cleaning at my house.
Now, I'm sure you have your own version of what took place at your house. Jesus had his own version of spring cleaning. Matthew the 21st chapter verses 12 through 14 says, and Jesus went into the temple of God. And cast out all of them that [00:02:00] sold and bought in the temple and overthrew the tables of the money changers and the seats of them that so doves.
And he said unto them, it is written. My house shall be called the house of prayer. And ye have made it. Aden of Thieves and the Blind and the laying came to him in the temple and he healed them. So Jesus had his own version of spring cleaning. But here's an interesting thought. The Bible tells us that when we accept Jesus Christ as personal Lord and Savior, that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit come and make their humble a bold on the inside of us.
That means that we are their dwelling place, that Jesus. God the Father and the Holy Spirit live on the inside of us. One Corinthians three and 16 says, know ye not that you are the temple of God and that the spirit of God dwelleth in. You know [00:03:00] that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of God and ye are not your own.
So interestingly enough, Jesus went in to cleanse the temple of God, and oftentimes in Christiandom, we like to cleanse someone else's temple. We want to tell them what's wrong and tell them what they need to do. Jesus focused on the cleansing of the temple in his house, and you and I should focus on the cleansing of the temple in our house.
And so if we ask the Holy Spirit, what is it that he would have us to cast out and to overthrow, what do you think he'd say? And then once he says it, what would we do? To cast out means to throw away or to get rid of or to part ways with, and to overthrow means to just turn it over or knock it down. What are those things that we need to throw away, get rid of, and knocked down?
The [00:04:00] other thing that Jesus did was he set some things in order. He said, my house shall be called the house of prayer, but you have made it Aden of fees. So Jesus was sure in the casting out of the money changers that all things that were evil. That were not of God, were being taken out of the house of God because one Timothy six and 10 says, for the love of money is the root of evil.
Not that money is evil, but the love of money is. And so at that time, there were some illegal things happening in the house of God. There were false balances and false weights being placed on some of the scales that were being used to buy and sell in the house of God. Now, what are the things that God would say?
Are causing us to do things that are not according to his will, that are causing us to sin, that are causing us to us to move off the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. I guarantee you, those are the things that he would want you to cast out and [00:05:00] overthrow and throw down. Now, here's the wonderful thing.
After Jesus cleansed the temple. The scriptures tell us that the blind and the lame came and he healed them all. You and I are always looking for miracles. We are always looking for Jesus to do some wonderful things, the Holy Spirit, to do some wonderful things on our behalf. And what if cleansing the temple or the spring cleaning is the only thing that's holding it up wonderfully enough?
Jesus has placed some things in order so that we can get a continual spring cleaning throughout the year. He said, up on this rock, I will build my church and the gates of hell cannot prevail against it. And he said, how can they preach unless they've been sent? And so God has a church. He also has a preacher that has been sent and by the washing of the water of the word, every Sunday, [00:06:00] every Wednesday or Tuesday, every meeting where the word of God goes forth, you and I have a washing.
Of the water by the word, where God is washing all of those things away from us that are not like him. That's, it's a continual process of spring cleaning in our lives. I don't know about you, but I'm ready to see what wonderful things Jesus has in store. So let's cleanse the temple. Have a wonderful day.
This is five minutes for your day.
