John (5)

Introduction: Once upon a time there was a young man graduating from college. His parents wanted to give him a good gift since he had worked so hard and studied so diligently through college to graduate with honors. So they surprised him him a brand new car. Fresh off the show room floor. When the young man received the car he was ecstatic. “Wow, this is exactly what I needed.” This care is perfect. Thank you so so much.” Immediately, he called up his friend and said I have the perfect car for the demolition derby this weekend. So he loaded up the car and took it to the derby. He didn’t win, but he came very close. He did get a second place trophy. The car held up very well, but before the next derby he would need to do some body work and probably swap out the bent transmission.

Transition: We hear this story and think, “Absolutely ridiculous. No way someone would do that. How in the world could someone be so foolish to trash a brand new car? Why would someone ever take what is immaculate, new, and honorable… and subject it to demolition, junk, and demise?

There in lies the point of the passage we are studying today. Turn with me to John 2:13-25.

1. Jesus is the Son of God.

a. Explanation: What is this saying? Jesus is announcing Himself as the Son of God. As such, He’s taking care of His father’s business.

b. Interpretation: What does this mean? God dwells with those who belong to Christ. His church is the home of the Holy Spirit.

c. Application: How does this truth apply to us? Jesus specializes in house cleaning. Why? because He is making the way possible for a person to be in fellowship with the Father. If you are not yet a Christian, you should be pondering the severity of your sin, because left to your own inner being, you will not see God. And for those who are Christians, we should consider how Jesus is judging our sin now, in order to bring us to confession and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We cannot enjoy fellowship with God in the fullest with sin in the camp. Therefore, Jesus is graciously, disciplining those whom He loves in order to cause us to cast off every weight and the sin that so easily bests us so that we might run our race with endurance.

2. Jesus is the Temple. (Matthew 12:6)

a. Explanation: What is this saying? Jesus has authority to clean house.Jesus knew exactly what the mission was. He was preparing for His death and Resurrection. He foretells of that here but the Jews obviously did not realize what He was saying. However, his disciples did later on.

b. Interpretation:He is the gate to God, as we discovered from His self disclosure statement in 1:51. Now, he is in the temple which has the door way to the presence of God. the only way for a human to cross that threshold was through the blood of a sacrifice, that gives it’s own life for the life of the sinner. Because of who he is and what He has done, Jesus has the authority to do spring cleaning.

c. Application: Believe the Scripture and the Word.

3. Jesus is God. He knew what was in man.

Explanation: Many believe because of what Jesus did. However, Jesus did not believe them.

Interpretation: Not everyone who believe in Jesus’ name actually belong to Jesus.

Application: As a person is called to faith in Christ by the Holy Spirit, we must respond to who He is, not just what we think he can do. Faith in Christ is following a real person who is the Son of God. We don’t get to pick what version of Jesus we want to follow. He is who He has revealed Himself to be. And if we will belong to Him, then we will follow Him as He is. I don't determine my worthy, dignity, and identity according to my own authority. No, I am who He says I am. I have the rights that He has given. And as many as receive him, those who believe in His name, he gave the right to become children of God. Born by the will of God.

Closing: Verses 23-25 leave the reader with a bit of a quandary. We should be asking the question, how can we be entrusted to Jesus so that He is intrusted to us? How can I be certain that I am not like the crowd? How can I be sure that I do in fact belong to Christ and am actually a Christian. This will be the essence of the next two chapters of John. John chapter three, Jesus answers the question how can a person be born of the will of God. And chapter 4 answers the question who can be born again.