Jesus and the Temple
Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 45:20
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Introduction
Introduction
19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
Jesus equates his body with the temple
Tear it down and he’ll build it back up in three days
Consistent with John’s prologue - God’s presence is found in Jesus
His disciples don’t understand this until after Jesus is raised
Specifically, they believe Scripture
What scripture are they believing that equates the Messiah to the temple?
16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?
We know that we are his temple - but what does that mean?
Gameplan
Explore the concept of the temple - it’s purpose
See if we can find those same purposes in Jesus
Talk about how we, as the new temple, continue those purposes
The Purpose of the Temple
The Purpose of the Temple
Exodus is explicit in giving God’s purpose in setting up a temple
8 And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst. 9 Exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle, and of all its furniture, so you shall make it.
God wants to be with his people
Seen as his glory filling the temple
34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
10 And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, a cloud filled the house of the Lord, 11 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.
This has been God’s desire from the beginning
There’s a lot of parallels between descriptions of the temple and the Garden of Eden
The Spirit of God creates in Genesis 1 and then inspires Bezalel and Oholiab to construct the tabernacle
As God planted the tree of life in the middle of the garden, we now see the lampstand designed as an almond tree.
Adam’s work to keep and tend the garden is God’s commands to the priests
After Adam and Eve were thrown out of the garden the way back was guarded by a Cherubim. In the tabernacle what divides the holy place from the most holy place, God’s throne, is a curtain adorned by the cherubim.
The temple is a connection between heaven and earth
69 He built his sanctuary like the high heavens, like the earth, which he has founded forever.
Note that there are two inspirations for God’s sanctuary - heaven and earth
We might think of the sky in general rather than the heavens, but see Hebrews
21 And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. 22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. 23 Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.
The tabernacle and all within were copies of things in heaven
They are copies of true things - heaven itself
Dwelling With God
Dwelling With God
To enter into heaven we need to deal with a pretty big problem
What is the problem that creates distance between us and God?
1 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; 2 but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.
The temple is the solution to that problem
11 I will make my dwelling among you, and my soul shall not abhor you. 12 And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people.
Doesn’t want to abhor Israel, but walk with them and belong to them
Will do something to keep the relationship smooth
Solomon’s Temple
Solomon’s Temple
30 And listen to the plea of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. And listen in heaven your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive. 31 “If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath and comes and swears his oath before your altar in this house, 32 then hear in heaven and act and judge your servants, condemning the guilty by bringing his conduct on his own head, and vindicating the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness. 33 “When your people Israel are defeated before the enemy because they have sinned against you, and if they turn again to you and acknowledge your name and pray and plead with you in this house, 34 then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them again to the land that you gave to their fathers. 35 “When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, if they pray toward this place and acknowledge your name and turn from their sin, when you afflict them, 36 then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel, when you teach them the good way in which they should walk, and grant rain upon your land, which you have given to your people as an inheritance. 37 “If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence or blight or mildew or locust or caterpillar, if their enemy besieges them in the land at their gates, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is, 38 whatever prayer, whatever plea is made by any man or by all your people Israel, each knowing the affliction of his own heart and stretching out his hands toward this house, 39 then hear in heaven your dwelling place and forgive and act and render to each whose heart you know, according to all his ways (for you, you only, know the hearts of all the children of mankind), 40 that they may fear you all the days that they live in the land that you gave to our fathers. 41 “Likewise, when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a far country for your name’s sake 42 (for they shall hear of your great name and your mighty hand, and of your outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this house, 43 hear in heaven your dwelling place and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house that I have built is called by your name.
Notice from where God hears - heaven!
To get to God in heaven they need to pray towards the temple
What will God do when he hears? Forgive!
Israelite and foreigner together
He will hear the penitent
He will forgive
No mention of priests or sacrifice - just the temple
In summary
The temple is what’s enabling God’s purpose from the beginning - to be with his people
As such, the temple is a strange mix of heaven and earth - at least a copy of it
To enable man to dwell with God the temple also becomes a place of forgiveness
Are we seeing some connections already?
No Temple
No Temple
What happens when Israel’s sin reaches a breaking point?
What happens when the people take the temple and God’s presence in it for granted? (Jer 7:8-10)
He leaves!
3 Now the cherubim were standing on the south side of the house, when the man went in, and a cloud filled the inner court. 4 And the glory of the Lord went up from the cherub to the threshold of the house, and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was filled with the brightness of the glory of the Lord.
18 Then the glory of the Lord went out from the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim. 19 And the cherubim lifted up their wings and mounted up from the earth before my eyes as they went out, with the wheels beside them. And they stood at the entrance of the east gate of the house of the Lord, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them.
22 Then the cherubim lifted up their wings, with the wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them. 23 And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and stood on the mountain that is on the east side of the city.
And without God the temple is destroyed in 2 Kings 25:8-10
Ezekiel’s New Temple
Ezekiel’s New Temple
But there is hope!
Ezekiel has a vision of a new temple in Ezekiel 40-48
Just as the tabernacle and temple were filled with the glory of God, so will this one!
1 Then he led me to the gate, the gate facing east. 2 And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the east. And the sound of his coming was like the sound of many waters, and the earth shone with his glory. 3 And the vision I saw was just like the vision that I had seen when he came to destroy the city, and just like the vision that I had seen by the Chebar canal. And I fell on my face. 4 As the glory of the Lord entered the temple by the gate facing east, 5 the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the temple.
This temple will have worldwide effects
1 Then he brought me back to the door of the temple, and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar.
8 And he said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, and enters the sea; when the water flows into the sea, the water will become fresh. 9 And wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish. For this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes. 10 Fishermen will stand beside the sea. From Engedi to Eneglaim it will be a place for the spreading of nets. Its fish will be of very many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea. 11 But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt. 12 And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.”
An abundance of life and fish (keep that in mind)
Salt water becomes fresh so that everything will live
All sorts of trees for food grow (Garden of Eden)
The trees will heal
This is what Israel is looking forward to after Solomon’s temple is destroyed
They begin to rebuild in the days of Ezra/Nehemiah
What important event doesn’t happen with this temple?
14 And the elders of the Jews built and prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. They finished their building by decree of the God of Israel and by decree of Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes king of Persia; 15 and this house was finished on the third day of the month of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king. 16 And the people of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the returned exiles, celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy. 17 They offered at the dedication of this house of God 100 bulls, 200 rams, 400 lambs, and as a sin offering for all Israel 12 male goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. 18 And they set the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their divisions, for the service of God at Jerusalem, as it is written in the Book of Moses.
God promised a new temple - and this isn’t it
Jesus’ Claim To Be the Temple
Jesus’ Claim To Be the Temple
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Dwelling is the same word for tabernacle in Greek
The glory of God isn’t in a place, but a person
Jesus says to Nathanael about angels going up and down on him - he’s the house of God - heaven and earth mixed into one
48 And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” 49 Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” 50 And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Jesus, like the temple, is the place of forgiveness
We pray in Jesus name because he’s the one who grants forgiveness, just as Solomon’s temple
37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ” 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Clear allusion to the temple in Ezekiel
Fishermen were featured in Ezekiel’s visions
What’s the last story we have in John’s gospel?
He will put the Spirit (heaven) into us, and make us a union of heaven and earth
God’s People, God’s Temple
God’s People, God’s Temple
1 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
What was missing in Ezra’s temple is found in the church
Fire and wind - similar to the cloud and pillar of fire in the Exodus
God is dwelling among his people
Application
Application
God’s presence should be evident in our lives
We are representatives of God and his purposes
Being at church should feel like heaven on earth
We need to remove whatever obstacles are in the way of people dwelling with their God
