Zeal is a combination of two equally strong emotions: love and hate. It produces a strong love that hates anything that would harm its object. The Lord Jesus Christ expressed both aspects of zeal when He cleansed the temple; it was His passionate love for His Father’s house that caused Him to hate the terrible iniquity that desecrated it (Jn. 2:13-17; cf. Psm. 69:9).
John MacArthur