JOHN 2:13-25 | LESSONS IN JERUSALEM
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JOHN 2:13-25 | LESSONS IN JERUSALEM
JOHN 2:13-25 | LESSONS IN JERUSALEM
ILLUSTRATION: My high school basketball team
ILLUSTRATION: My high school basketball team
My Junior year, our high school had one of the best teams in the history of our school
There were 9 seniors on the team who had played together for years.
So when my senior year came along there was an expectation that there would be a major drop off.
But there was something about that group my senior year, where we just learned to play together.
And because we worked as a team, we won far more games than anyone expected.
That year, I was the shortest guy on our varsity basketball team
In fact I was the only one who couldn’t dunk the basketball.
But I got to be the floor general as the starting point guard and I loved playing that position.
Calling the plays, running the floor, it was awesome.
Especially because there were such low expectations for us, and it seemed like we exceeded them in nearly every game because we played together.
All except for one game… it was the last home game of the year… senior night.
We were playing against the Shakamack Lakers who were a considerably smaller school than we were.
We were bigger… we were better… and we should have smoked them.
But on that night, it was as if everyone wanted to leave a lasting impression because everyone went out and just played for themselves.
Normally we were good and passing the ball and running plays, but on that night, everyone just got the ball and did their own thing trying to make their own play.
And I’ll never forget, we get creamed by close to 30 points by a far inferior team.
I remember walking off the court that night knowing we lost a game we never should have lost.
And it was because we were all just playing for ourselves… for our own glory.
We weren’t playing for the team.
EXPLANATION: Jesus and his mother and his brothers and now some of his disciples had made their way to Capernaum and then ultimately they went up to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover
EXPLANATION: Jesus and his mother and his brothers and now some of his disciples had made their way to Capernaum and then ultimately they went up to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover
We spoke recently about the significance of the Passover as a time that the Jewish population would reflect back on God’s deliverance from Egypt the miraculous means.
And now Jesus has made His way into Jerusalem to for this annual memorial.
Jesus wouldn’t have been the only one making this trip as it was expected for the Jewish people to make their way to Jerusalem this time each year to celebrate the Passover.
Many would travel great distances, and because of this, they would arrive in Jerusalem needing to purchase a sacrificial animal for this time of worship.
Not only that, but because many traveled from other countries, they would need to exchange their currency for the local currency to make those purchases.
Outside the temple, in the courtyard, people would provide these services for those traveling distances to come and worship God.
But rather than providing these things with a focus on worship, many had instead looked at this as an opportunity to make a profit.
The money changers who would exchange the currency would charge extremely inflated prices.
And it didn’t stop there… the sacrificial animals would be offered at outrages prices to those looking to purchase an animal for the sacrifice.
This holy place had become a middle-eastern bazaar with people simply looking to make a profit off of others.
This was the setting when Jesus arrived on the scene.
When Jesus saw what was going on, a righteous indignation moved Him to drive out those who had corrupted this holy place.
John makes special mention of who Jesus spoke to in v.16
And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise.
For those that were too poor to afford a larger animal for sacrifice, the law allowed for them to sacrifice a dove during this ceremonial time.
It was the must humble sacrifice that a person could make.
In fact, doves were the very sacrifice Jesus’s parents offered following His birth in Luke 2,
So Jesus was especially heartbroken over the reality that even the poorest people were being schemed.
And in His holy, righteous indignation, Jesus purges the temple courtyard from all those who were corrupting this time that was supposed to a time of worship.
It was supposed to be a time of turning their attention to a Holy, gracious, and merciful God and worshiping Him!
But God’s glory and praise was being robbed by man’s selfish desires.
Everyone was just seeking their own glory!
APPLICATION: If you are listening to this and thinking now you have a reason to get angry and loose your cool, you are missing the point of what actually happened.
APPLICATION: If you are listening to this and thinking now you have a reason to get angry and loose your cool, you are missing the point of what actually happened.
Jesus had righteous indignation over the holiness and worship of God being corrupted.
You get angry because you can’t find the remote!
The truth is, I’m convinced that if Jesus walked into many churches across our nation today, there would be a holy, righteous indignation because too many have forgotten who we are playing for.
We’ve lost track of the purpose of our life and here in John 2 we have some lessons that would be good for the church to learn!
So for a few moments this morning, let’s pull back the layers of this story and learn some lessons from Jesus’s journey into Jerusalem:
V.16, THE TEMPLE IS FOR GOD’S GLORY, NOT SIMPLY FOR MAN’S GAIN
V.16, THE TEMPLE IS FOR GOD’S GLORY, NOT SIMPLY FOR MAN’S GAIN
And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise.
EXPLANATION: There were places where people could sell and do business and make a profit.
EXPLANATION: There were places where people could sell and do business and make a profit.
There were marketplace where people could peddle their possessions.
But the temple was the place where God’s glory was to be preeminent.
APPLICATION: Now there is no question there is application to the church house.
APPLICATION: Now there is no question there is application to the church house.
When people look for a church, usually the first question that is asked is, “what do I want?”
Well listen, if it was about what I want, we would have football games on much larger tv’s
The baptistry would be full of Dr. Pepper
And we would eat all meat pizza in every service.
But “what do I want” is the wrong question to ask.
No, we should be asking the question, “Is this the place that glorifies God and leads me closer to Him?”
Because the church is for God’s glory, not simply for man’s gain.
There is certainly application for the church house, but I think there is a more direct application in regards to the temple.
Not some Jewish temple… we are talking about the NT Temple.
Over in 1 Corinthians 6:19, Paul gives insight into the NT temple
What? know ye not 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?
If you have accepted Christ as your Savior, the Bible says that your body… your life, is the temple of God!
You belong to Jesus… so He gets to tell you what your life is supposed to look like!
He says things in His Word like:
But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;
Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
Neither give place to the devil.
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
If you are a child of God, you are no longer supposed to live however you want to live.
You are supposed to use your temple for God’s glory.
And maybe you are here today and you are thinking, “Well what right to Jesus have to tell me how to live my life?”
It’s interesting you should say that, because that was what they religious Jews said to Jesus when He cleansed the temple.
V.18-22, CHRIST’S SACRIFICE MAKES HIM THE FINAL AUTHORITY
V.18-22, CHRIST’S SACRIFICE MAKES HIM THE FINAL AUTHORITY
Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?
Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.
Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?
But he spake of the temple of his body.
When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.
EXPLANATION: The Jews came to Him and asked Him, “What sign… or what proof do you have that says you have the authority to do this?”
EXPLANATION: The Jews came to Him and asked Him, “What sign… or what proof do you have that says you have the authority to do this?”
And Jesus gives them a cryptic answer about the temple
Then John who is writing in retrospect clarifies that Jesus would give proof of His authority to tell them what to do in the temple… when He died and rose again.
APPLICATION: Friend, if you are a Christian here this morning, can I tell you, Jesus has every right to tell you how to live your life.
APPLICATION: Friend, if you are a Christian here this morning, can I tell you, Jesus has every right to tell you how to live your life.
And there are a lot of people that don’t like that.
Because we all want what we want… and we don’t want to be told what we can and cant do.
ILLUSTRATION: I was the oldest of 3 in my home
ILLUSTRATION: I was the oldest of 3 in my home
How many of you are the oldest?
How many of you are the youngest?
And we can just forget about the middle… you should be used to it.
I can remember growing up, I would try to help my siblings along in their lives by telling them what they should be doing.
And it was always the right thing… I would never lead them astray.
But my younger siblings would pull out that phrase that still to this day grates on my ears
“We don’t have to listen to you… you’re not the boss.”
Any older siblings here that can sympathize?
But then I would go to my dad or mom and I would tell them what had happened and relay my good instructions I had said.
And on occasion they would tell me, “Go tell them they aren’t supposed to do that, or they are supposed to do that.”
And I would rush back gleefully, and now with new authority I would instruct my younger siblings in the truth.
Inevitably they would ask that question that you’ve no doubt heard before… “Who says?”
And it was the moment I had been waiting for… “Dad says!”
Mic drop moment… and then just walk away with a smile on your face.
Because I had no authority to tell my siblings what they should or shouldn’t do… But when I called on that higher power of mom or dad now I had unquestionable authority!
APPLICATION: Church, if you are living your life a certain way to please some preacher, or because some religious leader told you what to do… Can I just free you of that this morning!
APPLICATION: Church, if you are living your life a certain way to please some preacher, or because some religious leader told you what to do… Can I just free you of that this morning!
You don’t have to live your life to meet my standards or any other person on earths standards.
You can breathe a sigh of relief, and make like Else and let it go.
But listen friend, there is someone that you do need to listen to… because He is the final authority.
And He got that authority because He is God.
And He proved it when He died on the cross and 3 days later, rose again from the grave!
I am the Lord: that is my name: And my glory will I not give to another, Neither my praise to graven images.
Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
Friend, you were on your way to a lake of fire for all of eternity whether you realized it or not.
All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned every one to his own way; And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
But then you learned that you needed to have your sins forgiven to get into heaven
And so you tried to figure out a way to do enough good to earn your way there.
Go to Church
Get baptized
Be a good person
Volunteer more
Clean up your life.
Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
But God doesn’t owe you anything
But then you heard what the Bible says about getting to heaven
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Not of works, lest any man should boast.
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
And you wanted that gift so badly, but you didn’t know how to get it.
Did you have to pay for it by giving money to the church?
Did you have to do some religious ceremony?
Were there some sacraments you had to keep?
But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
It is because of Christ’s payment for your sins that you have access to eternal life and escape from eternity in a lake of fire.
For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
Because Christ paid for you, He bought you… He has every right to tell you how you should live the life He has given you.
ILLUSTRATION: It’s kind of like if someone gave you $10 million.
ILLUSTRATION: It’s kind of like if someone gave you $10 million.
And after they gave it to you they said, “You can spend it wherever you want, but I don’t want you to use it at Walmart, you can’t spend it on a Chevy vehicle, and you can’t buy vanilla ice cream.”
Would you throw up your hands in disgust and throw the money back in their face… “Who do you think you are?”
NO!! You’d says “alright… you’re the one who gave it to me and if you have a few rules to follow, I’ll follow them.”
APPLICATION: Jesus gave you something that money could never buy… eternal life.
APPLICATION: Jesus gave you something that money could never buy… eternal life.
But when we read in the Bible and He says… there’s some things I want you to change, we throw it in His face and try to go on living how we want.
Jesus bought you and He has every right to tell you how you should live.
THE TEMPLE IS FOR GOD’S GLORY, NOT SIMPLY FOR YOUR GAIN, CHRIST’S SACRIFICE MAKES HIM THE FINAL AUTHORITY
V.23-25, JESUS KNOWS IF YOU BELONG TO HIM
V.23-25, JESUS KNOWS IF YOU BELONG TO HIM
Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did.
But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men,
And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.
EXPLANATION: We don’t know exactly what miracles Jesus did while He was in Jerusalem, but whatever it was, people were amazed.
EXPLANATION: We don’t know exactly what miracles Jesus did while He was in Jerusalem, but whatever it was, people were amazed.
Some even looked Jesus and probably said things like:
“Man He sure is something special”
“Wow, He can’t just be a normal man”
“I believe this guy could truly be the Son of God”
But then v.24-25 say something kind of strange… Jesus didn’t believe in them, because “knew what was in them”
What?
Here is what John is getting at as he reflects back on the events in Jerusalem.
While many said great things about Jesus and some even believed He was God… they didn’t put their trust in Christ.
Because simply being impressed by what Jesus can do for you, doesn’t mean you have accepted what He has done for you.
ILLUSTRATION: Tressa told me about when she was a kid, she lived in a home that stood by the principle “you eat what’s put in front of you.”
ILLUSTRATION: Tressa told me about when she was a kid, she lived in a home that stood by the principle “you eat what’s put in front of you.”
If you didn’t eat what was for supper you could eat it for breakfast.
It was a much more difficult time in America, back in the 1900s.
But everything changed when she discovered a little lip on the underside of the table.
That day she didn’t want to eat what was set before her, and so she devised a full proof plan to take her food a handful at a time and stuff it in the little lip under the table.
When everything was gone off the plate she was dismissed from dinner believing her genius plan was full proof.
That was until later when they had guests to her house.
As one of the guest sat in her place, suddenly from under the table, food fell out and onto their lap.
She had fooled her mom and dad… but in the end, the truth came out!
APPLICATION: Friend, you can fool this preacher
APPLICATION: Friend, you can fool this preacher
You can fool the people here at church
Your spouse
Your kids
Your parents
But Jesus knows the truth.
And if you have put on a show for everyone else, you can mark it down one day the truth will come out… and if it’s when you are standing before God it’ll be too late.
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION
Friend in the midst of this game called life, can I encourage you… don’t just play for yourself!
If you are just playing pretend about being a Christian, this morning, decide to get real!
If you do know that Christ is your Savior, then He has every right to tell you how to live this life.
He bought you… but is He getting what He paid for?
ILLUSTRATION: John and his family attend the church where my parents attend in Ellettsville, IN
ILLUSTRATION: John and his family attend the church where my parents attend in Ellettsville, IN
John is 51 years old, is married, and has 4 kids all in their teens.
A few years ago, he had been given the diagnosis of cancer.
He went through treatments and they seemed to work, in fact they actually determined he was cancer free.
But a short time later the cancer came back with vengeance.
For two years they have fought the cancer, but at this point it seems they are out of options.
Barring some miracle John wont make it to see the upcoming holidays.
For years, John and his family would put a giant Christmas tree made of lights with a star on top outside their house.
With his prognosis looking grim, they decided to put the lights up a little early this year for him to enjoy.
On Wednesday night over 200 people from his church and the community gathered around that star light Christmas tree to sing Christmas carols for him to enjoy.
My parents were a part of that group that were there.
My mom shared with me that after they had sung some songs and read a few Bible verses, one of the pastor asked through John’s window if there was anything he would like to says…
And from his cancer ridden body with only a weak voice left he said only a couple words, but they are words that should ring out for everyone to hear:
“If anyone isn’t saved, please don’t wait. Come to Jesus and be saved now.”
And then he cleared his voice and said these final words, “I’ll see you all in heaven.”
APPLICATION: Friend, if you don’t know Jesus as Savior… You can trust him this morning.
APPLICATION: Friend, if you don’t know Jesus as Savior… You can trust him this morning.
Maybe you have questions… this is a safe place to ask those questions and we would love to get you answers.
And if you do know Christ, determine to live your life for him.
Two weeks ago they interviewed John when he still had strength to share his story… and one thing stuck out to me in that interview.
He said, “My one regret is I wish I would have lived more of my life for Jesus.”
Christian, don’t live your life for yourself… Decide today to live each moment for Jesus!
